What makes your taste tests stand out is that you analyze the good and bad elements and describe in detail what you like or don't like, while some content creators simply give a thumbs up or thumbs down type assessment. I look forward to seeing more of this category of videos!!
We NEED Alessio’s recipe please!!! I’ve never had lasagna without ricotta in it. I would love to make it and try it. You could do a cooking with Alessio video and show us how it’s done.
You guys are so adorable! I love Alessio's excitement, and Jessi, you are so wonderfully thoughtful! Beautiful couple! You always bring a smile to my face. Thank you for the joy you spread!
My mother refused to by frozen lasagna. She purchased foil pans with lids and would make a batch of 20 lasagna's at a time. Assemble them and then freeze them. Quick easy meal for the family. I don't know that it would stand up to Italian standards but at least it was home made.
@@Echoesofwhispers It only takes a few minutes more to make 20 vs making 2. The only difference is in assembly time. You can lay out all 20 pans on the kitchen table and have your sauce and cheeses ready in a bowl and boil up your noodles. Build them all layer by layer at the same time. Put the lids on them all and then off to the chest freezer. Make them once and you can do lasagna twice a month for almost a year. Plus we were a family of 6. So if mom was say at one of my sisters practices for band or flag core, I am at track, football etc. Dad may be the first to get home that night from work and he can just set the oven to 350 and pop the lasagna in and when the rest of us get home we can slap together a salad real quick and if someone remembered to grab some french bread on the way home we could whip up some quick garlic bread. Easy quick dinner. :)
@@Ampe96 First of I did not say 2 minutes more. I said a few minutes more. And second, no it does not take hours more to make lasagna sheets. We did both Fresh and boxed sheets. If you made your own you can expect it to take an hour longer because of the prep making the dough then rolling it out. Which is not hard with the attachments for a kitchen aid mixer. Cooking does not take much longer as long as you have large stock pots and more than one of them. I can cook 4 or 5 batches of sauce in roughly the same time as it takes to make one batch of sauce. As long as I have the burners and cook ware to support simultaneous cooking. I can bring together 5 batches of pasta dough in roughly the same time as 1 batch. I can fit 2.5 batches in the mixer and as soon as I mix one I can have someone else doing the initial rolling and separating of the dough while I make the second batch. By the time they are done and ready for it to get rolled in the machine and turned into pasta sheets the mixer is free to do that task. It really becomes simple when you have 2 of the kids working on dough, 1 working on sauce, and another working on prepping the cheese and pans.
It’s made with ricotta in the US because most Americans are descendants of Southern Italians where they typically use ricotta in lasagna like my family from Sicily.
@ Surprisingly because my family and growing up many of my friend’s families were from Sicily and they used ricotta. I’ve listened to Italians on social media (Not Italian Americans) talk about how in the north it’s bechamel and south it’s ricotta. I guess there are always exceptions. There is a video where Jessi and Alessio visit Alessio’s mom in Italy and she says her mom, Alessio’s grandmother used to make it with ricotta, but she didn’t like it. I think you should make it however you enjoy it. And I will definitely try making it with bechamel.
My husband makes his lasagna with Bechamel sauce and ricotta cheese. His dad was from Sicily, and his mom was from Northen Italy. Bechamel is what makes the lasagna good and firm. Yummy❤❤
Honestly would only trouble myself if have the receipt and or frequent the store I bought it regularly. I rarely return things so when I do my local store employees know I’m not doing some kind of scam.
They're watery because you're cooking 2 lasagnas at once in the oven. You obviously have to bake them for a little longer than the original time suggested for ONE lasagna. They were not fully cooked. I'm not saying they would've been delicious or anything. But anyone who's ever baked multiple things in the oven knows it takes extra time
All lasagna I have had from my born and raised dad's family and my mom's Italian family has always included ricotta too. I was so confused when they say no ricotta! I thought I've been lied to my whole life 😂. Love watching the taste videos ❤
Many years ago I was going to college in Spain and went to an Italian restaurant there. Their lasagna was the first one that I ever had with bechamel instead of ricotta. I fell in love with it. YUM!!!! I can't find it in a restaurant here in the US made that way. I have to make it myself, but SO worth it!
I love watching you two. Your relationship and love you share is great to watch. Continue to worry about your “ amore’s” happiness before your own and you will continue to be happy. That is how my wife and I, of 35 years, do it!😊❤
Marie Callendar's was a restaurant chain that started in California in the 1930s. It was a wonderful place to go to. The food was fresh and the pies were made every day.
Ehh their restaurant food was decent. I went a handful of times in the 90s and 2000s. Never had anything that impressed me. I eat some of the frozen food for convenience though
Costco is my favorite. I've tried all those over the years and only Costco's is worth eating. The difference in meat quality is immediately distinctive - "Wow - real meat!!" Beef, sausage, and meat-sausage combo and veg are all excellent - for what they are. Gordon Ramsey's "you're a sandwich" has never been eating BBQ in a Buc-ee's parking lot. Only Alessio can be The Spokesman!
@@Dularr The Costco lasagna is not fresh or prepared on site... it's in the frozen food section with the pizzas and such. But the Costco lasagna is delicious!
I was going to say, most of those I wouldn't even give to the neighbor!😁 But she seemed very happy about it and a good sense of humor. I want to know what she really thought!
Do you ever argue? And if so, how do you solve it? Do you have quiet days then? You look like a couple who can always communicate and love each other very much. You're really nice to watch. It warms my heart when I see two people who love each other so much. Q&A.
My friend Wayne, a preacher's son. Made the best lasagna I ever tasted but then he did everything well. Not kidding about that. He was an amazing man. Yes, he has passed on and will be forever missed. But I have not eaten lasagna ever since I ate his because every other kind was awful. Wish you could have tasted his.
it always makes me happy to see your video's. I live in Belgium and I feel so great I can buy the real italian stuff back here in europe ... we also have the premade stuff but ... I can make the real stuff myself as all the ingredients are easy to find and not to expensive. Went a few times to Italy and it tastes exactly the same at home. I even have a wood burning pizza oven in the garden :) excellent video's to watch.
I love your reviews SO much!! My mom would make the best lasagna when i was a kid, so i’ve never had frozen lasagna! She made hers with cottage cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella and not ricotta. There was meat sauce but it was just beef meat sauce . Always look forward to your reviews!
The Rana's i purposefully went and found a few months back. Refrigerated lasagna seemed like it would be better than frozen and it really is. To me that "taste" you pick up on is an American processed sauce I think. It kind of reminds me of Spaghetti-Os or Pizza Lunchables
why all the hate on ricotta cheese? Southern Italians such as Sicilian or Neapolitan traditionally use ricotta cheese vs the bechamel sauce used in the north. Since the majority of Italians in the US came from the south lasagna he typically adopted the southern tradition of using ricotta. I understand Alessio is from the north but implying that Lasagna with ricotta is less Italian than one with bechamel is neither accurate or fair.
Lasagne are from Bologna, so if you use ricotta or even worse dry pasta instead of fresh egg pasta sheets... well, these are no more lasagne, just pasta cooked in the oven.
@@tizioincognito5731I mean, not really. Lasagna is without doubt from Bologna, but there are regional variants. Basically there are two, the norther style lasagna (strictly derived from the Bolognese one) and the southern style lasagna (derived from the neapolitan one). Then in Treviso you can find radicchio in it, even if it is basically northern style, in Sicily someone puts eggplant inside even if it is based on the southern style. It's like saying that between brothy pasta e fagioli and thicker pasta e fagioli one is italian and one is not. Now if we're talking Lasagna alla bolognese, 100% with you, you can't use dry pasta or ricotta. (Penso tu sia italiano dal nickname, scusami per il commento lungo in inglese, ma non vorrei escludere dalla conversazione altre persone in caso.)
I make homemade lasagna really often and everyone loves it and raves over it. I do not like ricotta cheese at all. I use small curd cottage cheese and put it in the food processor to make it a paste consistency. It has more flavor than ricotta cheese. For my meat, I use half sage sausage and half hamburger. For my sauce I saute green peppers, mushrooms, onions and garlic until soft and then add the sauce. I use Rao’s marinara. I sprinkle it with italian seasoning. Then I let this simmer covered on low heat for thirty minutes so the flavors grow. I use a deep lasagna pan so I can make several layers. Sprinkle the top with mozzarella and fresh oregano. Also, before cooking, cover it in aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator overnight. This step makes a huge difference. The flavors blend together overnight and it makes it better.
Ciao Alessio, anche io vivo in Tennessee, ultimamente o scoperto che walmart vende pizze surgelate fatte in italia usando il marchio BetterGoods. Provale sono eccellenti, sarai veramente sorpreso. Ciao stammi bene!
I have always known and had lasagna with ricotta cheese. Even my Italian friends would always cook it with ricotta so I was puzzled when I started hearing complaints about lasagna having ricotta in it. When I questioned one my Italian friends about it, she would always cook me Italian dishes that were passed down through her family for my birthday, she told me its was a regional thing. Naples and other regions do cook it with ricotta. When I did my research it was near the medieval period the Roman dishes that resembled lasagna started using a béchamel sauce, along with change in how pasta was made. This transformation basically becomes the building block for lasagna recipes. Northern, Central and Southern all have there different takes on variations of lasagna. I think the ricotta one just took off more in the US and like all foods recipes and ingredients change. So if one wants to say what is the original lasagna its more like the medieval version. Ricotta version is more of a take on Naples variation of lasagna.
Hi guys! Great video greetings from TX I knew from the beginning the Rao's is better cause more little bit more authentic but on frozen pizza from Walmart I found a good one is from Italy and this taste excellent is the prosciutto arugula pizza with mascarpone cheese is really good. Of course if I compare with American frozen pizza. Happy holidays guys! Love this couple ❤🎉
I have to say I recently discovered a new brand of frozen lasagna named Simek's and I haven't touched any other brand since. The sauce is quite good IMO, I mean I doubt it'd get more than a 6 as a rating from either of you lol but it's still quite a tasty sauce for me. I always put extra mozzarella in the final 15 minutes or so of cooking, because cheese. And with Simek's it comes out terrific.
This is off-topic, but I was looking at your video from about a year ago when you were trying to make Frico. With Italy the next time you're in NYC. In Chicago Italy has on Tazio cheese. They call it La Perla Montasio dop6 with Italy the next time you're in NYC. In Chicago Eataly it - they call it La Perla Montasio dop6 and it is just over $24/lb but still would be worth it to treat yourselves . Love you guys ❤️
Definitely homemade is always the winner but when you need to pick up one I like the Trader Joes frozen lasagna, it's better than the refrigerator one. Great taste test, you two are always so funny.
Definitely need Alessio's recipe!! I haven't had all those brands but the ones I did have are similarly ranked. #1 Raos, #2 Angelo's #3 Stouffers #4 Marie Calanders. I only buy 1 and 2... not the others.
The best frozen lasagna I’ve had is Stuffer’s meat lovers. They have 3 or 4 different lasagnas and that’s the only one I like, but I really like that 1
Great reviews! Fun to watch. We lost the use of our kitchen for six months due to flooding, but we could still use was our microwave. We liked “Amy’s” brand of vegetarian lasagna. Rather than plastic, the tray seems to be a paper product. Also, Costco’s frozen lasagna is made in an aluminum pan. I agree with Alessio, that plastic-nuking it or baking- it is a known carcinogenic.
When my Nonna made Lasagna, Pretty sure she would add Italian Sausage to the Ragu with Beef < Classic Neapolitan Ragu, Sometimes Sweet or Hot, never both together, and she would add some Chopped Spinach to the Ricotta, Always Parmesan Reggiano or Pecorino Romano Depending on what was available, Some Provolone slices and definitely fresh Mozzarella with Basil leaves. As for Be'chamel My le Zie/Aunts made Be'chamel Lasagnas, I've known some Families adding small Meatballs < better with a Pasta al Forno and even Soppressata slices but I think it makes better Antipasto, Your Neighbor > Steelers Beanie!! GO STEELERS BABY!!!!
My first Christmas with my late husband & my mother-in-law she made Stouffer's lasagna for dinner. My family always made lasagna or manicotti for Christmas dinner but never frozen. I just figured she was old and it was easy to make. The next Christmas I offered to make a homemade lasagna but my husband had his mom said no because they liked Stouffer's better. I mean, if I worked late and needed to make something quick I might make it but for Christmas dinner? We were married 3 years and I never got used to their "tradition". (Easter supper was ham sandwiches from Subway).
I was introduced to Stouffer's through in-laws during my early marriage too! I had never tried frozen lasagna. My mom made everything from scratch. I was WOWed. As long as the Stouffer's was cooked in the oven (not microwave), I thought (at the time) that it was a more magical meal than my mom's far more delicious homemade cooking. It became something I craved, but only ate maybe 2x/year on special occasions. So funny how denial of shîtty food as a kid can lead to craving of shîtty food later. Ham sandwiches from Subway on Easter sounds absolutely tragic though.
Michael Angelos is my FAVORITE!!! Don’t hate on them! I will Admit that the quality has gone down with the inflation of costs. They used to have an individual meal with ravioli and spaghetti with pepperoni sauce. So not Italian, but it was SO good.
Problem is Americans have shallow taste buds. Hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, burritos, and fries, anything different or adventurous is shunned by americans usually. Whenever I hear classic, american and food together I know most of the time it's garbage. It's not harsh when the food taste artificial and plasticky.
Excellent video. Rana makes several versions of Lasagna.The Meat and Short Rib seem to be very salty, but the 5 Cheese is very good. I love that he uses fresh pasta sheets in the lasagna, which he also sells separately. The Rao's lasagna is also very good, but their Melanzane Parmigiana (eggplant parm) is Outstanding. I typically make a pan of lasagna or eggplant and freeze in double portions for us, but when on sale at Costco these are a great deal. Of course that hack Ramsey would offer a microwave version. Who the heck micros pasta ? What next Micro Pizza? Yuck!
I actually tried a variation of béchamel which I incorporate cream cheese and a little goat cheese In my white layer of Tre Colore lasagna . The green layer of the flag is fresh basil and Swiss chard chiffonade .
I'm actually glad that you didn't force yourselves into a corner that would make you feel you had to say "this is great" when you actually mean that it's better than the others. As long as you quantify you reasons for your choices, you are doing all we could ask from you. I eat the Michael Angelo's Single Serve lasagna all the time, prepared in the microwave. It's small enough that it heats properly and evenly and it's thicker than the Family Sized pack, for some reason. Rao's is pretty darn good too.
Always mark your calendar for a week before going to the dentist to not eat hot bubbly cheese. Last time I went, I had suffered a pizza burn a couple of days before. It was the kind of burn where you keep removing layers of skin with your tongue for the next 48 hours, and you kick yourself for not waiting an extra 90 seconds to take a bite. The staff kept saying, "ooof, that's awful" and "oh wow, that's a really bad one". The shame!
After I made my own lasagna for the first time, I never went back. Béchamel, of course, no ricotta. Beef/pork combo ground in the pot. Takes some time, but oh, so worth it!
Hey, would love to see a video on how to make a delicious lasagna! Could you please consider making one? It would be amazing to learn your take on this classic dish!
When I first moved to the states I ordered lasagna at a restaurant and took one bite and couldn’t eat the rest. My American friends told the waitress who very kindly let me order something else instead. I had no clue that Americans mostly use ricotta cheese instead of béchamel sauce, but I don’t understand why as the texture of ricotta is just so 🤢much like paste. In the U.K. it’s made with béchamel sauce and even my friend from Italy taught me how to make it with béchamel sauce. It’s so creamy and delicious.
Great video I had Stouffers not great but in a busy schedule it has to happen sometimes in my home I make homemade lasagna with ricotta a dear friend taught how to make it her parents were from Sicily Love your taste testing videos You are a great beautiful couple Take care and prayers for you all I had problems with fertility too Finally gave up and could not afford IVF After 5 years God blessed me and my husband with a beautiful daughter and another 7 years later we had another beautiful daughter I was told I would never have my own children but God had different plans Never give up hope and faith See you all in your next video ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Rao's is well known on east and west coast. The original restaurant is in NYC and there is one in California. Their frozen foods are good quality compared to other brands and they make great bottled marinara sauce too.
I may be wrong but I usually only cook frozen dinner items with the plastic cover in the microwave. I typically remove it if I am cooking it in the oven. Maybe that created all that extra moisture in the lasagna? 🤷
My mother, who is not Italian, used to put thin slices of cream cheese in between the layers of her home made lasagna instead of ricotta, and I always enjoyed it.
I’ve never ever had lasagna with ricotta in it 😮 my mum had her version when I was growing up which I never ate but never ricotta and then when I got told enough (maybe 14ish) I wanted to learn the real way to make it as my granddads side has Italian roots so I begged my friends grandma to teach me 🤣🤣🤣 Now my mum makes it how I was taught hehehe! ❤❤ Never had a pre-made lasagna though cause they never taste right and have loads of fillers and the quality of the meat and sauce isn’t good. Great video xx
I like Trader Joe’s frozen lasagna. It has ricotta but I like that. It turns out good if you microwave it a bit then wait like 45 minutes, somehow the water gets absorbed in and the noodle texture is better.
If I don't feel like making my own lasagna, (I alternate layers with ricotta and bechemel) we definitely prefer the Giovanni Rana. I think it has a much more homemade flavor and texture than the frozen brands. The pasta remains more firm and it stays together and isn't watery and running all over the plate, like Stouffer's or the other frozen options. We use Rao's sauce when we run out of homemade, though, so it's not that we don't like their brand. Maybe if Rao's made a fresh, not frozen lasagna, I'd buy it?? But, Rao's is also more expensive for a much smaller portion. The Rana is $2 cheaper, per pound (or more) and the family sized portion is 40 oz. Rao's family sized portion is only 27 oz. My husband is a "healthy eater" and enjoys leftovers for lunch the next day. That is not happening with the Rao's. LOL
There are so many different ways to make lasagna depending on what part of Italy you are from. We use ricotta cheese and mozzarella on ours. A lot depends on the sauce you make. It’s the sauce that makes or breaks the dish. I only eat the frozen ones when I don’t have the money to make it homemade. It isn’t cheap to make the homemade version. My dad would never eat a frozen one it had to be homemade. To me he made the best sauce and it was delicious. It was handed down through the years coming from Italy.
I was reading that the reason American Italians use ricotta is because their families came from southern parts of Italy where they traditionally use ricotta in their dishes versus northern Italy where they use béchamel. I'd love to hear you have a discussion about this in one of your videos. Like about the history of how foods change and migrate, using Italy as an example. It would be educational.
Two summers ago, I took Stouffer's lasagna to a neighborhood block party (because I didn't have time to cook my own). When I tried it with the other food, I was shocked at how bad it tasted. It was expensive, too. If the Pasinis think Marie Callender is worse than Stouffer's, that's horrifying.
Stouffers has one called "Italiano" which is pretty great. it's nearly as good as any Italian restaurant I've been to. and wayyy better than places like Olive Garden. I wish I could try something they'd give a 10. though they said pizza UNO was better than most frozen pizza and I thought it was really bad
@Jessi & Alessio, I would like to know how the Italians shop for groceries and what groceries they buy. Like here in the USA, I usually shop once a month, but others shop once a week. Even my small family I usually buy somethings in bulk, like toilet paper, paper towels, coffee filters, etc. I do buy my eggs once a month and usually my eggs are in a 60 egg count box that I keep in my fridge. How often do the Italians go to the grocery store? Also do the Italians ever rush to the store to stock up on toilet paper, milk and bread if they know a bad storm is coming. During the pandemic, did the Italians experience any food or house hold goods shortage, like the USA experiencing the toilet paper shortage, and toilet paper scalpers where scalping people during the pandemic bought up all the toilet paper to sell them at $5-$10 a roll?
What makes your taste tests stand out is that you analyze the good and bad elements and describe in detail what you like or don't like, while some content creators simply give a thumbs up or thumbs down type assessment. I look forward to seeing more of this category of videos!!
Agree!!!
🤢🤮
Me too!
We NEED Alessio’s recipe please!!! I’ve never had lasagna without ricotta in it. I would love to make it and try it. You could do a cooking with Alessio video and show us how it’s done.
Agreed
I love this idea. I would love to learn how to make an authentic lasagna from Alessio!
Yes, please!
My mom makes hers with cottage cheese 😱
@ mine 2
You guys are so adorable! I love Alessio's excitement, and Jessi, you are so wonderfully thoughtful! Beautiful couple! You always bring a smile to my face. Thank you for the joy you spread!
My mother refused to by frozen lasagna. She purchased foil pans with lids and would make a batch of 20 lasagna's at a time. Assemble them and then freeze them. Quick easy meal for the family. I don't know that it would stand up to Italian standards but at least it was home made.
20?!?! Wow
@@Echoesofwhispers It only takes a few minutes more to make 20 vs making 2. The only difference is in assembly time. You can lay out all 20 pans on the kitchen table and have your sauce and cheeses ready in a bowl and boil up your noodles. Build them all layer by layer at the same time. Put the lids on them all and then off to the chest freezer. Make them once and you can do lasagna twice a month for almost a year.
Plus we were a family of 6. So if mom was say at one of my sisters practices for band or flag core, I am at track, football etc. Dad may be the first to get home that night from work and he can just set the oven to 350 and pop the lasagna in and when the rest of us get home we can slap together a salad real quick and if someone remembered to grab some french bread on the way home we could whip up some quick garlic bread.
Easy quick dinner. :)
@@kencramer1697it doesn’t take 2 minutes more. You need hours more to make lasagna sheets for 20 lasagnas
@@Ampe96 First of I did not say 2 minutes more. I said a few minutes more. And second, no it does not take hours more to make lasagna sheets. We did both Fresh and boxed sheets. If you made your own you can expect it to take an hour longer because of the prep making the dough then rolling it out. Which is not hard with the attachments for a kitchen aid mixer. Cooking does not take much longer as long as you have large stock pots and more than one of them.
I can cook 4 or 5 batches of sauce in roughly the same time as it takes to make one batch of sauce. As long as I have the burners and cook ware to support simultaneous cooking.
I can bring together 5 batches of pasta dough in roughly the same time as 1 batch. I can fit 2.5 batches in the mixer and as soon as I mix one I can have someone else doing the initial rolling and separating of the dough while I make the second batch. By the time they are done and ready for it to get rolled in the machine and turned into pasta sheets the mixer is free to do that task.
It really becomes simple when you have 2 of the kids working on dough, 1 working on sauce, and another working on prepping the cheese and pans.
I always make 1 extra lasagna when making a large one so it is one for dinner and 1 to freeze
It’s made with ricotta in the US because most Americans are descendants of Southern Italians where they typically use ricotta in lasagna like my family from Sicily.
my family is from sicily and we don't use ricotta at all.
@@loveisreal4296 I lived in Sicily for years. I don’t remember ricotta being in the lasagna at all. It was béchamel and mozzarella.
@ Surprisingly because my family and growing up many of my friend’s families were from Sicily and they used ricotta. I’ve listened to Italians on social media (Not Italian Americans) talk about how in the north it’s bechamel and south it’s ricotta. I guess there are always exceptions. There is a video where Jessi and Alessio visit Alessio’s mom in Italy and she says her mom, Alessio’s grandmother used to make it with ricotta, but she didn’t like it. I think you should make it however you enjoy it. And I will definitely try making it with bechamel.
My husband makes his lasagna with Bechamel sauce and ricotta cheese. His dad was from Sicily, and his mom was from Northen Italy. Bechamel is what makes the lasagna good and firm. Yummy❤❤
@@nadyneingrassia1479 I’ll have to try that….mixing the two……sounds delicious!😋
That's what I do, but I'm from Nebraska.
Only bechamel in real lasagne. 😊
The ricotta is not used in lasagna, only Bolognese sauce, bechamel sauce and parmesan
@@AxelK-c3c besciamella, ragù alla bolognese e pasta fresca. Niente parmigiano.
Hi Jessi and Alessio , if the Michael Angelo's was watery, and sour that means it thawed in transit. Take it back to the store and get your money back
disagree, don’t waste your time and take the loss
Honestly would only trouble myself if have the receipt and or frequent the store I bought it regularly. I rarely return things so when I do my local store employees know I’m not doing some kind of scam.
It's just sour. I've had it a dozen times. Always has that flavor
I've checked other reviews they said the same Michael Angelo's is watery, I don't like anything Marie Callender's, Rao's is the best to me.
Uhh...too much work
They're watery because you're cooking 2 lasagnas at once in the oven. You obviously have to bake them for a little longer than the original time suggested for ONE lasagna. They were not fully cooked. I'm not saying they would've been delicious or anything. But anyone who's ever baked multiple things in the oven knows it takes extra time
Yeah I noticed if you cook the frozen foods longer they become less watery. So they should have left them in for maybe 5 more minutes.
^Pretty much this
No amount of time or bake can fix it
Agreed
I had the Giovanni Rana Five Cheese Lasagna yesterday and I thought it was the best store-bought lasagna I've ever had... Flavor was spot on
The 5 cheese is better than the meat one they had.
Love Rana's! Taste truly Organic, Real!
yes the 5 cheese is pretty good... i prefer it over the meat version... i eat them all the time
Vero Rana è bravo
Ricotta is a Southern Italian way to make lasagna. It's the way my Grandma made it!
My grandmother was from Sicily and she used ricotta also
My grandmother was from Sicily as well. Definitely ricotta cheese.😋
All lasagna I have had from my born and raised dad's family and my mom's Italian family has always included ricotta too. I was so confused when they say no ricotta! I thought I've been lied to my whole life 😂. Love watching the taste videos ❤
Definitely use ricotta; my family's roots are Siciliano...
Yes! My family is from Sicily and all use ricotta.
Many years ago I was going to college in Spain and went to an Italian restaurant there. Their lasagna was the first one that I ever had with bechamel instead of ricotta. I fell in love with it. YUM!!!! I can't find it in a restaurant here in the US made that way. I have to make it myself, but SO worth it!
I love watching you two. Your relationship and love you share is great to watch. Continue to worry about your “ amore’s” happiness before your own and you will continue to be happy. That is how my wife and I, of 35 years, do it!😊❤
Marie Callendar's was a restaurant chain that started in California in the 1930s. It was a wonderful place to go to. The food was fresh and the pies were made every day.
Ehh their restaurant food was decent. I went a handful of times in the 90s and 2000s. Never had anything that impressed me. I eat some of the frozen food for convenience though
Their pies still slap hard. The chicken pot pie is my favorite.
@ I have a couple turkey pot pies in my freezer. I think they’re a little better than the chicken. Only a few ingredients different though
It always reminded me of like a Dennys but with pies.
lol @@monicacampbell9095
"I would only eat this if I was drunk." Best honest review ever. LMAO 🤣
Hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha 😮
Costco is my favorite. I've tried all those over the years and only Costco's is worth eating. The difference in meat quality is immediately distinctive - "Wow - real meat!!" Beef, sausage, and meat-sausage combo and veg are all excellent - for what they are.
Gordon Ramsey's "you're a sandwich" has never been eating BBQ in a Buc-ee's parking lot. Only Alessio can be The Spokesman!
Yeah, I kept expecting them to try Costco
But is it really a frozen entree?
It more commercial kitchen prepared meals.
Do you really eat that frozen crap in the usa? 😂😂😂
@@tizioincognito5731 a favorite with college kids. Frozen pizza in the dorm room
@@Dularr The Costco lasagna is not fresh or prepared on site... it's in the frozen food section with the pizzas and such. But the Costco lasagna is delicious!
I’ve tried a few of those and my favorite is the Rao’s. I like their sauce in the jar also.❤
Oh my... cant you make a simple sauce from scratch? Why do u eat that crap? 😅😂
I love that you add his words spelled on the screen repeatedly. I've caught myself using some of them peppered into my day 😂
I was going to say, most of those I wouldn't even give to the neighbor!😁 But she seemed very happy about it and a good sense of humor. I want to know what she really thought!
You guys are a delight! Thanks for the fun video! 😁
❤ I love it when you guys do these..
Do you ever argue? And if so, how do you solve it? Do you have quiet days then? You look like a couple who can always communicate and love each other very much. You're really nice to watch. It warms my heart when I see two people who love each other so much. Q&A.
My friend Wayne, a preacher's son. Made the best lasagna I ever tasted but then he did everything well. Not kidding about that. He was an amazing man. Yes, he has passed on and will be forever missed. But I have not eaten lasagna ever since I ate his because every other kind was awful. Wish you could have tasted his.
it always makes me happy to see your video's. I live in Belgium and I feel so great I can buy the real italian stuff back here in europe ... we also have the premade stuff but ... I can make the real stuff myself as all the ingredients are easy to find and not to expensive. Went a few times to Italy and it tastes exactly the same at home. I even have a wood burning pizza oven in the garden :) excellent video's to watch.
I love your reviews SO much!! My mom would make the best lasagna when i was a kid, so i’ve never had frozen lasagna! She made hers with cottage cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella and not ricotta. There was meat sauce but it was just beef meat sauce . Always look forward to your reviews!
Love the little cube drawers to the left of your oven. Bet those are handy.
Try Costco lasagna; it’s pretty good 👍
I like that you tried and discussed the food together❤❤❤
Lol😂@ Lasagna @ 10:30 in the morning…that was funny!…it’s dinner time somewhere in the world 🌎🤙🏼
The Rana's i purposefully went and found a few months back. Refrigerated lasagna seemed like it would be better than frozen and it really is. To me that "taste" you pick up on is an American processed sauce I think. It kind of reminds me of Spaghetti-Os or Pizza Lunchables
So sweet ending with your neighbor❤
Ill have to watch later. Just know that Stouffers is a nostalgic taste. Lol
You have to try the frozen Trader Joe’s brand of lasagna. My son loves it.❤
why all the hate on ricotta cheese? Southern Italians such as Sicilian or Neapolitan traditionally use ricotta cheese vs the bechamel sauce used in the north. Since the majority of Italians in the US came from the south lasagna he typically adopted the southern tradition of using ricotta. I understand Alessio is from the north but implying that Lasagna with ricotta is less Italian than one with bechamel is neither accurate or fair.
Lasagne are from Bologna, so if you use ricotta or even worse dry pasta instead of fresh egg pasta sheets... well, these are no more lasagne, just pasta cooked in the oven.
@@tizioincognito5731I mean, not really. Lasagna is without doubt from Bologna, but there are regional variants. Basically there are two, the norther style lasagna (strictly derived from the Bolognese one) and the southern style lasagna (derived from the neapolitan one). Then in Treviso you can find radicchio in it, even if it is basically northern style, in Sicily someone puts eggplant inside even if it is based on the southern style.
It's like saying that between brothy pasta e fagioli and thicker pasta e fagioli one is italian and one is not. Now if we're talking Lasagna alla bolognese, 100% with you, you can't use dry pasta or ricotta.
(Penso tu sia italiano dal nickname, scusami per il commento lungo in inglese, ma non vorrei escludere dalla conversazione altre persone in caso.)
@silverwind8863 i totally agree. Si, sono italiano 😉
Esiste la lasagna napoletana...viene molto prima della lasagna bolognese che fatta con la besciamella una crema francese
@paulodacosta82 bum!
I LOVE how he cracks her up. 😂❤
😂🤣🍝 Love your neighbor, she's precious. This is s a case of... they don't know what they don't know.😅😂
I make homemade lasagna really often and everyone loves it and raves over it. I do not like ricotta cheese at all. I use small curd cottage cheese and put it in the food processor to make it a paste consistency. It has more flavor than ricotta cheese. For my meat, I use half sage sausage and half hamburger. For my sauce I saute green peppers, mushrooms, onions and garlic until soft and then add the sauce. I use Rao’s marinara. I sprinkle it with italian seasoning. Then I let this simmer covered on low heat for thirty minutes so the flavors grow. I use a deep lasagna pan so I can make several layers. Sprinkle the top with mozzarella and fresh oregano. Also, before cooking, cover it in aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator overnight. This step makes a huge difference. The flavors blend together overnight and it makes it better.
Ciao Alessio, anche io vivo in Tennessee, ultimamente o scoperto che walmart vende pizze surgelate fatte in italia usando il marchio BetterGoods. Provale sono eccellenti, sarai veramente sorpreso. Ciao stammi bene!
Loved this video. Thank you!
I have always known and had lasagna with ricotta cheese. Even my Italian friends would always cook it with ricotta so I was puzzled when I started hearing complaints about lasagna having ricotta in it. When I questioned one my Italian friends about it, she would always cook me Italian dishes that were passed down through her family for my birthday, she told me its was a regional thing. Naples and other regions do cook it with ricotta. When I did my research it was near the medieval period the Roman dishes that resembled lasagna started using a béchamel sauce, along with change in how pasta was made. This transformation basically becomes the building block for lasagna recipes. Northern, Central and Southern all have there different takes on variations of lasagna. I think the ricotta one just took off more in the US and like all foods recipes and ingredients change. So if one wants to say what is the original lasagna its more like the medieval version. Ricotta version is more of a take on Naples variation of lasagna.
I made a lasagna with bèchamel sauce and it was the best I ever made. The extra steps for the bèchamel sauce are TOTALLY worth it. ❤
The best lasagna I’ve ever had was in Bologna Italy. No bechamel but melted Parmesan cheese. It was out of this world. Delicious 😋
Hi guys! Great video greetings from TX I knew from the beginning the Rao's is better cause more little bit more authentic but on frozen pizza from Walmart I found a good one is from Italy and this taste excellent is the prosciutto arugula pizza with mascarpone cheese is really good. Of course if I compare with American frozen pizza.
Happy holidays guys! Love this couple ❤🎉
3:45 into the video the neighbor eating the leftovers is like he just had food fall from his mouth into my leftover dish.
I have to say I recently discovered a new brand of frozen lasagna named Simek's and I haven't touched any other brand since. The sauce is quite good IMO, I mean I doubt it'd get more than a 6 as a rating from either of you lol but it's still quite a tasty sauce for me. I always put extra mozzarella in the final 15 minutes or so of cooking, because cheese. And with Simek's it comes out terrific.
I love you guys, please don’t heat your food in plastic. No matter what the package says it is not safe. Make-a from-a da scratch!
This is off-topic, but I was looking at your video from about a year ago when you were trying to make Frico. With Italy the next time you're in NYC. In Chicago Italy has on Tazio cheese. They call it La Perla Montasio dop6 with Italy the next time you're in NYC. In Chicago Eataly it - they call it La Perla Montasio dop6 and it is just over $24/lb but still would be worth it to treat yourselves . Love you guys ❤️
Definitely homemade is always the winner but when you need to pick up one I like the Trader Joes frozen lasagna, it's better than the refrigerator one. Great taste test, you two are always so funny.
Definitely need Alessio's recipe!!
I haven't had all those brands but the ones I did have are similarly ranked. #1 Raos, #2 Angelo's #3 Stouffers #4 Marie Calanders.
I only buy 1 and 2... not the others.
The best frozen lasagna I’ve had is Stuffer’s meat lovers. They have 3 or 4 different lasagnas and that’s the only one I like, but I really like that 1
Great reviews! Fun to watch. We lost the use of our kitchen for six months due to flooding, but we could still use was our microwave. We liked “Amy’s” brand of vegetarian lasagna. Rather than plastic, the tray seems to be a paper product. Also, Costco’s frozen lasagna is made in an aluminum pan. I agree with Alessio, that plastic-nuking it or baking- it is a known carcinogenic.
Thank you for another great video with comparisons
Also try: Simek's (at Target) ,Dinty Moore "Completes" and Mountain House dehydrated backpacker meal (sporting goods section)
When my Nonna made Lasagna, Pretty sure she would add Italian Sausage to the Ragu with Beef < Classic Neapolitan Ragu, Sometimes Sweet or Hot, never both together, and she would add some Chopped Spinach to the Ricotta, Always Parmesan Reggiano or Pecorino Romano Depending on what was available, Some Provolone slices and definitely fresh Mozzarella with Basil leaves. As for Be'chamel My le Zie/Aunts made Be'chamel Lasagnas, I've known some Families adding small Meatballs < better with a Pasta al Forno and even Soppressata slices but I think it makes better Antipasto, Your Neighbor > Steelers Beanie!! GO STEELERS BABY!!!!
My first Christmas with my late husband & my mother-in-law she made Stouffer's lasagna for dinner. My family always made lasagna or manicotti for Christmas dinner but never frozen. I just figured she was old and it was easy to make. The next Christmas I offered to make a homemade lasagna but my husband had his mom said no because they liked Stouffer's better. I mean, if I worked late and needed to make something quick I might make it but for Christmas dinner? We were married 3 years and I never got used to their "tradition". (Easter supper was ham sandwiches from Subway).
You poor lady. I married into an Italian family and they had the best homemade Italian Holiday dinners.
I was introduced to Stouffer's through in-laws during my early marriage too! I had never tried frozen lasagna. My mom made everything from scratch. I was WOWed. As long as the Stouffer's was cooked in the oven (not microwave), I thought (at the time) that it was a more magical meal than my mom's far more delicious homemade cooking. It became something I craved, but only ate maybe 2x/year on special occasions. So funny how denial of shîtty food as a kid can lead to craving of shîtty food later.
Ham sandwiches from Subway on Easter sounds absolutely tragic though.
That was a family who had no taste buds. They just wanted quick, convenient food. Pretty sad to go through life like that.
@@Beetmonster so does the lasagna lol
😮
WAIT!!!! COSTCO!!!!! And it's on sale this month!!!!
Not everyone can afford a Costco membership.
Yes. We like Costco’s Kirkland lasagna that has sausage in it.
Michael Angelos is my FAVORITE!!! Don’t hate on them! I will
Admit that the quality has gone down with the inflation of costs. They used to have an individual meal with ravioli and spaghetti with pepperoni sauce. So not Italian, but it was SO good.
Michael Angelo's Eggplant Parmigiana is quite tasty
Oh my god, if you find good that crap i suppose the quality of food in the usa has to be very very very low... 😢
0 for Stouffer's... harsh. Lol. It's a classic American comfort frozen food. I consider it Chef Boyardee for adults and is perfect for this weather.
Problem is Americans have shallow taste buds. Hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, burritos, and fries, anything different or adventurous is shunned by americans usually. Whenever I hear classic, american and food together I know most of the time it's garbage. It's not harsh when the food taste artificial and plasticky.
@@punkem733so a nation of immigrants shuns anything different or adventurous...bless your heart.
Excellent video. Rana makes several versions of Lasagna.The Meat and Short Rib seem to be very salty, but the 5 Cheese is very good. I love that he uses fresh pasta sheets in the lasagna, which he also sells separately. The Rao's lasagna is also very good, but their Melanzane Parmigiana (eggplant parm) is Outstanding.
I typically make a pan of lasagna or eggplant and freeze in double portions for us, but when on sale at Costco these are a great deal.
Of course that hack Ramsey would offer a microwave version. Who the heck micros pasta ? What next Micro Pizza? Yuck!
Best paper towel holder ever!
I love it also🐈⬛
Kirkland/Costco lasagna >>>
I actually tried a variation of béchamel which I incorporate cream cheese and a little goat cheese
In my white layer of Tre Colore lasagna . The green layer of the flag is fresh basil and Swiss chard chiffonade .
I'm actually glad that you didn't force yourselves into a corner that would make you feel you had to say "this is great" when you actually mean that it's better than the others. As long as you quantify you reasons for your choices, you are doing all we could ask from you.
I eat the Michael Angelo's Single Serve lasagna all the time, prepared in the microwave. It's small enough that it heats properly and evenly and it's thicker than the Family Sized pack, for some reason. Rao's is pretty darn good too.
I feel bad that I laughed out loud at you burning your mouths, but it was so very relatable. I hope you're okay.
🤣
Always mark your calendar for a week before going to the dentist to not eat hot bubbly cheese. Last time I went, I had suffered a pizza burn a couple of days before. It was the kind of burn where you keep removing layers of skin with your tongue for the next 48 hours, and you kick yourself for not waiting an extra 90 seconds to take a bite. The staff kept saying, "ooof, that's awful" and "oh wow, that's a really bad one". The shame!
@@Beetmonster Easy solution, dont go to the dentist
Costco has a Kirkland brand that is very good!! But then again I am not Italian😊
After I made my own lasagna for the first time, I never went back.
Béchamel, of course, no ricotta. Beef/pork combo ground in the pot.
Takes some time, but oh, so worth it!
Appreciate your guys opinions ✌️
Home made is always better!! Good video and truthful evaluation. You all crack me up. Thank you
I want to see a show with your neighbors reviewing this same lasagna
For any frozen meal like that, bake them in the oven for best results
Costco has two versions that are really good, a large single pack made with Beef and a smaller two pack sausage/beef option. Both were very good.
Hey, would love to see a video on how to make a delicious lasagna! Could you please consider making one? It would be amazing to learn your take on this classic dish!
When I first moved to the states I ordered lasagna at a restaurant and took one bite and couldn’t eat the rest. My American friends told the waitress who very kindly let me order something else instead. I had no clue that Americans mostly use ricotta cheese instead of béchamel sauce, but I don’t understand why as the texture of ricotta is just so 🤢much like paste. In the U.K. it’s made with béchamel sauce and even my friend from Italy taught me how to make it with béchamel sauce. It’s so creamy and delicious.
Great video
I had Stouffers not great but in a busy schedule it has to happen sometimes in my home
I make homemade lasagna with ricotta a dear friend taught how to make it her parents were from Sicily
Love your taste testing videos
You are a great beautiful couple
Take care and prayers for you all
I had problems with fertility too
Finally gave up and could not afford IVF
After 5 years God blessed me and my husband with a beautiful daughter and another 7 years later we had another beautiful daughter
I was told I would never have my own children but God had different plans
Never give up hope and faith
See you all in your next video ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Rao's is well known on east and west coast. The original restaurant is in NYC and there is one in California. Their frozen foods are good quality compared to other brands and they make great bottled marinara sauce too.
Love the Angelo’s is so great!
I LOVE your content! So happy I found you!
I would love to know where Jessi gets her dresses…or does she make them? So beautiful
I may be wrong but I usually only cook frozen dinner items with the plastic cover in the microwave. I typically remove it if I am cooking it in the oven. Maybe that created all that extra moisture in the lasagna? 🤷
Frozen is always fresher than refrigerated. Assuming both are kept and handled properly.
Kirkland Beef and Sausage (frozen) is my go to over any of those.
Michael Angelos brand is pretty good. I like Stouffer's too but it's pretty generic tasting like most prepackaged industrial American food 😅😊
Never ever have I ate frozen lasagna 🤢 I'll keep making my own thank you very much ✌️ & ❤️
Smashed the like for stuffers!
My mother, who is not Italian, used to put thin slices of cream cheese in between the layers of her home made lasagna instead of ricotta, and I always enjoyed it.
these companies should hire Alessio for their R & D department to introduce an authentic Italian-tasting lasagna.
Hi. Do you have a episode on the best coffe? Name brands? Thx
You need to review various Panatonis, as it's Christmas. Love a good Italian panatoni.
I’ve never ever had lasagna with ricotta in it 😮 my mum had her version when I was growing up which I never ate but never ricotta and then when I got told enough (maybe 14ish) I wanted to learn the real way to make it as my granddads side has Italian roots so I begged my friends grandma to teach me 🤣🤣🤣
Now my mum makes it how I was taught hehehe! ❤❤
Never had a pre-made lasagna though cause they never taste right and have loads of fillers and the quality of the meat and sauce isn’t good.
Great video xx
I like Trader Joe’s frozen lasagna. It has ricotta but I like that. It turns out good if you microwave it a bit then wait like 45 minutes, somehow the water gets absorbed in and the noodle texture is better.
If I don't feel like making my own lasagna, (I alternate layers with ricotta and bechemel) we definitely prefer the Giovanni Rana. I think it has a much more homemade flavor and texture than the frozen brands. The pasta remains more firm and it stays together and isn't watery and running all over the plate, like Stouffer's or the other frozen options. We use Rao's sauce when we run out of homemade, though, so it's not that we don't like their brand. Maybe if Rao's made a fresh, not frozen lasagna, I'd buy it?? But, Rao's is also more expensive for a much smaller portion. The Rana is $2 cheaper, per pound (or more) and the family sized portion is 40 oz. Rao's family sized portion is only 27 oz. My husband is a "healthy eater" and enjoys leftovers for lunch the next day. That is not happening with the Rao's. LOL
There are so many different ways to make lasagna depending on what part of Italy you are from. We use ricotta cheese and mozzarella on ours. A lot depends on the sauce you make. It’s the sauce that makes or breaks the dish. I only eat the frozen ones when I don’t have the money to make it homemade. It isn’t cheap to make the homemade version. My dad would never eat a frozen one it had to be homemade. To me he made the best sauce and it was delicious. It was handed down through the years coming from Italy.
I was reading that the reason American Italians use ricotta is because their families came from southern parts of Italy where they traditionally use ricotta in their dishes versus northern Italy where they use béchamel. I'd love to hear you have a discussion about this in one of your videos. Like about the history of how foods change and migrate, using Italy as an example. It would be educational.
Two summers ago, I took Stouffer's lasagna to a neighborhood block party (because I didn't have time to cook my own). When I tried it with the other food, I was shocked at how bad it tasted. It was expensive, too. If the Pasinis think Marie Callender is worse than Stouffer's, that's horrifying.
Stouffers has one called "Italiano" which is pretty great. it's nearly as good as any Italian restaurant I've been to. and wayyy better than places like Olive Garden. I wish I could try something they'd give a 10. though they said pizza UNO was better than most frozen pizza and I thought it was really bad
Hi Jessie and Allesio, can you do a Panettone tasting! My favorite so far is Tremarie Milanese Pannetone.
It's frozen lasagna.
What do you expect?
A miracle?
I buy the giovanni rana lasagna sometimes for a lazy night dinner. It's quick and easy!
What was that little dub over about the towel on the microwave door for?
You guys need to start a food line!
@Jessi & Alessio, I would like to know how the Italians shop for groceries and what groceries they buy. Like here in the USA, I usually shop once a month, but others shop once a week. Even my small family I usually buy somethings in bulk, like toilet paper, paper towels, coffee filters, etc. I do buy my eggs once a month and usually my eggs are in a 60 egg count box that I keep in my fridge. How often do the Italians go to the grocery store? Also do the Italians ever rush to the store to stock up on toilet paper, milk and bread if they know a bad storm is coming. During the pandemic, did the Italians experience any food or house hold goods shortage, like the USA experiencing the toilet paper shortage, and toilet paper scalpers where scalping people during the pandemic bought up all the toilet paper to sell them at $5-$10 a roll?
You need to bake longer dur to TWO packs of frozen. It why its watery and you need to remove that wrapper if baked to brown it.
The Pittsburgher at the end made my day!