@UnixSysV I never add water to my lasagnas. Even when a sauce is nice and thick and reduced it will still have enough moisture for the lasagna to absorb. Especially when using superior fresh buffalo mozzarella
I have seen Frank's own channel and he seems more competent on there than on Epicurios. I think Epicurios tells him what to do. We saw him in the carbonara video where he messed things up. On his channel he made a real carbonara the right way. So I think it is Epicurios calling the shots.
@@groofay yeah it has to be. Frank made a lasagna on his channel. Yes a few steps Vincenzo would probably disagree with, but Frank stated in the video he was doing it his way. And it was less produced than what you'd get from a big media company like Epicurios. I would hope Vincenzo finds Frank's real channel and react on that rather than seeing Frank cook something where he has no control over.
Well, my Sicilian grandmother made hers differently; she did NOT water down her sauce (horrendous). She included whole Italian link sausages so everyone would get a big chunk with each slice. She'd make thick layers of ricotta, and did NOT use sofrito, just onion and garlic. She did use a lot of cheese, including on top. I still make it her way, and never had any different. So delicious!
I'm pretty sure that adding salt to onions (and some vegetables in general) is meant to help draw water out of them quicker. I always add a pinch or two whenever I make sofrito just so it cooks faster
@@vincenzosplate It cooks properly either way. You're not omitting anything by adding salt and it takes two seconds to do. It really only helps with the cooking, as having the sauce be "too salty" at the end is a non-issue, since you don't need too much salt for the veggies anyway and you can always taste test at any point during cooking. Personally, I cook bolognese for several hours, so if there is a way to save at least a couple of minutes you bet I'll do it!
The salt added to the sofrito helps the vegetables cook evenly. The salt draws water out of the cells of the vegetables, helping to prevent the outside edge browning while the inside is left under done.
@martinschulz326 Lasagna isn't something that you make on a whim, it's something that you plan, therefore you have all the time you need to do it correctly. People do this with homemade pizza and that's why most homemade pizza crusts taste like nothing. It takes the entire day to do a Lasagna correctly, given that the bolognese is a good 4-6 hour process in and of itself. My Nonna would be up at the crack of dawn, have her espresso, make the bolognese and béchamel AND get lunch going, then go back to assemble the Lasagna. Have a glass of wine and sit out back for an hour or two and then get the Lasagna into the oven. It's a labor of love, take the day and relax with no time constraints. 🤌🍷🧀
I just made a fantastic baked rigatoni, and I give full credit to Vincenzo. The whole time I was thinking about techniques and recommendations I learned from this channel! Use fresh ingredients, take your time, let them make love. Don't kill the pasta, and do everything in the right order. Thanks, Vincenzo!
Ahhhhh Gold Medal. AWESOME REACTION - drinking Chinotto and eating Twisties to help calm the way.......In future when watching them with you, I will calm my way with a Guinness, and lime and black pepper chips. 🤣 Your recipe sits at No.1 in our household
I used your recipe for sauce and the lasagna with some homemade sheets and a béchamel instead of ricotta and it was amazing even my uncle who doesn’t care for lasagna typically enjoyed it
As with Indian/Pakistani meat dish, you never add water unless you have to. Or a little to mix with the dried spice. As far as regulating the moisture level of a lasagne, I've learned to blanch the sheets first. At least this works for me with the current baking tray I'm using (surface area versus depth), number of layers, and after learning a new oven. All of these factors have to be considered, including how much your sauce has reduced of course. Edit: and how wet your bechamel is, and the quantity.
Well to be fair, three years ago you made a video on how to make an authentic 4+ hour bolognese ragout with the young lad from Italy. It's delicious, we all love it and I actually made it last weekend. In that video you brown the onions before adding the carrot and selery, and you put half a glass of wine with the soffritto and half with the meat. What annoyed me watching this lasagna video was this cook putting the tinfoil gleaming side out 😅 and adding the water to the sauce, that's just wild.
@vincenzosplate ah yes, the one with the pork cheek and the chicken liver from a year ago. I've taken half that idea (the chicken liver) and added that to the other recipe a while ago. Sadly I couldn't find the pork cheek at the time, so I did it like that and have yet to fully commit to that later recipe. Loved the chicken liver 👌 I think both recipes are great to know, it shows you can vary a bit with a classic. The most consistent factor is actually the soffritto I feel, while the tomato and meat you can have a bit of fun with depending on the consistency you want.
@@tanikokishimoto1604 as far as I'm aware the shiny side reflects the heat better, keeping it inside the dish instead of in the surrounding oven. Now, since the oven is a contained system I don't really know whether it makes any difference. There's several ways heat is transferred, perhaps one of em cancels this "issue" out completely. Anyway, I like to think there's a reason for the two sides, so have always acted as if it makes a difference. Didn't really test it tbh.
Guga did an experiment on his sous vide channel many years back, on whether you should season the steak before or after sous vide cooking. The result was clear: season before. Because the seasoning penetrated throughout the steak and made it much more delicious. The same applies here: you have to season throughout, to give the salt time to get into all the components. If you just season at the end, the salt will just be in the liquid, with everything else being bland. And of course you brown the meat. This isn't just about cooking the meat, but to develop flavours. Otherwise you could just boil a steak and eat it as is without any sear.
Isnt every element going to be drowning in said sauce at the same time? And arent you gonna eat the lasagne while the sauce coats the components? And couldnt you just salt it before reducing so much so that the salt could penetrate everything better over the hour and a half?
@@ImperialGuard123123that’s not the point. Maillard reaction brings umami, that’s why you brown the meats and then adds sofritto so that their water helps to scrape out the browned bits.
this chef listened to his _pot_ ... I listened to my Nonna and (though she'd have never used the same colorful vocabulary Vincenzo used at the beginning) Vincenzo and my Nonna say the same things!...and since my lasagna _always_ looks like @1:37, listen to Vincenzo about this! auguri Vincenzo! 💗
Thanks for this review. Not Italian here, but Vincenzo's suggestions make sense to me, and I will be following them. (I have yet to make lasagna a first time.)
@@vincenzosplateMary isn’t the only one, Vincenzo. Whenever I want to cook something new, I check out a few videos on RUclips but I almost always end up coming here and doing it your way. Your recipes encapsulate the best of Italian cuisine: simplicity and freshness with unrivalled flavour. Thank you, Chef.
In the U.S., "mince meat" is something completely different than the UK and AU. In the US, it is a mixture of meat, nuts, spices, fruit, and alcohol spirits.....definitely NOT something to put in a lasagna. And, Chef Frank Proto is US-based. I only point that out because of the differences in what we call things here. And canned tomatoes in the US (ones that have been packed in the US, not imported like DOP San Marzanos) are often sugary--between most companies using Roma tomatoes opposed to San Marzano, and from the addition of citric acid to preserve color- and can even be acidic (usually from the addition of calcium chloride in most of them, to prevent the tomatoes from breaking down) which is why you often see American chefs adding salt more than you would with the superior products used in Italy and AU.
I put in a layer of spinach (vastly reduced by cooking) mixed with ricotta to make it saucy. My lasagna is effectively a sandwich of that spinach layer in between two other layers with true ragú bolognese that took at least 4 hours to get tasty. And of course a layer of ragu and bechamel on top, with a lot of parmiggiano cheese
Love the reacting video vincenzo love your content your a amazing RUclipsr I love watching your videos they are the greatest and the best and the coolest your content is the greatest and the best and the coolest it always brings a smile to my face watching your content your a amazing and fantastic cook vincenzo😊❤️❤❤❤
Vincenzo, why did you not comment on his using uncooked lasagna sheets? This is the reason why he needed a watery sauce to bake for an hour- so the raw lasagna would cook through. The pasta need to be par boiled before baking; then he wouldn't need the watery sauce to cook it through. This is the biggest error in my opinion and you didn't pick up on that.
@@ZagnutBar depending on the type/quality you don't have to precook it. I use a fairly thick sauce plus bechamel and dry pasta sheets. The result is just fine, not dry at all. I think the question is, if this guy is so worried about the pasta ending up too chewy, why is the best solution to ruin the sauce??
@j-starchaser I know what you mean, those are not the no-boil variety lasagna sheets. He's using traditional sheets which are really thick and need some softening up before going into the lasagna. You can get away with soaking the thick sheets in just-boiled water in a lasagna pan until they're pliable. That works. But to put them in dry like that, it's going to need that extra sauce water and the full hour of baking to get them properly al dente. It's ridiculous, just moisten the noodles and you don't need the extra water in the sauce. And you'll only need to bake it for maybe 30 minutes. I'm kind of gobsmacked that Vincenzo didn't pick up on this very obvious problem (but he obsessed over far less critical elements).
@jamesbyrd3740 oven ready lasagna sheets don't look like that. Oven ready sheets are completely flat rectangles. The ones he used were thick with the ruffled edges.
I am pretty sure the lasagna sheets he used don't need to be precooked. Most of dry lasagna sheets you buy from the supermarkets are ready to be baked. You are a truly lasagna lover and I believe maker and of course for you this is weird. These lasagna sheets save time but they are definitely not as good as the fresh lasagna sheets you use in yout lasagna
I actually do often cook the meat and vegetables separately, it is something they do in Chinese stir fries to prevent anything from becoming overcooked. I find in a bolognese sauce or similar sauce that the vegetables often end up too mushy if I cook the sofrito then add meat. Because then we add sauce and by the end the veggie texture can be too mushy. Also by having too much in the pan at once the veggies / meat do not cook as well. This is definitely more evident when making Chinese stir fries but also applies to Italian food. Of course, you want everything together during the simmer stage and you definitely want everything to cook in the same pot so all the juices go in the sauce. I am Italian and generally like doing things the old fashioned way but i can understand cooking things separately for the initial sear and then combining later.
Hi Vincenzo - I agree with you. Following the correct steps is how you make a delicious dish. Lasagna is one of my favorites. I will watch your lasagna video. Thanks so much.
I don't know why this man made such a watery bolagnese. I've told you before, I attended culinary school in the US and I was taught 3 things about italian cuisine. 1) Keep it simple 2) fresh is always best, use freshest ingredients possible 3) Bolagnese is ALWAYS a slow process, do not rush a sauce 🤷🏼♀️
Its because he thought the moisture was necessary to cook his lasagne noodles. They were still raw, but the idea was that they'd cook in the oven once assembled with everything else, so he wanted a watery sauce to ensure they get enough moisture to cook right. Though i heard from another comment that bolognese in the right consistency would still be moist enough, or he couldve used fresh mozzarella to compensate with the water content.
@dominicballinger6536 yes, a normal bolognese cooks American 'oven ready' noodles just fine If that man was using dry noodles that needed to be par cooked first then he's not doing the necessary and doing way too much unnecessary 😒
@@vincenzosplate You rock Vincenzo. Did you notice Chef Jean Pierre made a new bolognese video and refrenced your review of his last attempt? Curious to see if he redeemed himself to your standards.
The wine is there to loosen the fond on the bottom of the pan and bring depth of flavour. I don't think it has to be directly combined with the meat. If tenderizing is your goal. Slow cooking in a tomato sauce will do that. Adding the water is a practical choice. It seems like this video is meant for people who don't want to make fresh pasta or cook the pasta before constructing the lasagne. Dry pasta soaks up a lot of moisture from the sauce. If he didn't add the water it would become very dry. You can see the end result isn't very soggy. Maybe this older video of Frank making lasagna suits you better: ruclips.net/video/GcNeRccLgDw/видео.htmlfeature=shared
@@Geeweezee I use dry pasta sheets for lasagna. Never ever have I need to add water to the sauce or pre cook them and I do not know of anyone who does that. You'r Sauce has more than enough moisture to soften them during the time in the oven. If not, you should maybe buy different pasta. And if you think it is necessary, then don't reduce your sauce that much in the first place. Reducing a sauce for 90 minute just to add the water back in afterwards is completely asinine. Greetings from a trained chef in Switzerland.
Amazing review Vincenzo! I think you'd thoroughly disapprove of my Lasagne, I add mushrooms and add cheese to the bechemel sauce. Being British, it's mainly Cheddar cheese especially on the top as it melts and browns nicely.
I don't understand the basil. I mean, I make my own passata, and that has a nice healthy sized basil leaf in it, that should be enough basil I would think. I have a family as well, and a lot of things can go to waste in my house, so to keep things easy and to prevent the argument about eating the same thing, I just use my Bolognese I make with the pappardelle and make lasagna. I also serve both with garlic Yorkshire pudding. Grew up in England, and my step father is Italian, so it was just something we did and it worked out well.
Or just dont cook the sauce down that much if you wanted it to still be a bit watery. Its the same result, but you wouldn't have wasted an hour and a half on the same results with an extra step
Vincenzo, I agree with everything you said, except I also brown each meat. It deapens the flavor and provides more intensity. You're right in saying that it's not necessary to get the meat to fully cook, but it is necessary to develop the flavor profile that I prefer.
I don't see any good reason for why someone shouldn't brown their minced meat, to say that it's not a steak so it's not needed isn't relevant at all, browning is already used when making braised meat dishes, and you don't need to cook the meat all the way, just only the outside. Also, the browning gives the meat extra flavour because of the maillard reaction
@vincenzosplate I swear man, there's a video where a lvl 3 "chef" made a watery Biryani with Freekah. It was absolutely horrid. I wouldn't be surprised if one day a "lvl 3" chef makes Pizza without flour.
I don't put mozzarella in my layers, I use fresh mozzarella on top and put it on in the last 10 minutes of baking. I make fresh ricotta so it's thinner than store bought, and I mix it with egg, Parmigiano and pecorino, and spread it. My Nona, who grew up in Genoa, started doing this during the great depression (living in San Francisco at the time) trying to make the ricotta go further with less milk. But it was good so she just kept doing it this way and passed the recipe down.
You taught me a lot Vincenzo and watching this just thinking about Bolognese, I'm finishing your sentences! Why has he got way more onion than carrot and celery when all three are supposed to be equal amounts? Why is he frying the onion longer than the carrot and celery? The wine in the soffrito is wrong, it goes in the meat. The soffrito should be done first and put to one side, then the meat is done separately, then wine in the meat, then the previously fried soffrito added to the meat with passata (and maybe some puree to avoid opening another 500g passata!) and then lid is put on for 2.5 hours, then gradually milk is added, then cook for 2.5 hours more. The milk is blended in slowly at the half-way point. It needs at least 5 hours in total on a very low heat. Even 4 hours isn't enough and it will not come out right. It's the only way to do Ragu! No oregano, no herbs at all, no garlic. You don't even need stock. Let the simplicity of the ingredients give it flavour, because they do once salt is added at the end to the final meal on the plate. Salt just draws water out of everything when cooking and it's not right to put salt while anything is cooking. The Ragu comes out rich enough, it can even be too rich if not enough water is there in the final sauce and this is only with onion, carrot, celery and meat. Adding anything else is wrong. Try making it dozens of times and you'll soon realize I am telling the truth. David from Bologna that was featured on this channel showed how to make it properly. Even he was adding tons of salt way before the end, but what he did was still better than 99% of people on RUclips. One of the closest to the original recipe was Jamie Oliver, I think he actually puts in the effort and research, while others like Gordon Ramsay get laughed at by Vincenzo. Ramsay is adding Worcester Sauce... WHY.
Hahaha...funny. But so stupid to add water after cooking. The tomatoes are what binds the sauce! So the longer you cook the more water evaporates and the more the tomatoes will bind the liquids! Then when you add the thick sauce to the lasagna sheets the last water remaining will be sucked up by the lasagna. When serving you will have a sturdy straight up standing lasagna!
One of the few times I’ll have some disagreements with V. Since you are using dry commercial pasta you need a thin sauce, thus the water. And compared to the volume of sauce he used very little water - really just replacing what had cooked down. That’s why you sauce both sides of the pasta so it will absorb the flavors of the sauce. The mozzarella choice was OK, since you used the thin sauce for the pasta a whole milk mozzarella is unnecessary and a waste of money since you are really just using it for glue to help hold things together. It’s flavors mild and only a minor part of the dish The choice of meat was really a gimmick for the video. I prefer beef but I’m sure it was delicious. Northern Italy often uses pork shank as a primary meat base in slow cooked dishes so it’s not an unforgivable sin. I agree with the spice levels. Use caution with family dishes. The salting wasn’t an issue. His pitches were probably teaspoons or less. The proof of the technique was the stability out of the pan on the slices. I think I would have enjoyed this more watching Vincenzo actually cook the recipe and see how it tasted. I suspect he would have said. “It has the form of lasagna, is very flavorful and delicious, but it’s unnecessarily complicated for a 101 level lasagna. It needed to be simple and would have been equally delicious. Good job for what you made Frank, but simplify it and try again”
@@vincenzosplatethank you. You have made me a better cook (which my family appreciated). I enjoy your show and would never be mean spirited. I wish you much success. And when I visit Sicily this spring I’ll be looking for dishes you’ve made or recommend. God Bless you and your beautiful family
My 75 year old mom always makes the lasagna with a lot of minced meat and cheese. The amount of sauce is relatively small and after baking it, its pretty thick and very flavourful.
Love how he cracks down throughout the video and then in the end he says, it looks nice :) Maybe the steps are wrong in someone else's perspective, but thats why cooking is art. I would eat that every day of the week t.b.h.
Wow the disingenuity. Here let me help you..."in the end, It looks nice, but the steps were wrong-wrong meat, wrong wine usage, adding water to the sauce... it looks nice, but I don’t like it. Not restaurant quality. Not the best lasagna." Conveniently skipping that part huh? Lol, not “maybe.” They are wrong-and not just anyone’s perspective, but an Italian’s. That’s like saying, “Maybe using ketchup on spaghetti is wrong in someone else’s perspective.” bruh...really? "but thats why cooking is art" Oh, you mean “I do what I want” cooking, right? Then calling it lasagna 101 and the best you’ll ever make? Sure. You can gobble up whatever you want, but that doesn’t make it authentic or the best lasagna.
It does look nice. But it's certainly not "restaurant quality" or the "best lasagna ever" due to several technical faults like using basil to give flavours to the wine instead of the tomato sauce, cooking it for only 90 mins instead of 4-6 hours and of course adding a gallon of water at the end
i just made lasagna tonight. sauce needs no water, and if using dry lasagna noodles, par cook them to a floppy but still furm consistency. a bit before al dente. then do your layers. i like a cheesy lasagna that still catches the flavor of the sauce. with my Mother's help, that is how it worked out.
i said many of the same things Vincenzo said when i first watched his video , " WHERES THE BEEF" I was waiting for him to add bacon to this one note pork mess of a lasagna, I'm addicted to watching " Perfect Lasagna " vids here and im always saying WTF are you doing to the "Chef" . Thank you Vincenzo
Awesome video Vincenzo. I have 2 questions. Could the Bouquet Garni be used to flavour the meat instead of the Sufritto, discard it when the sauce is finished. I know you said to use peeled Tomatoes instead of diced. Could diced Tomatoes be used, and still have a thick sauce if no other liquid is added. Love your content always Vincenzo.
Seasoning as you go ensures that you have even, balanced flavor throughout. You don't need to put a lot of salt, but what happens is that it dissolves in the water and then osmoses into the food much more effectively than if you only season at the end.
@vincenzosplate I add salt to every stage, but I'm conservative with it, because I don't want to oversalt it. Then I season it to taste at the end, if it needs it. But it also depends on the ingredients; puttanesca, for example, doesn't need any extra salt, between the capers, anchovies, and olives.
I have experimented with different meats making a ragu. A ragu that includes veal is always the best flavor in my honest opinion. Pork, Beef and Veal - best combo for a delicious ragu
I think result is great. Could taste delicious. But recipe is crazy and complicated 😂 I would not do like this. I have no spare week to make one lunch 😂
You need to teach these chefs how to make ragu. I was also disappointed but liss Bolognese after her great pomodoro sauce. I tried to brown the meat before like a lot did, and I don't think it makes the ragu better, so I agree with you! David recipe is perfection 😍😍😍 PS: Please teach Alex too, he used butter in his Bolognese 😅
Vincenzo, I have been watching your videos for a while. You have been reacting and cooking Italian dishes. My question is: when are you going to cook other dishes rather than Italian food.? Perhaps you can challenge yourself with Chinese, Mexican, Moroccan, Indian, Japanese, Peruvian, and/or Vietnamese meals. I bet many of your followers would love to see your skills and techniques, and we can judge your meals.
Thank you Vincenzo for confirming the way I cook meatsauce. I have often horrified friends and some non-Italian friends when I do it the way you do. I always get the argument "oh my god, you HAVE to make sure the meat is cooked before you add it to the sauce.....you are risking poisoning!" actually cooking the meat in the sauce does cook it but keeps it moist and you don't end up with rubbery, hard pebbles.😂
I need to apologize for not religiously watching this channel for so long like i used to, so busy with life. Anyways I’m so glad to see Vincenzo here still doing the good work. Also Im surprised it took this long for me to hear buddy curse that much Italian. Haha Eh I know life is stressful and crazy people make it so just watch the cortisol levels hehe Eat the right stuff and laugh at the clowns because they’re clowns. And goodness gracious people sub to this man he deserves it.
There is actually a reason to add salt as you go. If you don't salt the meat or the sofrito, they will draw in salt from the sauce itself through osmosis. This is one reason why lasagna always tastes better the next day; the ingredients are finally salted. It's fine to only salt the finished sauce, but if you add small amounts as you go you're not making a mistake. Just be careful that you don't put too much in.
There are so many ways of making lasagna, some of them very bad. I knew someone whose family wanted noodles on the bottom, with sauce, a few pounds of ricotta filling almost to the top. Another layer of noodles, sauce and mozzarella. That was it. Came out like a ricotta pie with sauce. I make my own sausage. Would love to see your sausage recipe, Vincenzo. Pretty please??❤❤
I personally always brown my pork & beef when I make bolognese, it creates a deeper and more enjoyable flavour in my opinion. I've also tried different methods regarding the tomato sauces that you recommended. Hand-crushed canned San Marzano tomatoes have a nice flavour, but using Passata is the best in my opinion (I wouldn't have tried if you didn't recommend them).
😂 yes, I use three different meats. Pork gives the sauce a sweet taste. But I use pork, beef and lamb. And like my mother I make tiny meatballs as well
Browning adds a TON of flavor to any food. It's not caramelization, it's the Maillard reaction between sugars and amines in the food induced by heat. It is _never_ a mistake to brown meat unless you're doing something very specific, because even if you're not going for the texture, you will add new layers of flavor. Moreover, it'll add fond to the pan or pot, which is even more flavor. And you take out the meat to avoid overcooking or boiling/steaming it as you cook the sofrito.
@@dominicballinger6536 If you cook the sofrito and then add the meat you're effectively boiling it. My meat sauces got 10x better when I browned the meat first.
Ok I think I figured it out. I grew up with people who made American versions based on the Great Depression era in this country. Corners drastically cut. Only one kind of meat. A basic sauce with mozzarella and cottage cheese…. Yes I said it. Americans are also afraid of flavor so I have always had bland bland lasagna. And they always cooked the noodles before layering the lasagna
I've never put cheese inside a lasagna, and used bechamel instead. Cheese only on top. I thought that was the traditional way but Vincenzo doesn't seem to mind so i may have done it wrong(but delicious!) all these years...
SI SI SI! The basil? The alcohol with sofrito? The tomato before meat? I make mine the exact way your episode with the chef from Bologna recommends, but I do add a bay leaf or two if it's a huge pot!
You remind me of my nightmare story cooking with Vincenzo's recipe... My mom asked me to make ragu bolognese for the family, and I was cooking it like Chef David (from Bologna's) instructions exactly (although obviously minus the veal and pork because we keep kosher) and just as I added the tomatoes and went to give a class while it was cooking my mom came in, gave a shout "This sauce is bland" and tossed in something like 20 different spices...
I remember watching a chef claim to make Paella. He proceeded to make Puerto Rican rice, Arroz con gandules. I was pretty upset. I can only imagine how you feel looking at this. I only trust an Italian person to tell me how to make Italian food.
as much I love both of you and some of your both recipes, this reaction reminds me of my school teacher yelling why I haven't done my homework. It's not constructive. When Frank cooked the meat, took it out and then put the tomato before the meat was BECAUSE the meat was cooked, in his style, but it was cooked. Vincenzo, I've watched many of your videos and I see you, as a cook, learn about the world's beloved italian foods. However, you've made a video with David about bolognese pasta, very different from what you've made before. We have faith in you as our food guru. Go the extra step, consult yourself with other people, train yourself, become our idol. I have no doubt that your recipe and Frank's recipe are both amazing, but different. He didn't pretend that's Bologna style authentic recipe, this is not neapolitan pizza. The salt part is to put it in not just one part, but some specific stages of the dish. That is true in many many foods, however because his recipe is different it doesn't apply to a more traditional italian recipe. We need you to disect the foods like your youtube rivals if you want to become the pillar of italian cuisine. Like Ethan, Alex, Vito, Guga, Joshua etc. You know that Frank makes really good food in his youtube videos 99% of the time. I want you to be pissed off and become stubborn and you to show everyone what's the best and correct way of doing things. This video was lazy. I wanna see your next one. Prove it to me and everyone else what you're made off!
Regarding the wine being required for the meat rather than the sofrito, Vincenzo didn't David from Bologna put the wine with the sofrito before the meat in your video? I think he definitely did
I usually cook my lasagna sheets before layering them. Is it possible that he made the sauce more liquid because he is not cooking the lasagna beforehand and needs the extra liquid to cook and soften the sheets?
Sorry Vincenzo, you need to educate on what is purpose of wine. In a sauce that will cook for hours, you can add the wine whenever you want. If you add it early when pan is mostly dry, it will cook of some alcohol and reduce. But the impact on end result of something cooking for 2-5 hours is minimal. The alcohol will bind to other ingredients and act as flavor enhancer. That takes time.
Hearing you say lasagna doesn't need garlic made me realize I put garlic in almost everything I cook. I'm an American and I assume all Italian cooking is half garlic. What other popular recipes in Italy would you think may have garlic, but really don't?
"the meat is the alcoholic" that was good
😂😂😂its such an important step
he uses low moisture mozzarella because he doesn't want extra water, but he put extra water in the sauce
You add water to the sauce so you can cook it longer without it reducing too much
@@joshuanugentfitnessjourney3342 except for the fact he added the water to the sauce after cooking the sauce
@@joshuanugentfitnessjourney3342 he added water after reducing it and stopped cooking it after that
@UnixSysV I never add water to my lasagnas. Even when a sauce is nice and thick and reduced it will still have enough moisture for the lasagna to absorb. Especially when using superior fresh buffalo mozzarella
He didn't want extra-extra water
Great Review Vincenzo! I was thinking about seeing this! haha
I'm eight minutes in and can't watch anymore, where's my Tommy Gun?
James! Happy to see you here, loved your commentary on the chef with a go-pro on his head
I'm not a fan of Frank, almost as annoying as Adam Ragusea
Unfortunately both of us have seen this Nobody deserves to see this in life hahah
Would love to see your review of this video/recipe
@ChefJamesMakinson
Great review Vincenzo, one of your best so far.
Word of advice: please consider using headphones when reviewing, to avoid the sound leaking 😉
Thanks for the advice my friend! I'll see what I can do😊
I have seen Frank's own channel and he seems more competent on there than on Epicurios. I think Epicurios tells him what to do. We saw him in the carbonara video where he messed things up. On his channel he made a real carbonara the right way. So I think it is Epicurios calling the shots.
@@groofay yeah it has to be. Frank made a lasagna on his channel. Yes a few steps Vincenzo would probably disagree with, but Frank stated in the video he was doing it his way. And it was less produced than what you'd get from a big media company like Epicurios. I would hope Vincenzo finds Frank's real channel and react on that rather than seeing Frank cook something where he has no control over.
If I was a guest chef, I would say that I'm doing it right or not at all
@@groofay If a culinary instructor needs to lie to get by, something went wrong
@@KarmasAB123 You can "get by" but you won't be as big as you could be.
Which of Frank's videos should I check out next? 😊
Well, my Sicilian grandmother made hers differently; she did NOT water down her sauce (horrendous). She included whole Italian link sausages so everyone would get a big chunk with each slice. She'd make thick layers of ricotta, and did NOT use sofrito, just onion and garlic. She did use a lot of cheese, including on top. I still make it her way, and never had any different. So delicious!
Nonnas are the best at cooking, no chef compares to them❤
My mom is from Molise, she also doesn't use Sofrito, just onions and garlic. She'd also never be caught dead using dried pasta to make lasagna.
"...and then you _dilute_ the sauce with a couple of gallons of flavorless water. Mmm, look at _that!"_
Then a couple minutes later he says "I am using a low moisture mozzarella... I don't want extra liquid."
Basically that's what he did😂
I'm pretty sure that adding salt to onions (and some vegetables in general) is meant to help draw water out of them quicker. I always add a pinch or two whenever I make sofrito just so it cooks faster
But would't it be better if we took our time to properly cook the recipes instead of trying to speed up the process?
Depends. How much time do I have?@@vincenzosplate
@@vincenzosplate It cooks properly either way. You're not omitting anything by adding salt and it takes two seconds to do. It really only helps with the cooking, as having the sauce be "too salty" at the end is a non-issue, since you don't need too much salt for the veggies anyway and you can always taste test at any point during cooking. Personally, I cook bolognese for several hours, so if there is a way to save at least a couple of minutes you bet I'll do it!
The salt added to the sofrito helps the vegetables cook evenly. The salt draws water out of the cells of the vegetables, helping to prevent the outside edge browning while the inside is left under done.
@martinschulz326 Lasagna isn't something that you make on a whim, it's something that you plan, therefore you have all the time you need to do it correctly.
People do this with homemade pizza and that's why most homemade pizza crusts taste like nothing. It takes the entire day to do a Lasagna correctly, given that the bolognese is a good 4-6 hour process in and of itself. My Nonna would be up at the crack of dawn, have her espresso, make the bolognese and béchamel AND get lunch going, then go back to assemble the Lasagna. Have a glass of wine and sit out back for an hour or two and then get the Lasagna into the oven. It's a labor of love, take the day and relax with no time constraints. 🤌🍷🧀
David also added the onions and browned it first, then added the celery and carrots.
I just made a fantastic baked rigatoni, and I give full credit to Vincenzo. The whole time I was thinking about techniques and recommendations I learned from this channel! Use fresh ingredients, take your time, let them make love. Don't kill the pasta, and do everything in the right order. Thanks, Vincenzo!
Ahhhhh Gold Medal. AWESOME REACTION - drinking Chinotto and eating Twisties to help calm the way.......In future when watching them with you, I will calm my way with a Guinness, and lime and black pepper chips. 🤣 Your recipe sits at No.1 in our household
I would go with a San Benedetto Ginger and a bag of San Carlo pink pepper and lime chips lol.
I can see you drinking guiness while watching the videos hahahahah I tell your guiness story to everyone. The guiness taste tester of Abruzzo
I used your recipe for sauce and the lasagna with some homemade sheets and a béchamel instead of ricotta and it was amazing even my uncle who doesn’t care for lasagna typically enjoyed it
As with Indian/Pakistani meat dish, you never add water unless you have to. Or a little to mix with the dried spice.
As far as regulating the moisture level of a lasagne, I've learned to blanch the sheets first. At least this works for me with the current baking tray I'm using (surface area versus depth), number of layers, and after learning a new oven. All of these factors have to be considered, including how much your sauce has reduced of course.
Edit: and how wet your bechamel is, and the quantity.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this video my friend! I bet you're an excellent cook 😊
Well to be fair, three years ago you made a video on how to make an authentic 4+ hour bolognese ragout with the young lad from Italy. It's delicious, we all love it and I actually made it last weekend. In that video you brown the onions before adding the carrot and selery, and you put half a glass of wine with the soffritto and half with the meat.
What annoyed me watching this lasagna video was this cook putting the tinfoil gleaming side out 😅 and adding the water to the sauce, that's just wild.
I used to cook my Bolognese the wrong way my friend, I invite you to check out my latest version 😊
@vincenzosplate ah yes, the one with the pork cheek and the chicken liver from a year ago. I've taken half that idea (the chicken liver) and added that to the other recipe a while ago. Sadly I couldn't find the pork cheek at the time, so I did it like that and have yet to fully commit to that later recipe. Loved the chicken liver 👌
I think both recipes are great to know, it shows you can vary a bit with a classic. The most consistent factor is actually the soffritto I feel, while the tomato and meat you can have a bit of fun with depending on the consistency you want.
What is wrong with having aluminum foil shiny side out? Genuinely curious.
@@tanikokishimoto1604 as far as I'm aware the shiny side reflects the heat better, keeping it inside the dish instead of in the surrounding oven.
Now, since the oven is a contained system I don't really know whether it makes any difference. There's several ways heat is transferred, perhaps one of em cancels this "issue" out completely.
Anyway, I like to think there's a reason for the two sides, so have always acted as if it makes a difference. Didn't really test it tbh.
He's using French techniques to cook Italian.
Such a bad combination! 😅
@@vincenzosplate I was going to say, the only time I've salted onions is when I've made french recipes that required extremely caramelized onions.
Definitely not.
Guga did an experiment on his sous vide channel many years back, on whether you should season the steak before or after sous vide cooking.
The result was clear: season before.
Because the seasoning penetrated throughout the steak and made it much more delicious.
The same applies here: you have to season throughout, to give the salt time to get into all the components. If you just season at the end, the salt will just be in the liquid, with everything else being bland.
And of course you brown the meat. This isn't just about cooking the meat, but to develop flavours.
Otherwise you could just boil a steak and eat it as is without any sear.
doesnt he say throughout that bolognese style sauce is precisely not a steak?
Steaks are thick, the salt needs time to penetrate, yes. But this is a sauce, just stir it a bit and the salt is going to be spread evenly everywhere.
Isnt every element going to be drowning in said sauce at the same time? And arent you gonna eat the lasagne while the sauce coats the components? And couldnt you just salt it before reducing so much so that the salt could penetrate everything better over the hour and a half?
Thanks for sharing! How can I find this video from Guga?
@@ImperialGuard123123that’s not the point. Maillard reaction brings umami, that’s why you brown the meats and then adds sofritto so that their water helps to scrape out the browned bits.
I've been watching Vincenzo so long now, I know exactly when he's going to pause the video to point out what's wrong lol
this chef listened to his _pot_ ... I listened to my Nonna and (though she'd have never used the same colorful vocabulary Vincenzo used at the beginning) Vincenzo and my Nonna say the same things!...and since my lasagna _always_ looks like @1:37, listen to Vincenzo about this!
auguri Vincenzo!
💗
Grazie amico mio! Happy to hear that you enjoyed this video😊
Thanks for this review. Not Italian here, but Vincenzo's suggestions make sense to me, and I will be following them. (I have yet to make lasagna a first time.)
"They learn the word 'antipasto' and they think they're Italian." - movie line
😂😂😂
Hahahaha well they do 😅 What did you think of his lasagna?
@vincenzosplate we use ground beef in Mexico to make lasagne. We know better.
If your antipasto touches the pasta, does it explode?
My friend adds standard Gouda cheese to lasagna. And he was surprised that his Italian girlfriend don't want any serious relationship with him
Hahahaha I'm with the italian girlfriend!
I love how you cook. That's the way I was taught to cook from my dad's Italian family. Thank you ❤
Happy to hear that you've tried and loved my recipes❤ Stay tuned for more delicious dishes 😊
@@vincenzosplateMary isn’t the only one, Vincenzo. Whenever I want to cook something new, I check out a few videos on RUclips but I almost always end up coming here and doing it your way. Your recipes encapsulate the best of Italian cuisine: simplicity and freshness with unrivalled flavour. Thank you, Chef.
In the U.S., "mince meat" is something completely different than the UK and AU. In the US, it is a mixture of meat, nuts, spices, fruit, and alcohol spirits.....definitely NOT something to put in a lasagna. And, Chef Frank Proto is US-based. I only point that out because of the differences in what we call things here. And canned tomatoes in the US (ones that have been packed in the US, not imported like DOP San Marzanos) are often sugary--between most companies using Roma tomatoes opposed to San Marzano, and from the addition of citric acid to preserve color- and can even be acidic (usually from the addition of calcium chloride in most of them, to prevent the tomatoes from breaking down) which is why you often see American chefs adding salt more than you would with the superior products used in Italy and AU.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this video my friend!
I remember David (the guy from Bologna) add wine to his sofrito when he shared his Bolognese recipe on your channel.
Only half, the other half was with the minced meat. But he also started with cooking onions and later added carrots and celery.
@ Yep! That’s exactly what happened. Read this, Vincenzo! Stop being overly sensitive and critical.
lol I love how you are casually eating in the background 😅
I put in a layer of spinach (vastly reduced by cooking) mixed with ricotta to make it saucy. My lasagna is effectively a sandwich of that spinach layer in between two other layers with true ragú bolognese that took at least 4 hours to get tasty. And of course a layer of ragu and bechamel on top, with a lot of parmiggiano cheese
Love the reacting video vincenzo love your content your a amazing RUclipsr I love watching your videos they are the greatest and the best and the coolest your content is the greatest and the best and the coolest it always brings a smile to my face watching your content your a amazing and fantastic cook vincenzo😊❤️❤❤❤
Thank you so much for all the love and support my friend! It means a lot to me 😊❤
Hi Vincenzo what brand of dried lasanga sheets do you recommend to buy in Australia? Or is it better to use/buy/make fresh lasanga sheets?
Good question my friend! Homemade lasagna sheets are the best you can use!
@@vincenzosplate can I use egg pasta?
1:40 in Croatia we also make lasagne with bolognese. One day bolognese with pasta and the next day we make lasagne with leftover bolognese.
Vincenzo, why did you not comment on his using uncooked lasagna sheets? This is the reason why he needed a watery sauce to bake for an hour- so the raw lasagna would cook through.
The pasta need to be par boiled before baking; then he wouldn't need the watery sauce to cook it through.
This is the biggest error in my opinion and you didn't pick up on that.
@@ZagnutBar depending on the type/quality you don't have to precook it. I use a fairly thick sauce plus bechamel and dry pasta sheets. The result is just fine, not dry at all.
I think the question is, if this guy is so worried about the pasta ending up too chewy, why is the best solution to ruin the sauce??
@j-starchaser I know what you mean, those are not the no-boil variety lasagna sheets. He's using traditional sheets which are really thick and need some softening up before going into the lasagna.
You can get away with soaking the thick sheets in just-boiled water in a lasagna pan until they're pliable. That works. But to put them in dry like that, it's going to need that extra sauce water and the full hour of baking to get them properly al dente.
It's ridiculous, just moisten the noodles and you don't need the extra water in the sauce. And you'll only need to bake it for maybe 30 minutes.
I'm kind of gobsmacked that Vincenzo didn't pick up on this very obvious problem (but he obsessed over far less critical elements).
It was oven ready lasagna sheets.
@jamesbyrd3740 oven ready lasagna sheets don't look like that. Oven ready sheets are completely flat rectangles. The ones he used were thick with the ruffled edges.
I am pretty sure the lasagna sheets he used don't need to be precooked. Most of dry lasagna sheets you buy from the supermarkets are ready to be baked. You are a truly lasagna lover and I believe maker and of course for you this is weird. These lasagna sheets save time but they are definitely not as good as the fresh lasagna sheets you use in yout lasagna
Is a update of vincenzos lasagna recipe coming?
What do you think that I should change in my recipe?
@@vincenzosplate nothing haha its perfect
"It's not a pizza" 🤣
What!? Uncle Frank got roasted?? He’s such a good chef
I actually do often cook the meat and vegetables separately, it is something they do in Chinese stir fries to prevent anything from becoming overcooked.
I find in a bolognese sauce or similar sauce that the vegetables often end up too mushy if I cook the sofrito then add meat. Because then we add sauce and by the end the veggie texture can be too mushy. Also by having too much in the pan at once the veggies / meat do not cook as well. This is definitely more evident when making Chinese stir fries but also applies to Italian food. Of course, you want everything together during the simmer stage and you definitely want everything to cook in the same pot so all the juices go in the sauce.
I am Italian and generally like doing things the old fashioned way but i can understand cooking things separately for the initial sear and then combining later.
I am not even close to an experienced cook but I am so with Vincenzo…witaf😳
0:14 Not that I’m Italian… but I think there should also be milk.
Hmm milk and wine? 😅
Great video XD I'm happy I learned an authentic Italian recipe before I watched Frank's vid - I do like him but I'm never making his lasagne!
Have you tried following my lasagna recipe? You can find it at www.vincenzosplate.com😊
Hi Vincenzo - I agree with you. Following the correct steps is how you make a delicious dish. Lasagna is one of my favorites. I will watch your lasagna video. Thanks so much.
If you give a try to my recipe, let me know how it will turn out for you my friend 😊
@ will do!
I don't know why this man made such a watery bolagnese. I've told you before, I attended culinary school in the US and I was taught 3 things about italian cuisine.
1) Keep it simple
2) fresh is always best, use freshest ingredients possible
3) Bolagnese is ALWAYS a slow process, do not rush a sauce
🤷🏼♀️
Its because he thought the moisture was necessary to cook his lasagne noodles. They were still raw, but the idea was that they'd cook in the oven once assembled with everything else, so he wanted a watery sauce to ensure they get enough moisture to cook right. Though i heard from another comment that bolognese in the right consistency would still be moist enough, or he couldve used fresh mozzarella to compensate with the water content.
You've been taught well my friend! 😊
@dominicballinger6536 yes, a normal bolognese cooks American 'oven ready' noodles just fine
If that man was using dry noodles that needed to be par cooked first then he's not doing the necessary and doing way too much unnecessary 😒
Quibbling over things that only add to the recipe, like browning meat or adding salt at each step, is gatekeeping of the most ridiculous sort.
I like using ricotta in lasagna, and your tip about whipping it with some hot water to make a spread is much appreciated.
Stay tuned for more cooking tips😊
@@vincenzosplate You rock Vincenzo. Did you notice Chef Jean Pierre made a new bolognese video and refrenced your review of his last attempt? Curious to see if he redeemed himself to your standards.
The wine is there to loosen the fond on the bottom of the pan and bring depth of flavour. I don't think it has to be directly combined with the meat. If tenderizing is your goal. Slow cooking in a tomato sauce will do that.
Adding the water is a practical choice. It seems like this video is meant for people who don't want to make fresh pasta or cook the pasta before constructing the lasagne. Dry pasta soaks up a lot of moisture from the sauce. If he didn't add the water it would become very dry. You can see the end result isn't very soggy.
Maybe this older video of Frank making lasagna suits you better: ruclips.net/video/GcNeRccLgDw/видео.htmlfeature=shared
How thick are these dry pasta sheets that absorb a lot of water? 🤔💭
I've made plenty of lasagnes which turned out to dry. So I speak from experience. 😊
@@Geeweezee I use dry pasta sheets for lasagna. Never ever have I need to add water to the sauce or pre cook them and I do not know of anyone who does that. You'r Sauce has more than enough moisture to soften them during the time in the oven. If not, you should maybe buy different pasta. And if you think it is necessary, then don't reduce your sauce that much in the first place. Reducing a sauce for 90 minute just to add the water back in afterwards is completely asinine.
Greetings from a trained chef in Switzerland.
Amazing review Vincenzo! I think you'd thoroughly disapprove of my Lasagne, I add mushrooms and add cheese to the bechemel sauce. Being British, it's mainly Cheddar cheese especially on the top as it melts and browns nicely.
Thanks for sharing your twists to lasagna my friend! Feel free to experiment in the kitchen and find the flavors that you enjoy most 😊
I don't understand the basil.
I mean, I make my own passata, and that has a nice healthy sized basil leaf in it, that should be enough basil I would think.
I have a family as well, and a lot of things can go to waste in my house, so to keep things easy and to prevent the argument about eating the same thing, I just use my Bolognese I make with the pappardelle and make lasagna.
I also serve both with garlic Yorkshire pudding. Grew up in England, and my step father is Italian, so it was just something we did and it worked out well.
If the pasta is too dry, why not just pre-cook a bit instead of ruining the sauce with extra water?
I like using more sauce.
Or just dont cook the sauce down that much if you wanted it to still be a bit watery. Its the same result, but you wouldn't have wasted an hour and a half on the same results with an extra step
That would have been the best thing to do!
When you said "where's the beef"... I was already aware where this was going to...😅
Vincenzo, I agree with everything you said, except I also brown each meat. It deapens the flavor and provides more intensity. You're right in saying that it's not necessary to get the meat to fully cook, but it is necessary to develop the flavor profile that I prefer.
Thanks for sharing how you prefer to cook your meat! I'll keep an open mind and give it a try 😊
@vincenzosplate Maybe a video with both and you can point out what you like and don't like about each style?
Vincenzo is back!!
When was I gone? 😂
I don't see any good reason for why someone shouldn't brown their minced meat, to say that it's not a steak so it's not needed isn't relevant at all, browning is already used when making braised meat dishes, and you don't need to cook the meat all the way, just only the outside. Also, the browning gives the meat extra flavour because of the maillard reaction
Thank you for sharing your opinion! In my experience it is not important to brown the mest but if you feel like it is by all means do it 😊
"People in Australia love my lasagna."
I happen to be one of them Vincenzo. I use your recipe every time I make it.
Aw thank you so much for trusting in my recipe my friend! I'm happy to hear that you've tried and loved it 😊
It's Always Epicurious
😅
@vincenzosplate I swear man, there's a video where a lvl 3 "chef" made a watery Biryani with Freekah. It was absolutely horrid.
I wouldn't be surprised if one day a "lvl 3" chef makes Pizza without flour.
Your method of adding cheese to the top at the end of the cook is the best idea. No worries about a stuck on mess that way👍😊
Happy to hear that you think my idea of adding cheese on top at the end makes the lasagna more tasty! Stay tuned for more tips 🧀
The next lasagna video should be Lazy man’s lasagna with Jack. I just watched James review it and it made me cry and I’m American 💀
I don't put mozzarella in my layers, I use fresh mozzarella on top and put it on in the last 10 minutes of baking. I make fresh ricotta so it's thinner than store bought, and I mix it with egg, Parmigiano and pecorino, and spread it. My Nona, who grew up in Genoa, started doing this during the great depression (living in San Francisco at the time) trying to make the ricotta go further with less milk. But it was good so she just kept doing it this way and passed the recipe down.
Thanks for sharing how you prefer to make your lasagna! It sounds absolutely delicious 😊
You taught me a lot Vincenzo and watching this just thinking about Bolognese, I'm finishing your sentences!
Why has he got way more onion than carrot and celery when all three are supposed to be equal amounts?
Why is he frying the onion longer than the carrot and celery?
The wine in the soffrito is wrong, it goes in the meat. The soffrito should be done first and put to one side, then the meat is done separately, then wine in the meat, then the previously fried soffrito added to the meat with passata (and maybe some puree to avoid opening another 500g passata!) and then lid is put on for 2.5 hours, then gradually milk is added, then cook for 2.5 hours more. The milk is blended in slowly at the half-way point. It needs at least 5 hours in total on a very low heat. Even 4 hours isn't enough and it will not come out right. It's the only way to do Ragu!
No oregano, no herbs at all, no garlic. You don't even need stock.
Let the simplicity of the ingredients give it flavour, because they do once salt is added at the end to the final meal on the plate. Salt just draws water out of everything when cooking and it's not right to put salt while anything is cooking. The Ragu comes out rich enough, it can even be too rich if not enough water is there in the final sauce and this is only with onion, carrot, celery and meat. Adding anything else is wrong. Try making it dozens of times and you'll soon realize I am telling the truth.
David from Bologna that was featured on this channel showed how to make it properly. Even he was adding tons of salt way before the end, but what he did was still better than 99% of people on RUclips. One of the closest to the original recipe was Jamie Oliver, I think he actually puts in the effort and research, while others like Gordon Ramsay get laughed at by Vincenzo. Ramsay is adding Worcester Sauce... WHY.
Hahaha...funny. But so stupid to add water after cooking. The tomatoes are what binds the sauce! So the longer you cook the more water evaporates and the more the tomatoes will bind the liquids!
Then when you add the thick sauce to the lasagna sheets the last water remaining will be sucked up by the lasagna. When serving you will have a sturdy straight up standing lasagna!
You know it my friend! It's so pointless to add water! 😅
One of the few times I’ll have some disagreements with V. Since you are using dry commercial pasta you need a thin sauce, thus the water. And compared to the volume of sauce he used very little water - really just replacing what had cooked down. That’s why you sauce both sides of the pasta so it will absorb the flavors of the sauce.
The mozzarella choice was OK, since you used the thin sauce for the pasta a whole milk mozzarella is unnecessary and a waste of money since you are really just using it for glue to help hold things together. It’s flavors mild and only a minor part of the dish
The choice of meat was really a gimmick for the video. I prefer beef but I’m sure it was delicious. Northern Italy often uses pork shank as a primary meat base in slow cooked dishes so it’s not an unforgivable sin.
I agree with the spice levels. Use caution with family dishes. The salting wasn’t an issue. His pitches were probably teaspoons or less.
The proof of the technique was the stability out of the pan on the slices.
I think I would have enjoyed this more watching Vincenzo actually cook the recipe and see how it tasted. I suspect he would have said. “It has the form of lasagna, is very flavorful and delicious, but it’s unnecessarily complicated for a 101 level lasagna. It needed to be simple and would have been equally delicious. Good job for what you made Frank, but simplify it and try again”
Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts my friend, I appreciate it 😊
@@vincenzosplatethank you. You have made me a better cook (which my family appreciated). I enjoy your show and would never be mean spirited. I wish you much success. And when I visit Sicily this spring I’ll be looking for dishes you’ve made or recommend. God Bless you and your beautiful family
My 75 year old mom always makes the lasagna with a lot of minced meat and cheese. The amount of sauce is relatively small and after baking it, its pretty thick and very flavourful.
Is your mom Italian? 😊❤
@@vincenzosplate German🖖
Love how he cracks down throughout the video and then in the end he says, it looks nice :)
Maybe the steps are wrong in someone else's perspective, but thats why cooking is art.
I would eat that every day of the week t.b.h.
Wow the disingenuity. Here let me help you..."in the end, It looks nice, but the steps were wrong-wrong meat, wrong wine usage, adding water to the sauce... it looks nice, but I don’t like it. Not restaurant quality. Not the best lasagna." Conveniently skipping that part huh?
Lol, not “maybe.” They are wrong-and not just anyone’s perspective, but an Italian’s. That’s like saying, “Maybe using ketchup on spaghetti is wrong in someone else’s perspective.” bruh...really?
"but thats why cooking is art" Oh, you mean “I do what I want” cooking, right? Then calling it lasagna 101 and the best you’ll ever make? Sure.
You can gobble up whatever you want, but that doesn’t make it authentic or the best lasagna.
@@rubensimon5450 that struck a nerve
It does look nice. But it's certainly not "restaurant quality" or the "best lasagna ever" due to several technical faults like using basil to give flavours to the wine instead of the tomato sauce, cooking it for only 90 mins instead of 4-6 hours and of course adding a gallon of water at the end
@@J-146 OP was indeed being deceitful.
Thanks for sharing your opinion! 😊
The only "bouquet/spice" I add to my sauce is simple basil. It is what perfectly flavours the sauce.
You know what the real deal is❤
i just made lasagna tonight. sauce needs no water, and if using dry lasagna noodles, par cook them to a floppy but still furm consistency. a bit before al dente. then do your layers.
i like a cheesy lasagna that still catches the flavor of the sauce. with my Mother's help, that is how it worked out.
Thanks for sharing your take on lasagna my friend! I bet yours is delicious 😊
@vincenzosplate It was very good. I wouldn't dare call it traditional, authentic, or the best, but it pleased the family and that is what matters!
i said many of the same things Vincenzo said when i first watched his video , " WHERES THE BEEF" I was waiting for him to add bacon to this one note pork mess of a lasagna, I'm addicted to watching " Perfect Lasagna " vids here and im always saying WTF are you doing to the "Chef" . Thank you Vincenzo
Haha happy we had the same reactions! Stay tuned for more similar videos 😊
Awesome video Vincenzo. I have 2 questions. Could the Bouquet Garni be used to flavour the meat instead of the Sufritto, discard it when the sauce is finished. I know you said to use peeled Tomatoes instead of diced. Could diced Tomatoes be used, and still have a thick sauce if no other liquid is added. Love your content always Vincenzo.
I'd like to stick to the authentic recipe my friend: if it's not broken don't try to fix it
Seasoning as you go ensures that you have even, balanced flavor throughout. You don't need to put a lot of salt, but what happens is that it dissolves in the water and then osmoses into the food much more effectively than if you only season at the end.
Thanks for sharing this fact my friend! What do you personaly do with the salt?
@vincenzosplate I add salt to every stage, but I'm conservative with it, because I don't want to oversalt it. Then I season it to taste at the end, if it needs it. But it also depends on the ingredients; puttanesca, for example, doesn't need any extra salt, between the capers, anchovies, and olives.
I have experimented with different meats making a ragu. A ragu that includes veal is always the best flavor in my honest opinion. Pork, Beef and Veal - best combo for a delicious ragu
You know what the real deal is my friend👨🍳
Loving the white hair
😂 thank you
What a pain, I will just do a lasagna with your classic recipe. Made it so often now still perfect. Experience from centuries.
Thank you so much for your trust and support my friend 😊
I think result is great. Could taste delicious. But recipe is crazy and complicated 😂
I would not do like this. I have no spare week to make one lunch 😂
You need to teach these chefs how to make ragu.
I was also disappointed but liss Bolognese after her great pomodoro sauce.
I tried to brown the meat before like a lot did, and I don't think it makes the ragu better, so I agree with you! David recipe is perfection 😍😍😍
PS: Please teach Alex too, he used butter in his Bolognese 😅
Glad we share the same opinion👨🍳 Stay tuned for more delicious recipes in this channel 😊
Vincenzo, I have been watching your videos for a while. You have been reacting and cooking Italian dishes. My question is: when are you going to cook other dishes rather than Italian food.?
Perhaps you can challenge yourself with Chinese, Mexican, Moroccan, Indian, Japanese, Peruvian, and/or Vietnamese meals.
I bet many of your followers would love to see your skills and techniques, and we can judge your meals.
Lasagna sauce looks like a a lasagna chili . There.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about this video my friend😊
Thank you Vincenzo for confirming the way I cook meatsauce. I have often horrified friends and some non-Italian friends when I do it the way you do. I always get the argument "oh my god, you HAVE to make sure the meat is cooked before you add it to the sauce.....you are risking poisoning!" actually cooking the meat in the sauce does cook it but keeps it moist and you don't end up with rubbery, hard pebbles.😂
You're absolutely right my friend! Teach your friends how to properly make a Bolognese sauce 😊
lol I’m like you when I watch some cooking shows! I yell at them “what are you DOING??”
What can I say my friend, I'm passionate about real Italian recipes 😊❤
@ And that is why I love you ❤️
I need to apologize for not religiously watching this channel for so long like i used to, so busy with life. Anyways I’m so glad to see Vincenzo here still doing the good work. Also Im surprised it took this long for me to hear buddy curse that much Italian. Haha
Eh I know life is stressful and crazy people make it so just watch the cortisol levels hehe Eat the right stuff and laugh at the clowns because they’re clowns. And goodness gracious people sub to this man he deserves it.
I hope you stay for the long run this time my friend! Your support means a lot to me😊
There is actually a reason to add salt as you go. If you don't salt the meat or the sofrito, they will draw in salt from the sauce itself through osmosis. This is one reason why lasagna always tastes better the next day; the ingredients are finally salted.
It's fine to only salt the finished sauce, but if you add small amounts as you go you're not making a mistake. Just be careful that you don't put too much in.
Thanks for sharing this information, I guess it makes sense but I would still stick to my recipe 😅
There are so many ways of making lasagna, some of them very bad. I knew someone whose family wanted noodles on the bottom, with sauce, a few pounds of ricotta filling almost to the top. Another layer of noodles, sauce and mozzarella. That was it. Came out like a ricotta pie with sauce. I make my own sausage. Would love to see your sausage recipe, Vincenzo. Pretty please??❤❤
I still have to come up with a sausage recipe my friend 😊
When he added the water I almost closed the video. How much do you want me to suffer?!
Let's suffer together😂
I personally always brown my pork & beef when I make bolognese, it creates a deeper and more enjoyable flavour in my opinion. I've also tried different methods regarding the tomato sauces that you recommended. Hand-crushed canned San Marzano tomatoes have a nice flavour, but using Passata is the best in my opinion (I wouldn't have tried if you didn't recommend them).
Thanks for sharing how you prefer to cook your Bolognese! I'm glad you have found a recipe that you enjoy
😂 yes, I use three different meats. Pork gives the sauce a sweet taste. But I use pork, beef and lamb. And like my mother I make tiny meatballs as well
That sounds very good I love lamb
Browning adds a TON of flavor to any food. It's not caramelization, it's the Maillard reaction between sugars and amines in the food induced by heat. It is _never_ a mistake to brown meat unless you're doing something very specific, because even if you're not going for the texture, you will add new layers of flavor. Moreover, it'll add fond to the pan or pot, which is even more flavor. And you take out the meat to avoid overcooking or boiling/steaming it as you cook the sofrito.
But the sofrito is the first step, just like mirepoix no? You do that, THEN add the meat, then deglaze with wine and finish with tomatoes
@@dominicballinger6536 If you cook the sofrito and then add the meat you're effectively boiling it. My meat sauces got 10x better when I browned the meat first.
@@Serenity_Dee hmm, alright! I'll try it out next time I make a sauce
Your statement your sauce is 10x better by browning the meat first ...in my opinion is all in your head @@Serenity_Dee
Thank you for sharing your point of view! Have you ever tried to cook my lasagna recipe?
Ok I think I figured it out. I grew up with people who made American versions based on the Great Depression era in this country. Corners drastically cut. Only one kind of meat. A basic sauce with mozzarella and cottage cheese…. Yes I said it. Americans are also afraid of flavor so I have always had bland bland lasagna. And they always cooked the noodles before layering the lasagna
I've never put cheese inside a lasagna, and used bechamel instead. Cheese only on top. I thought that was the traditional way but Vincenzo doesn't seem to mind so i may have done it wrong(but delicious!) all these years...
Happy you have found a lasagna recipe that you love my friend😊
SI SI SI! The basil? The alcohol with sofrito? The tomato before meat? I make mine the exact way your episode with the chef from Bologna recommends, but I do add a bay leaf or two if it's a huge pot!
You remind me of my nightmare story cooking with Vincenzo's recipe...
My mom asked me to make ragu bolognese for the family, and I was cooking it like Chef David (from Bologna's) instructions exactly (although obviously minus the veal and pork because we keep kosher) and just as I added the tomatoes and went to give a class while it was cooking my mom came in, gave a shout "This sauce is bland" and tossed in something like 20 different spices...
Thanks for sharing your twist to the traditional Bolognese sauce! Glad to hear that you've found the taste that works best for you 😅
I would try some without question.
I remember watching a chef claim to make Paella. He proceeded to make Puerto Rican rice, Arroz con gandules. I was pretty upset. I can only imagine how you feel looking at this. I only trust an Italian person to tell me how to make Italian food.
You know my pain my friend! It's frustrating to watch chefs ruin my beloved Italian recipes
Vincenzo should’ve brought confetti for this one haha
Hahahaha to keep a positive atittude?
He is one of the better chefs I watch from time to time, in this case I prefer Vince's recipe over his.
Thanks for the support, it means a lot❤
"The meat is the alcoholic." that line really got me 😂. Looks like you have a nice sun tan
😂
as much I love both of you and some of your both recipes, this reaction reminds me of my school teacher yelling why I haven't done my homework. It's not constructive. When Frank cooked the meat, took it out and then put the tomato before the meat was BECAUSE the meat was cooked, in his style, but it was cooked. Vincenzo, I've watched many of your videos and I see you, as a cook, learn about the world's beloved italian foods. However, you've made a video with David about bolognese pasta, very different from what you've made before. We have faith in you as our food guru. Go the extra step, consult yourself with other people, train yourself, become our idol. I have no doubt that your recipe and Frank's recipe are both amazing, but different. He didn't pretend that's Bologna style authentic recipe, this is not neapolitan pizza. The salt part is to put it in not just one part, but some specific stages of the dish. That is true in many many foods, however because his recipe is different it doesn't apply to a more traditional italian recipe. We need you to disect the foods like your youtube rivals if you want to become the pillar of italian cuisine. Like Ethan, Alex, Vito, Guga, Joshua etc. You know that Frank makes really good food in his youtube videos 99% of the time. I want you to be pissed off and become stubborn and you to show everyone what's the best and correct way of doing things. This video was lazy. I wanna see your next one. Prove it to me and everyone else what you're made off!
Thank you for sharing your honest feedback😊
For the dozenth time I am petitioning Vincenzo to salt his sofrito.
😂😂
Regarding the wine being required for the meat rather than the sofrito, Vincenzo didn't David from Bologna put the wine with the sofrito before the meat in your video? I think he definitely did
I'll have to double check the video
To be fair, he did say lasagne "Frank style" at the start of the video 😅
That lasagna will raise your blood pressure for all the salt added.
Thanks for agreeing with me in the salt part!😊
just curious, can you cook lasagna without oven? i want to try it someday, but dont have oven
How would you do that?😅
@@vincenzosplate well, curiosity sometimes work in mysterious way isnt it?🙂
Damn I feel bad for you Vincenzo. I hope at least you could've shared your twisties and finish them with the boys.
I so feel your pain this one hurt .... Vincenzo puts on Orange Polo so he can put his Leg down :-)
I also love Uncle Roger 😂😂
Yeah this video was a total pain to watch 😅
I usually cook my lasagna sheets before layering them. Is it possible that he made the sauce more liquid because he is not cooking the lasagna beforehand and needs the extra liquid to cook and soften the sheets?
Yes, I think he did the sauce more runny because he didn't cook the lasagna sheets
Sorry Vincenzo, you need to educate on what is purpose of wine. In a sauce that will cook for hours, you can add the wine whenever you want. If you add it early when pan is mostly dry, it will cook of some alcohol and reduce. But the impact on end result of something cooking for 2-5 hours is minimal. The alcohol will bind to other ingredients and act as flavor enhancer. That takes time.
Thank you for taking the time to explain this my friend, I appreciate it!
I think one of my life's greatest regrets is that I'll never meet Vincenzo and try his cooking myself.
Aww thank you so much for the love and support my friend 😊
Hearing you say lasagna doesn't need garlic made me realize I put garlic in almost everything I cook. I'm an American and I assume all Italian cooking is half garlic. What other popular recipes in Italy would you think may have garlic, but really don't?
It's a big misconception that Italian recipes have to have garlic in them. We actually value the simple flavors 😊