Cookoff!!!!

[malmalthekiller]

Congrats on a job well done. And COLBY in LASAGNA? God awful.

[Jester]

Yes, colby in lasagne. Along with cheddar. And no parmesan.

It tasted worse than I'm making it sound, to be honest.

On the other end of things, the guy who came in third or second (I can't remember which) had a five cheese lasagne that was simply awesome. Very cheesy, but in the best possible way. Nice and light and fluffy and airy and cheesy. Cheesier even than mine (and I used four pounds of cheese), but not dense at all. I was very impressed, and I had no problems losing to him at all.

[Bella_Vixen]

Along with cheddar. And no parmesan.

You'd hate my lasagna.

But enough people love my lasagna that I *might* be able to get over my devestation that you hate my lasagna. Even my bro-in-law, who is a food snob and was the one person I never wanted to try my lasagna, love it. So much so that he will never make lasagna again, because mine is so much better.

[Jester]

You'd hate my lasagna.

If you use colby and cheddar, and no parmesan, I might very well hate it. Personally I don't think those first two belong in lasagne, and I have a tough time picturing lasagne without the third. That being said, I am also open to the possibility that the guy who made his lasagne that way was incompetent, and that somehow, some way, you might persuade me that such a lasagne, done well, is not a bad thing.

Until I taste such a lasagne, though, I remain unswayed.

[lupo pazzesco]

I don't know, if the lasagna was a Mexican inspired dish, colby and cheddar WOULD make a bit more sense, but I just can't see them melding well with Italian flavors. Mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta, and occasionally provolone, those are the cheeses in my lasagna. But hey, to each their own, right?

[Becks]

Bella uses cheddar and...mozzarella, I believe, for her lasagna. Hell, the BIL was bragging to half the people out our nephew's wedding about her lasagna.

[Jester]

I don't know, if the lasagna was a Mexican inspired dish, colby and cheddar WOULD make a bit more sense...

Absolutely! But the lasagne in question at the cookoff was not in any way Mexican. Taco Bell is more Mexican than this lasagne was. This was a straightforward "traditional" lasagne, with distinctly nontraditional cheeses. And let me say right here that if someone can make something work with nontraditional ingredients, I will be the first one to take my hat off to them. But the lasagne in question simply did not work, so my hat stays on.

Completely unrelated: I am thinking that from now on for cookoffs, I am going to start wearing an Arizona State hat for luck. And since many of these cookoffs are outside, it can't hurt to have a hat to catch the head sweat!

[tollbaby]

mmmmm sausage lasagna... I put spicy sausage in my bolognese sauce, and my mother is always horrified, but it tastes SOOOOO good (and she puts CARROTS - yes, Bugs bunny type CARROTS in hers, so there).

I tend to use cottage cheese because ricotta has no flavor to it, and if I'm eating cheese, then by god, I want it to taste like cheese!

The fanciest lasagna I ever made had bocconcini pearls as one layer (with marinara sauce, it was yummy, but very expensive, and not THAT much better than my regular lasagna). Again, bocconcini? Largely flavorless... no fun

My favorite cheese blend is still 2 parts mozza, 1 part provolone, 1 part pepperjack (I don't know, it just works) with parmesan as the topmost layer, and cottage cheese layers under each meat sauce layer.