Comments on: Zia Rosa’s Homemade Besciamella

By: Italian Lasagna Recipe from Calabria | My Bella Vita

Italian Lasagna Recipe from Calabria | My Bella Vita — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:02:27 +0000

[...] lasagna by just about every new in-law I met and while some were decidedly better than others-gulp … I’ve discussed this!-they all had that special je ne sais quoi that made them uniquely [...]

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:11:14 +0000

I should ask my Calabrese peeps.

Yes! Please do. I’d love to hear what they say.

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:36:54 +0000

I’m surprised someone in Calabria would put béchamel in a lasagne. Must be a new thing, like past twenty years or so. I make a good béchamel. We put it over cauliflower and bake it in the oven.

I think someone else mentioned using it with cauliflower. Sounds great. As for the bechamel being a new thing, I don’t really think it is. I asked my father-in-law and he said his mother used to make it with bechamel when he was growing up. Maybe it is a personal taste kind of thing?

By: OrangePolkaDot

OrangePolkaDot — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:07:47 +0000

Thanks for this recipe. I will definitely try it. I am not a huge béchamel fan. Maybe I wasn't eating good béchame. I prefer to put ricotta in my lasagna. However, I was having to use béchamel in my lasagna when I couldn't find ricotta in Barcelona. Fortunately, I recently discovered an Italian import store with ricotta. See, I never liked it, either but I think it is because the store bought stuff is SO thick. If you try this, PLEASE let me know what you think! .-= OrangePolkaDot´s last blog ..Barcelona Festivals: El Meu Primer Festival =-.

By: Judith in Umbria

Judith in Umbria — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:09:22 +0000

I’m so pleased that you’ve grabbed this one. It’s really an important base recipe for lots of things. I caught a young Italiana using a box of besciamella a couple of weeks ago and I could hardly believe it! No! No! No! I wasn’t even aware there was such a thing.

This is a light besciamella. There is a medium one using twice that amount of flour and butter and a heavy one using three times as much. A recipe using besciamella will tell you which one. (You are now ready to make a soufflé!)

Thanks for the tips, Judith! Soufflè? That just sounds intimidating!!

By: nyc/caribbean ragazza

nyc/caribbean ragazza — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:37:48 +0000

Or maybe the French got it from the Italians. Catherine de Medici took all of the Italian secrets with her to France back in the day. ha (not to start any kind of France vs. Italy debate). Ha! Love it. .-= nyc/caribbean ragazza´s last blog ..Gorgeous day - some pics from Gianicolo Hill =-.

By: kataroma

kataroma — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:34:47 +0000

I believe that the Italians got this from French cooking as it's the same as French besciamelle. Anyway besciamelle is great on lots of other things too - cauliflour (put a bit of grated cheese in), potatoes etc - yum!) Yes, I think they did-just don't tell the Italians, I'm not sure they know. he he .-= kataroma´s last blog ..Cheese splurge =-.