Do you put eggs in your lasagna?

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I used to make lasagna all the time. When my daughter was young, she loved
helping me wash all the veggies and assembling the lasagna. The only thing
she didn't like? Eating the lasagna. So I quit making it.

Fast forward several years. Now we have food allergies. She has discovered
frozen lasagna that she isn't allergic to. She loves it. But it contains
eggs. And I'm allergic to eggs.

Now when I used to make lasagna, it didn't come out the same way twice. I
didn't follow an exact recipe. I usually used ricotta cheese but
occasionally I would use cottage cheese instead if that is what I had in the
house. I have seen online that you can also use a mix of the two. To this,
I would always add an egg and some grated Italian cheese. Might be
mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, whatever I had in the house. Usually
a mix of things. I would also usually add some chopped spinach, but if I
had no spinach, I would add lots of parsley.

I found it best to cook the noodles first. I would put down a layer of
sauce. I usually made my own, tomato with added peppers, onions and maybe
mushrooms, maybe a bit of carrot, but not chunky. I would use my immersion
blender because I found that some kids wouldn't eat chunks of veggies.
Anyway... I would then put down a layer of the pasta, then some of the
cheese mixture. Then a layer of sliced saut?ed zucchini (to help lower the
carb count and up the veggie count). Then more sauce, more cheese mix, more
pasta then more sauce. I would bake it through and just before it was done
I would add more grated cheese and leave it in the oven until melted.

I have learned from making my meatloaf with veggies (about 1/2 meat and 1/2
veggies) that it is best to saut? all the veggies before using them. This
allows most of the liquid to seep out and it concentrates the flavors. Much
better end result. So if I do make it again, I will for sure saut? the
spinach before adding it to the cheese.

Anyway... I am concerned about making this without the egg. I have seen a
discussion online and the results were very mixed. Some say they never add
egg. But some were not talking about a cheese and vegetable type. They
were talking about one with ground beef and b?chamel sauce. Some did make
the cheese kind and said they never added egg and it worked. Others said
they never used ricotta or cottage cheese and only grated cheese. I could
see this working too, although the end result wouldn't be the same.

So have you successfully made a cheese or cheese and veggie lasagna with no
eggs? I have been buying the gluten free lasagna noodles but using them
broken in chunks for chicken and noodles.

I would LOVE to be able to make and eat lasagna again. My only other
problem is the amount that it makes. At one point I had a huge lasagna pan.
I will have to look. Am not sure I still have it. No matter what I do, I
wind up with soooo much of it! I have made this for my husband's extended
family (Italian, lots of people there for dinner) and although they loved
it, there was still enough for a second day. Yes, I know it freezes, but I
never seem to have room in my freezer for leftovers.

I did buy some smaller casserole dishes for us to use while my husband is
away. Perhaps what I should do is start by pulling out a set amount of
noodles, then cooking and only using those? Using the whole box would for
sure be overkill. Unless perhaps my husband is home. He has no problems
eating leftovers.
 
Oh. Beggin' your pardon, Julie. I thought everybody had things in their
freezer that expired long ago. I have finally tossed the starched clothes I
sprinkled to iron back in '47 and the Science Fair exhibit that didn't quite
work. Polly



"Julie Bove" wrote>
 
Julie Bove wrote:


To answer the subject line- yes, I put eggs in my lasagne. The only
vegetables in mine are the parsley in the cheese mixture, and whatever
is in the tomato sauce.
 
"Julie Bove" wrote


Julie, I don't make it often but I've never added eggs. I've done the
cheese sort and the beefy/cheesy/tomato sort. I didn't even know it was
traditional until this thread.

What I am used to is adding lots of various veggies, especially to the no
tomato/beef sorts. A basic white sauce of milk and toasted flour, spices,
cottage cheese, then 2 other cheeses either smallish cubed or slivered (a
yellow and a wite normally), and often tofu ('water fry' in a pan to firmly
golden then cut and add).

Favored veggies (no particular order, depends on what's handy): sauteed
onions, green beans, slivers of garlic, asparagus (cheap canned works fine
here but remove any woody stems), chopped sauteed brussel sprouts, diced
broccoli stems, black olives, chopped fresh spinach, chopped bok choy, leek
greens, mushrooms, okra, asian eggplant. I'm sure others have been added
but those come automatically to mind. Oh! Japan, daikon was added. You
could also add water chestnuts for the same effect but a woody flavor (I
think Daikon would be better here).


Experiment! Cooking isn't a set idea with no variation. Just because you
were used to seeing an egg added, doesn't mean all of us are. Wile most
seem to indicate it, I see several of us never heard of using one.

I suspect the egg relates to using ricotta. With cottage cheese, you won't
have that crumble effect that needs to be balanced with an egg binder.
 
On 3/10/2011 4:45 PM, Ema Nymton wrote:

Becca,

Try a dash of freshly ground nutmeg in the cheese. Yum.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.
 
On 11 Mar 2011 20:14:42 GMT, notbob wrote:

Not just me. You too. I can remember when a new product called
Kleenex was first introduced to the market I lived in. Before that,
we used "potty hankies" when we wanted to blow our noses at home.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
"Polly Esther" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

I just cleaned mine out last month. There is nothing old in there except
for maybe some package of steak for sandwiches that I don't even remember
buying. I plan to cook that for my husband. I have a feeling he is the one
who bought it. It's not the sort of thing I would buy.
 
On 3/10/2011 8:20 PM, sf wrote:

It sure is adding to the mis-attributed posts, that's for sure.
Sometimes it's pretty funny. "I didn't say that". "I didn't say you
said that". "Well, why does it look like I did?".
 
"cshenk" wrote in message
news:o[email protected]...

Thanks! I will try making it. And if that works, I will try the stuffed
shells. My concern was that I would have a runny mess of cheese and I
didn't want that. I think I will try what I read about and use a mix of
ricotta and cottage cheese.
 
"Dan Abel" wrote



Not according to the docs for the quotefix program, at least, doesnt look
like it will touch googlegroups messes. If it does, the poor documentation
doesnt lead to seeing that.

Besides, the issue isnt Julie's OE client but the fact that all of us just
have to adapt around the poor handling of googlegroups and apparently Win
Live. It is irritating but for the interesting posts, I correct them for
the other person on reply.
 
"Julie Bove" wrote in message

You are the only person I know of that uses eggs in lasagna. Never heard of
it before, never thought it would have a place.
 
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