Dry lasagne sheets! Why do they confound me?!

[CapriceDeDieux]

I just want to start by saying, I am a pretty competant cook, nothing special, but fine, and I can make a nice lasgne, honest. I have one issue though which is the dried lasagne sheets. They are always too leathery if I put them in dry, so I have tended to soak them in boiling water before contructing the whole dish, so basically they are soft/part cooked.

My problem is how to do this efficiently? I have a total brain block about this They always get stuck together in a saucepan, I have tried laying them out in a baking dish and using oil, but if you have to cook 6 or more I need multiple dishes, which is a pain in a small kitchen. There must be a magic way of doing this that doesn't involve me peeling and them breaking when they have fused together. I just want 6 sheets of par cooked lasagne ready to go in the dish.

Please don't say use fresh, this a quick,cheap dish for week nights. Surely someone's Nonna can solve this! What am I missing? I feel like an utter idiot and it's going to be really really obvious.

I use a large frying pan, bring the water to a rolling boil & add the sheets one by one. Remove with a slotted spoon, again one by one, lay them out onto a tea towel.

I just make sure my sauce is relatively runny so there’s enough water for the pasta sheets to soak them up. If they are leathery, your sauce is too dry.

I use mine dry . If there is plenty of tomato sauce and white sauce either side they will cook nicely

I use multiple baking trays so they don't touch each other, appreciate space is an issue though.

So it sounds like people do a wetter sauce and perhaps cook for longer? I like a firm slice that holds together well, so maybe I am doing it too dry. I find manay dishes have far too much liquid though.

But @oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriendshas nailed it for me.

I just cook it for longer and with more liquid. I quite like them a bit al dente.

I use a single dish with hot tap water in it and lie the sheets in one by one. If i put them all in together they stock to each other. But i also have to work fairly fast as if I let them stay jn the water for too long they do start sticking to each other again. But this way, it doesnt take lots of space, they go straight from the water to the lasagna and its not a huge faff. When I am making several lasagnas I do all the sheets for the first one and then re stock the water with sheets for the second one as I worry that putting too many in together will push them into sticking to each other, but that does give me 2 mins to wrap up the first lasagna to put in the fridge

Use them dry but leave the lasagne to stand for a while before cooking. I assemble in the morning/lunch and leave it until dinner to cook. Plenty of sauce (doesn't have to be runny) and you should be fine. Took me ages to figure this out.

I don't cook it first, but I make sure i have quite liquid white and bolognaise sauce, I then cook for 40 mins with tin foil on and 10 minutes with it off. I then land it to stand for 10 minutes with the foil back on to absorb the sauces. This ensures when I serve it if remains firm and holds together. My pasta is always soft as I have toddlers eating it.
The standing for 10 minutes is key.

I just use them dry make quite a sloppy ragu and when cooked the liquid has absorbed creating a nice solid slice

I literally only now use fresh lasagne sheets-game changer much improved lasagne, no hard bits, no braking to fit in dish.

I always add dry and plenty of white sauce.

How are you layering? I do meat sauce, white sauce, pasta. Meat sauce, white sauce pasta. A maximum of 3 layers finishing with pasta, white sauce and grated cheese, then bake in oven on about 160C for about 40 minutes.

Mum used to do hers in a frying pan of boiling water. She doesn't now. I just assumed the thickness of sheet had changed, or that we understood pasta better.

You can easily do 2-3 sheets in a large frying pan. You don't need to completely cook them off, but if that's what you prefer, go for it!

Actually I do - meat, pasta, white sauce. Meat, pasta, white sauce. It's been a while 😭

If I use dry sheets, I assemble it in the morning then pop on the fridge with cling film over until I’m ready to pop it in the oven. Much prefer fresh sheets though.

OP I put a thin layer of sauce (no bits so skimmed off the top of the ragu) in the bottom of the dish. Then dry out the ragu to my preferred consistency. Build lasagne - pasta sheet, ragu and repeat until no ragu left, pasta sheet then white sauce. Bake for 40 minutes at 180 in my fan oven. Leave to cool, cover, refrigerate and slice the next day. Reheat and eat. Lasagne holds its shape so you get lovely layers and twice baked lasagne tastes so much better!!!

Definitely slightly wetter sauce. Mine were slightly too wet so I put in less between the layers and therefore more pasta. I make ragu with 500g mince, 500g passata, some red wine and a dash of milk. Then I make bechamel with 60g flour and butter and 600ml milk.

Also, once it’s cooked, take the lasagne out of the oven and leave to stand for a good 10 minutes, if not slightly longer if you don’t already. That helps firm it up and provide nice slices.

I generally use fresh, but if I do use dry, get the egg ones, they are thinner and better quality. Also, as pps, you have to have a wet ragu, and a loose bechamel. If it sits for a while before going in the oven, even better. Assume you are foiling the top of the dish when it goes in too??

Cutting dry is easy btw for other pps. Just score with a knife, and snap.

I always assemble lasagne the day before and put in the fridge ready to shove in the oven the following day. That gives the sheets time to absorb liquid and soften.

I use them dry, but you can dip them in a bowl of boiled water just to add an extra bit if liquid.

I use a baking tray and pour hot water onto them

Many really useful insights here into construction and contents here as well as pasta management techniques! Thanks all.

Quite rightly pp say lasagne is much better if made in advance or eaten the next day. But I tend to make it from scratch after work and eat it for that evenings dinner - the idea is always that there will be significant left overs for another lunch or supper, but for one reason or another that never seems to happen.

I need better lasagne related management clearly and will try and incorporate some of your top tips.

There is a trick, layer up your lasagne ensuring that your sauce is hot and slightly (not too much) sloppy . Allow to cool and stand for a few hours. The pasta will soften from the sauce.
i am a very competent cook and it took me years to learn this I had the same problems as you.
alternatively use fresh pasta which is pretty easy to make.

Never had an issue cooking from dry but the sauce needs to be wetter than using fresh pasta, submerging everything under the sauces, and cook longer and lower than if using fresh when you only are crisping it up

I just make sure my sauce is wet enough, and when I make the lasagne I normally layer it and either let it sit for half hour then or let it sit for 20 mins or so after cooking as this seems to give time for extra soaking. My dry lasagne sheets are never leathery.

Cook not too hot and long and whack it up at the end to crisp the top x

I always use them dry you don't need to cook them first just make sure there's enough sauce between the layers and they cook perfectly 😊