Pro Chef Reacts... to Italian Chef Reacts to 1 DOLLAR LASAGNA by @Joshua Weissman (Vincenzo's Plate)

[@vincenzosplate]

Briaaannnnnnnnn I am waiting for your Carbonara 🤣🤣🤣 Would love to be in the kitchen with you and cook up a feast

[@ChefBrianTsao]

I think you an I would make some amazing food together bro! 💪 Hope to have that video filmed in another week or 2!

[@Shaosprojects]

Make sure you try Kay’s recipe! She made a really good carbanara!

[@nscwb_.8261]

3rd

[@JohnnyVichi]

@@Shaosprojects bro ? LMAOO

[@rakisuta1100]

@@Shaosprojects let's call it special

[@illduce7288]

Hey chef! Just so you know, people make dried pasta by hand too. It's made with semolina flour and water as opposed to white flour and eggs. It's just dried after the fact, but the same love goes into making it.

[@Conorator]

There are definitely good and bad brands of store bought pasta though. Brands like Barilla are just lifeless and use low quality semolina along with being dried at a very high temperature for only a couple hours. Make sure to buy dried pasta at the store that has a light yellow color, almost white.

[@illduce7288]

@@Conorator 100% agree with you on those brands! But having made my own pasta and letting it dry, you don't necessarily have to rely on those boxes of pasta. It's time consuming, but a labor of love and worth it!

[@Conorator]

@@illduce7288 Of course, making your own semolina pasta and drying it in conditions similar to sunlight for 3 days is gonna give you the best result. But if you want a quick pasta dish, and don't like the stereotypical boxed pasta, getting a high quality dried semolina pasta is still going to be great.

[@xbmarx]

Vincenzo has given me a lot of motivation to improve my cooking. Every time I cook Italian food now, I hear Vincenzo in my mind telling me to do it better. 😆

[@AndyWTR]

Love Vincenzo's attitude in this. So many people get a bit elitist about food and how it should be done and totally ignore the fact that home cooking is a different game entirely from what you might expect from a restaurant.

[@mewster1818]

Exactly. While I'd love to make dishes more authentic or from scratch more... I just don't have the time and budget to hunt down uncommon ingredients for my area, not to mention just for one dish. I'll just make do the best substitutions possible based on whats affordable and easy to find, and accept it's more of an "inspired" version rather than authentic.

[@shadowstalker130666]

@@mewster1818 not so much that its inspired, as simply making do with what youve got. Im sure if you took a home cook from italy, and set them in america, with the same american stores, they would make very similar substitutions. If you cant get a specific cheese, what can you get thats close, and not absurdly expensive? Hell, thats how food in general evolves. What can you make thats as close to familiar with different ingredients available

[@greenblack6552]

Dude, Vincenzo is the face of IamVeryCulinary. Doesn't get more elitist than that. And half of the time he is not even good at what he is doing. You saw his italian mac'n'cheese?

[@tnk4me4]

Adam Ragusea and Alex the cooking guy recently taught me that fresh pasta and dried pasta are technically different foods made of different ingredients. Like how rice noodles and Vermicelli are different. So the fresh vs dry is just comparing apples to oranges.

[@Darrky92]

Hey Chef Brian, love to see you adding Vincenzo's Plate to the repertoire. He has so many fun videos to react to, and he's also very educational. Keep up the good work!

[@NickKnutson97]

Wisconsinite here- The Fact that you have WI Parmesan in your restaurant makes me want to eat there even more!

[@vagabondwastrel2361]

@chef Brian Tsao you can make a jig for rolling out pasta with a rolling pin. Or you can use rubber gaskets slapped onto the rolling pin to make it even easier. I did this as a kid and it works very well. The trick is folding the pasta to get the right texture.

[@robkeiser6220]

I’m one of those people that watch but don’t usually comment, but felt compelled to say how much I enjoy the reaction videos and how valuable they are for learning. I’m an auto mechanic by trade but a home cook that loves to up my game in the kitchen and will watch several videos of a dish being made then go to the store by ingredients and see what I come up with when I get home without following a recipe but by taking different aspects of what I see and also trying some ideas of my own to see what works. The downside of this hobby is it has ruined going out to eat for me as I’m usually left feeling what I ordered ranges from ok at best to really not all that good knowing I can do so much better at home. Love the videos, and the podcast keep it up!

[@usafan96soren20]

Brian I agree 100% with you, imported stuff is sometimes way too expensive. I much rather experience something than not experiencing it. I had to make carbonara with bacon in Denmark...better to experience it than buy guanciale for a huge price (actually i couldn't even find any). Btw Brian much love from Italy ❤️

[@communistloser3182]

I can confirm, guanciale basically doesn't exist here. Been all around Denmark (I even went to fucking Irma) and they don't have it. I refuse to believe it exists here

[@usafan96soren20]

@@communistloser3182 then it wasn't me! I couldn't find it anywhere!

[@giorgitsiklauri1283]

Not all pre-shredded cheese seems to be coated like you talk about. I've noticed that while some don't stick together well, others come out of the bag stuck into chunks and have to be rubbed apart.

[@timothy4664]

I make a bechamel with mozzarella and romano for my lasagna. It's how my grandmother taught me. We are french so I always thought it was a French thing because everyone else, including my Italian friends and extended family, used ricotta. This is fascinating

[@benf6822]

Vincenzo's positivity is infectious. He's such a pleasant personality

[@Nottherealbegula4]

Poggers! Im pretty sure on sunday uncle roger will react to ur egg fried rice weejio

[@David_TheSuperior]

Look what the catfish dragged in..

[@Nottherealbegula4]

@@David_TheSuperior wat

[@shanmugasundaramrajesh1935]

man, u can really see brian breaking down about how he is not ripping customers off in his restaurants.

[@RaccKing21]

When I make lasagna, I don't use ricotta, I only learned about that later. I also never added mozzarella inbetween the layers, I only add parmesan and pecorino. As for layers, my mother usually made it in a wider baking sheet, so it had like 4 layers of pasta. I make mine in a smaller sheet, do it has like 6+ layers. I buy fresh pasta sheets and we really like the soft chewy texture of the pasta (it also pads out the dish by using less sauce). I do add cheese on top though, but I've never put the ragu as the last layer, we always did the bechamel so it has a nice and creamy top.

[@Metal_Auditor]

I've started using Vincenzo's recipe for my lasagna (and my tiramisu). It's so much better than any recipes I've found on American websites.

[@nscwb_.8261]

ofcourse. which american knows the authentic way without learning

[@kristinlawrence3704]

I mean the Italian guys gonna make better Italian food than Americans. A lot of Italian Americans have also lost their roots so not all can make traditional foods. My Papa used to make even the noodles from scratch. Too many Americans have become accustomed to just assuming all pasta dishes are quick easy and simple when you can do so much with them.

[@Taryncloud9]

My only retorts are this: the electricity, oven/pans(partly) wouldn’t really be applicable because both store bought and homemade are using the likely the same amount of electricity or flat pan/casserole dish. And it’s likely the same amount of waste. I think they cancel each other out as a tldr. Also, they don’t need to make a single portion because you can keep frozen or refrigerated portions for up to 6 months and that’s a $1 dinner at least 6 different times. The average dinner is around 15-20, yeah? That’s a pretty big net savings in the end

[@maeckiemesser6958]

Plus the wages for cook, dishwasher and waiter, the industrial cleaning detergents, the cost for power for walkin freezers and fridges. And boy now hold your pants the rent for a halfway decent location or even better a decent one in especially in a city. Least but not last taxes...

[@KingAiras]

Thank you for this. I had to unsubscribe because of the nitpicking. Once he brought up how much it cost to have your trash taken out i was done.

[@rustledjimmes]

@@KingAiras I hope you're joking

[@catherinejones5807]

Another excellent reaction inception video. Your commentary complements Vincenzo’s community very well. I’m learning so much, and am enjoying the journey. I would love to see more of your reactions to Vincenzo’s reaction videos. It would also be awesome if both you and Vincenzo collaborate on some videos. Better food through humor.👍🏻

[@sangyenamdrol9392]

I made fresh pasta with my grandparents every Sunday with a hand crank pasta machine. It was everything. This lasagnia looks exactly like what my Grandfather made(1st generation Italian immigrant to the US) i am dying watching this. The lasagnia is perfection. Oh i miss those days of my childhood. Props to Josh for being a master of his craft.

[@romanteni]

If it makes u feel any better, the kid is only 25 years old.

[@robinlinh]

if I remember correctly Lorenzo said dry pasta is made with Semolina and water, plus the drying process which gonna make it different than when you make it fresh with egg and flour. I have it both way, dry pasta is a little more chewy, more 'al dente" while the fresh one is smoother and with the richness of eggs.

[@confusedindividual]

Regarding the fresh/dry pasta discussion, my experience with the two boils down to textural differences more so than flavour. Pasta is going to taste like whatever sauce you cook it with so the primary quality of pasta is its texture. Fresh pasta definitely has a lighter feel to it. Because it doesn’t go through the drying process, there’s no rigidity in its structure and it gives off a much softer, silky, and airy mouthfeel when you eat it. That’s not to say that it’s mushy like when it’s overcooked. Rather, it’s something that just makes you feel like you can devour plate after plate of because it’s so inviting and easy to go down.

[@amy4kaseykahne]

I love Vincenzo’s and your attitudes towards food. This is a my way but there are others. It is important not to gatekeep food preparation and encourage people to cook at home. This will especially help those living in food deserts as they may not be able to get or afford certain ingredients and equipment.

[@supernovaslaper]

Heey, May I recommend the KZbin channel of Alex he is a french chef who makes al kinds of things but really finds out the science behind the cook. Most recent he is doing a lot of past especially dried pasta. It's amazing and great quality. Just look up Alex or maybe Alex french chef and hopefully you will find him and enjoy Greetz and keep up the great content it's amazing

[@Hybris51129]

If it helps any Uncle Roger did a video on Alex's attempt at Egg Fried Rice.

[@rottn1580]

Was just scrolling down to leave the same comment and saw this. Alex's obsessions are so awesome and entertaining!

[@eranshachar9954]

Josh is amazing. He really is so talented and investing in everything that he does. The 1.2 $ is for a portion indeed, but I agree that this is because it's not in a restaurant. In a restaurant the key elements are: The product itself, Labor cost, Equipment use and one more thing Chef Brian didn't talk about but it's the most expensive part- Paying monthly cost to landlords, these greedy pricks can take a lot of money. I worked in a restaurant before so that's why I know about it. Most recommended things for you to react- Vincenzo react to Gordon Ramsay making Carbonara, Lasagna, and Gnocchi. Without telling you why all of them were complete disasters for the Italian tradition. And please do the latest Uncle Roger react to Pho for British show which was painful to watch.

[@PotatoPirate123]

Eating at a restaurant was always meant to be about the experience, almost as much as the food. So, having a nice chat with your friends or partner over a meal that’s being cooked and served to you, and drinks being brought over to your table. Cooking at home is a different experience and can be equally fulfilling but is rarely a direct replacement. In a similar sense, drinking cans of beer at home on your sofa is not the same as going out around bars with your friends.

[@eranshachar9954]

@@PotatoPirate123 Fair points man. I agree with you 100 % but if it wasn't for the crazy amount of money landlords take, it would be even cheaper to dine in a restaurant. Don't you agree?

[@PotatoPirate123]

@@eranshachar9954 In the UK costs are spiralling for energy and taxes, so unless restaurants cut staff or management pay or reduce the quality of their ingredients then the costs have to go up. The energy and fuel crisis in the UK is really impactful, in that they have gone up for everyone - as much as three times for some people. The additional fallout is that even supermarkets and wholesalers are having to put the prices up due to the significant additional costs for transport and other energy costs in their premises. The war in the Ukraine has made the cost of canola oil spiral so they’re also having to pay more for it or substitute it for other seed oils which then makes their cost escalate due to the supply chain not being able to cope with it. Not only are people poorer than they have ever been due to paying more for their gas, electricity and fuel but the cost of everything else has gone up too. The price of fuel is set to go up again in October so I think this will hit the restaurant industry even harder. It’s good that people are learning to cook more and more for themselves but it’s also sad that restaurants- particularly smaller family run establishments- are going to close more and more in the coming months.

[@eranshachar9954]

@@PotatoPirate123 Thank you. I identify with what you are saying. Here in Israel everything gone insane with prices. Products in super markets, most of them are about 25 % more expensive. Fuel is nearly 8 shekels per liter of Gasoline. Just 1 year ago it was about 6.5. And I don't envy Diesel car drivers. Petrol fuel is even more expensive. Electricity, water, taxes all of that is 30 % higher then last year. So yes even when a restaurant wants to buy products they pay more. Although the Chef in the restaurant I worked in, explained that when you buy big amounts there is a discount. But with a food cost of 25 % higher the discount is not felt. What you say in the 2nd passage, yes same happens here. Yes you right, smaller places stands no chance of surviving sadly. Even the big ones are having hard time to survive here. Israel is an extremely expensive country to live in. And as for cooking at home, while I am not a pro cook or chef, I know how to cook. Good for me in these days.

[@alexjclelland]

What I love about Vincenzo is that even though he loves authentic italian food, he's not an elitist about it like some other people are, and he's open to different ways of doing things. It's really cool to see!

[@ConradsStudio]

On the shelf-life issue: I used to work grocery, and suppliers of cookies, crackers and baked products that had months-long shelf life were referred to as "hardware".

[@brock9380]

I love the part where Vincenzo is talking about the ricotta because in Wisconsin my family has always made Lasagna with cottage cheese 😜. granted my ancestors were all Polish and Norwegian

[@dogcat1951]

I was looking for any one else that uses cottage cheese in the comments. I too am from Wisconsin and was starting to wonder if I was the only one whose family made it this way 😂. I think ricotta is dry whereas the cottage cheese is flavorful and moist ❤

[@2nys]

I recommend the "Alex" Channel! He is an engineer and some kind of a food scientist and makes very enjoyable videos. His recent project is about dry pasta and "the perfect carbonara".

[@icycannonball]

He actually explained (with the help of the Italian chef) that some recipes call for dry pasta because it's better than fresh pasta.. pastas like carbonara or aglio e olio do better with dry pastas than fresh pastas

[@Vyqe]

The concept of reaction videos reacting to reaction videos may be counter-intuitive, but I've found this actually amazing. Not only I'm discovering new channels and stuff (as with reaction videos on anything), but with specialists reacting to knowledgeable people reacting about the subject they are familiar with, it's like having three doctors consultation. With so much questionable tutorials on the internet, and also (as Uncle Roger made me aware) knowing that even best cooks can F-up sometimes, I'm learning so much. Thank you for those videos Chef!

[@PotatoPirate123]

I note in his pizza videos he recommends preheating an oven for one hour at 500 degrees. In the UK this would now cost the equivalent of a dollar on its own, due to the spiralling cost of energy. Even with artificially broken down food costs (such as 1 tsp salt) it’s basically impossible to make a portion of pizza for a dollar unless you get all the ingredients for free.

[@joedd215]

As my dad explained it, when his grandparents made it, they used ricotta. When his parents came to America and nona wasn't there to watch them sin, they used cottage cheese. Same story is how I learned old people called it curds and whey (what little miss muffet sat on her tuffet eating).

[@damusagi]

This is such a coincidence because the first time I watched Vincenzo reacting to this video was a few hours ago

[@Tepedinoo]

Love your videos, always learn so much with them (even used a few tips about making rice today). I think in this video you hit the same "Josh is talking about the pottion price" note a few times, when he specifically says "per serving" at the beginning. Also, when you talk about secondary costs, there are several when it comes to eating out, such as transportation and whatnot (and if we're going REALLY DEEP, like talking about garbage disposal, you could add things like "going out clothes" as eating out costs"), so I think it is fair to even them out.

[@coreyhamby2989]

The powdery substance in the bag pre shredded cheese is usually cellulose powder. Basically dried plant. It's very prevalent in the can of dry powdered parmesan/romano.

[@BlindTaleTeller]

A lot of people do not talk about the costs and losses of running a food business; and even fewer (on the reg here anyway) take into account the fact that especially staff costs and waste; so, late in but... THANK YOU FOR TOUCHING THIS! Food expires of course; unlike say, school supplies like paper etc: leaving you a very short period to push everything you might have in your kitchen onto a plate.. and there's a LOT to how and what moves depending on among MANY other things, the community that service is in etc. There almost never a period (say a week) where there is no waste or loss. The only time I've seen people come close is 1. smaller businesses and 2. older businesses who know their customer base and try to prioritize that base after 5-10 years serving their regular, returning customers from their surrounding communities. PS - this is true of grocery stores here in the US too. We're a country of immigrants, and pockets of this culture and that culture in differing areas can affect what moves in your store especially!

[@maksimvucetic3205]

You guys are two of my favorite KZbin chefs. You need to do a collab asap or at least more of each other's reaction videos. Thanks to both.

[@A_Name_]

@5:00 No city trash pickup in Panama City Florida. Blew my mind when I moved here.

[@peabody1976]

Your chef friend hit on something from Alex (who did a great series on pasta): dry pasta is easier to get al dente, and is sometimes (seemingly?) better at certain applications. But otherwise if you can make fresh pasta, it has a deeper, fresher taste because it hasn't been sitting. I don't mind either one: I just like carbs. :)

[@ElderDragonBrasil]

Hi, Chef Brian! Love your content as always. Let me tell you. Not every dish uses fresh pasta. Carbonara, for example, must be done with dry pasta, or you are going to mix eggs with eggs. I love both types, and fresh pasta (eggs + flour) is a Bolognese expertise, so the best way to go with fresh pasta is any bolognese recipe :)

[@ElderDragonBrasil]

And just for me don't forget. The dry pasta (the more qualified one) is done only with semoline and water, and then dryed for up to 36 hours. I always prefer the italian artisans one, because the quality of the semoline makes a huge difference. But the process of doing dry pasta is so complicated, that is much more practical buy one than do. Fresh pasta, in 30 minute you can do.

[@Darkasasin80]

I have no idea where Josh lives but where I'm at here on the East Coast these ingredients are about twice as expensive. Ground beef is generally about 5.00$+ a pound and ground pork is about 4.00$+. Tomato paste is about 1.00$ and that can of crushed tomatoes is about 4.00$ and the dry past is about 3.00$. Considering this makes a very large dish that can feed many people it's still not overly expensive for what is being made but it's nowhere near as affordable as this video would suggest. Food where I'm at is also far more affordable than other parts of the country so depending on where you live it'll be even more.

[@guillaume6459]

Bechamel sauce is only butter, milk and flour. Also add salt, peper, and maybe nutmeg (noix de muscade in french). Milk boil quickly but otherwise super easy to make.

[@robert-antoinedenault5901]

The mirepoix is also known as the "holy trinity". I find that using ground wild boar and veal bring a meatier richness to the sauce but I have never used Ragu in lasagna as it is a wetter sauce I prefer using a Bolognese. I use fontina instead of the tasteless mozzarella

[@uslashdeleted4171]

I hate the misconception that fresh pasta is better than dry pasta. Fresh Pasta is made with flower and eggs. Dry Pasta is made with semolina flour and water. They are just different depending on your needs for the meal.

[@BriskThrone]

20:26 they also use cellulose to prevent clumping of the pre shredded cheese basically cellulose is present in the hard fibrous layer of the plant cell humans used to be able to digest cellulose which is what the appendix does but it is not harmful to the body and acts as natural fiber but as they say too much of good things are bad the FDA limits the amount of cellulose in pre shredded cheese to 4%(as per my knowledge)

[@Superintendent_ChaImers]

Instead of buying a pasta roller, I use my rolling pin, but I cut some thin planks of wood of various depths to act like a stopper with the rolling pin to prevent it from going too thin. So for example, I'd lay down the 2 planks of one depth, roll out the pasta, change them out for thinner ones, roll them again and keep doing that until I get the desired thickness. Saves me a lot of money and they are useful for rolling out pie crusts and puff pastry as well to what ever thickness I'd need.

[@kaboutertje1561]

My guy i love ur vibe, keep it going! Thanks for what u do.

[@PhilosophicalDance]

It's worth mentioning that fresh pasta isn't great for all kinds of dishes. I'd worry with fresh pasta for lasagna, that the pasta would overcook. Since fresh pasta is already hydrated, it cooks much faster than dry pasta, and lasagna pasta already has the issue of being cooked twice.

[@alinayossimouse]

This is exactly why I love to spend time in the kitchen. I'm not rich, I can't afford the best ingredients, but I can use my acquired intuition and my knowledge about how certain dishes are supposed to be made to get creative and create a meal I can be proud of that is delicious, that feeds me and that was a meditative experience to make. I'm sure not every Italian would be proud of my pasta dishes, but I know to avoid the cardinal sins because of videos like these, and my meals are better for me and good for my wallet.

[@thejunglekitchen]

They also put cellulose in pre-shredded cheese as a filler- this is basically the insoluable cell wall (fiberous bits) of plants. So a bunch of it might not even be cheese, and that's also why it has a tendency not to melt properly.

[@anthonygm85]

Italian and Mexican food both for me are really regional,we make food the same but different, also family recipes play a big part The way I make rice is different from my neighbor or the herbs is use to roast pork

[@Fsudryden]

My great grandmother, grandma, mom, and now me have an amazing lasagna recipe. I make 4 types Beef, mild Italian sausage, spicy Italian, and plain for vegetarians. But mine is a lot more expensive per pan and serving the Joshua’s although mine looks the same when finished.

[@bamachine]

I mix half ricotta, half cottage cheese, a whole egg and a tbsp of ev olive oil for my cheese layers. I do use diced onion, the diced garlic found in the little glass jars, bell pepper and carrots mixed in with my tomato paste, tomato sauce, ground chuck and Italian sausage for my sauce layers. I then put shredded mozzarella(sadly, I guess, I get the pre-shredded version) and the parmesan from a plastic jar(I am lazy when it comes to shredding cheese) on the top for the crisp brown edges. I also don't bother making homemade lasagna noodles, just go for the better brands(Barilla is the only good one widely available in my area) of dried.

[@AadenKDragon]

Usually, in my experience, yes it is cheaper to make things at home but it's also super important for people to remember that when you do eat out, you're paying for every single step of those particular ingredients to get to your plate. That's why it's so much more expensive to eat out. - some for the farmers - some for the shipping to a distributor - some for the errands runners that buy from the distributors - some for the preppers - some for the cooks - some for the waitress/waiter - some for the bus boy who cleans the tables after you leave Not to mention any steps that come in between that I haven't listed It's frustrating when people complain about eating out then either forget or ignore the amount of people involved in getting the food to them.

[@painfullight]

This recipe is basically perfect for someone who meal preps if you're trying to cook like a weeks worth of portions ahead of time this recipe is worth the effort.

[@Sondie]

As for the ricotta, I think that can explained by migration factors to the US. The vast majority of Italian immigrants that came to the US were from the south half of Italy, Campania, Sicily, etc. As Vincenzo pointed out, some Italians do put ricotta in lasagne. People in Naples apparently uses Ricotta in their lasagne and so that makes sense as to why many Italian-American families used ricotta and how it became engrained in American lasagna.

[@aragmarverilian8238]

Try lasagna with Béchamel sauce, it is so good!

[@lucapaoloscielzo9559]

Hi Brian i discovered you recently and i'm really happy about it! Just one thing that Vincenzo might miss: in south Italy we often have pasta with ragù and ricotta, is a lot traditional, so our lasagna made with ragù got ricotta too, while when we do it with a white ragù (basically without tomatoes), we use beschamel. That's the rule, can't be simplier than that.

[@dantethunderstone2118]

Pre shredded cheese is usually coated with cellulose, which is why I call it cardboard instead of cheese

[@mewster1818]

Fresh made carbs are the best. Fresh bread, fresh pasta, fresh tortillas, fresh dumplings...

[@Miranda-c6q]

Chef Brian! Vincenzo is finally reviewing Chef Makinson’s lasagna!!! I think it releases at midnight. I’ve been waiting for this! Don’t miss it. I’d love to hear your insights too!!!

[@HenriqueErzinger]

About fresh vs dry pasta, it depends on what you're making. Some dishes are meant to be made from dry pasta, like carbonara for instance. You shouldn't use egg based pasta for such a heavy on eggs recipe, so it's traditionaly made with dry spaghetti.

[@aidanbyrne8267]

yeah, food isn't overpriced in restaurants, it's the drinks that are a rip off

[@kregorovillupo3625]

12:40 Italian here. Yes, it is a good investment if you do fresh pasta at least once a week. Using a rolling pin is so much inefficient respect a mechanical one: you don't need much for it, the one with the hand crank is totally fine and always comes with special rolls to have fun with your pasta. What is not a good investment is the doug maker, by hand is totally fine with egg pasta since it become very hard only when it's almost ready.

[@myblacktears0921]

Wow! I didn’t know about the pre-shredded mozzarella cheese was coated. I learn one thing or two from these videos, thanks!

[@MichaelPerezHypnosis]

Bechamel in baked pasta dishes like lasagne is very northern Italian. A lot of Italian-American food is heavily influenced by Southern Italian and Sicilian cuisine.

[@mdunt9183]

i am bit late to this but, the topping cheese i actually add red Leicester to it (might be an english cheese but the colour is amazing) and the taste is great with a splatter of oregano ontop after

[@serenamaiocchi8848]

I sometimes make lasagna at home (homemade pasta, ragù and besciamelle) and I spend less than €15 for the ingredients for 10 slices of lasagna, which means less than €1.5 per portion (or €1.88 if I cut it in 8 bigger portions). A lot cheaper than buying it at a restaurant and a lot better than the premade store-bought lasagna. If you are wondering, lasagna is one of those dishes where you can put (almost) whatever you like, but there is a codified original version that includes egg pasta, ragù sauce made with cow meat and some pancetta, and besciamelle sauce. Still, everyone makes it as they want. Just have fun with it and find your favourite lasagna (if you are vegetarian, try it with mushrooms or with squash and you won't regret it)

[@sagethegreat4680]

I have made my own pasta before. Joshua is correct there is things at the store that are really the same cost if you make vs if you buy it pre-made. The flavor will always be better if you make it since it is fresh . Also one of the biggest costs of a restaurant is labor . Anything you do yourself will almost always be cheaper because you are putting your time in it instead of paying for the labor of others to do it .

[@Shinji_Dai]

My mom makes her own "ricotta" cheese by mixing cottage cheese and parmesan, it makes for a good low-cost alternative

[@arcanask]

Got a big ol bag of shredded cheddar cheese in my fridge right now. A relative gave it to us. I would honestly rather buy a brick myself, but I'm not too picky when it comes to free stuff. Anyway, it uses potato starch as a non-binding agent. Put it in my egg scramble this morning. It actually melted just fine, but I know what you are talking about. I've had other cheeses just not wanting to melt.

[@redbeardthepink4809]

Ok, so I've actually done some of the recipes from Joshua's But Cheaper series, and I'm also a solid home cook and professional line cook, and here's what I have to say: Yeah, those grocery trips cost more than a dollar. You're buying ingredients to make a thing. There's cost involved. The big takeaway I get from the series and the recipes is that you can go to the market, get some B or even C list ingredients, and make restaurant quality food at home for way less money spent per serving. Yeah, the overall grocery bill might be more than the average dinner bill, but you generally get enough of some of these things that if you wanna make the recipe again, you probably only need to get a few items because you'll still have some of it left over from before (seasonings, noodles, cheese, etc.) He also helped me understand when and why to skimp on cost or to go ahead and spend the money on more quality ingredients. Using this as an example, you can probably take a spend cut on the noodles, tomatoes, and beef, but if you go ahead and spring for the good cheeses, that's really gonna elevate the high notes of the flavors involved.

[@TheNagorian]

Love the video, great reaction :) One thing though : He made fresh pasta, but when he showed the layering process, he used the storebought? Or did he make more pasta and use a different cutter?

[@22ninja1]

When I make lasagna I used to use ricotta when I make lasagna but nowadays I make bechamel sauce for the lasagna it's cheaper than buying ricotta and to me it's better because it makes it creamier for the lasagna and you can always add cheese to the bechamel but I choose to keep it simple and add cheese separately to the lasagna and for topping so it gets cheesy and also crispy mmm.

[@johnwiese3926]

They now sell rolling pins with THICKNESS GAGES, SO you can make perfect pasta with just a fancy rolling pin.

[@dreamonstardust]

Regarding the fresh vs dry debate: I highly recommend checking out Alex's (formerly FrenchGuyCooking) ongoing series on dry pasta. He explores how dry pasta is made (and even makes some of it at home), and visits Luciano Monosillo (whose famous carbonara is made with dried pasta). Alex discovers that fresh pasta isn't necessarily better than dry. It's just the two varieties have different applications. Dry pasta has the obvious benefit of being able to achieve that al dente texture, but, because of how it's made using die cutters, the surface is typically rougher and allows for sauce to adhere to the pasta much better.

[@amanacatandhisdog8836]

The “vinegar” was in Gordon’s bolognese sauce vid.

[@professorbutters]

There’s a joke about an engineer pointing out a tiny flaw in a broken machine and charging 53,000 dollars. The punchline is something like “and it’s 52,997 for knowing where to put the X.” If you go to a restaurant, you are paying for expertise. The chef may have had expensive education and training and if there’s a separate dessert chef, they probably went to a different school and worked their way up in a different system, and the other chefs and the staff are all putting their skill, knowledge, and experience into making your dinner. Appreciate it and appreciate them.

[@osvaldobenavides5086]

The pasta Josh added to the dish when building the lasagna was the commercial dry pasta with the curly edges and not the one he had handmade. I wonder what happened??

[@philip4534]

I literally can make a lasagna and eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a few days. Like even if I spend $20 on ingredients, it still ends up being at MOST $2 per serving. I also go the béchamel route. That’s the way my mom taught me. If you want my lasagna recipe comment, I’ll give it to you. But it does have a bit of a South African twist

[@bigZoeGsm]

Oo I'd love to try it, interested in different culture mixes

[@eidodk]

Pre-shredded cheese is only coated with corn starch in the US. It's illegal in the EU.

[@Ev1ln1nj4m0nk3y]

Yeah you did miss Josh saying wait 15 minutes before cutting into it. 👌🏾

[@Shad0hawK]

I could see the tomatoes he used, it was Cento brand San Marzano....definately not cheap.

[@penguinchris796]

you should check out Alex's (Alex on YT) series on dried pasta where he dives in super deep to dried pasta. It has given me a new appreciation for the love that goes into dried pasta as well

[@Slim_T_ODB]

Omg BRO we get it! It's per portion. No one is coming for your sandwich shop to accuse you of over pricing. My lord

[@MediaM5]

i usually never eat a frozen lasagna. luckily being italian i have been making it as a kid in ny. however, now out of nyc, and well not making it a lot i buy a particular brand of frozen. michaelangellos brand frozen lasagna. i prefer it over the stouffers and oncor or great value brands. it seems more "homemade". they also if available in stores have a chicken parm as well that was good. as far as $1 lasagna. im not sure about 1 dollar. right now its about 3 per person now, not bad, but could be cheaper. this is why i either buy the barilla sheet pasta or make my own pasta crepes to layer the lasagna. i can ration out the meat as well as the ricotta mixture used.

[@BrooklyKnight]

To be honest, I didn't even know people used ricotta in lasagna lol - granted, I learned how to make it from some cooking vids I watched that were in Italian (can understand, write, and read it for the most part but can't speak it well lol). They used bechamel, and that's what I've been using for a few years now and what I assumed everyone else was using too lol

[@christopherkarr1872]

Man...knowing the difference in a stock made with and without mirepoix, Vincenzo's assertion that a sofrito is necessary makes perfect sense. We missed out on a lot of flavor.

[@modestacattaruzza7400]

No vegetable oil is used nella buona cucina gastronomica Italiana. From North to South its Italian tegioo cooking. No vrappy ingredients, but wholesome fresh ones.

[@nilianstroy]

I just noticed one thing... Uncle Roger has his John Oliver thing... Vicenzo has Gordon Ramsay 😂😂😂

[@professoraviva4628]

Ummm...Uncle Roger's "thing" is with Jamie Oliver. (John Oliver is the host of Last Week Tonight). :)

[@kageseiryuu8675]

27:19 ... i needed this vid a week ago :D lasagna soup was a different kind of experience...

[@ruffshots]

I agree with your friend, there's nothing wrong with *good* dried pasta (pasta secca), preferably artisan. Vincenzo has a good video about selecting a good brand too. I've worked in kitchens that made our own pasta, and ones where we bought dried, but not, like Barilla brand or anything. Quality dried pasta is absolutely fine, and I think a lot of home (and some restaurant!) cooks get their noses in the air about their pasta machines for no real reason.

[@scotthagapac]

Some recipes are interesting to see how you can produce a quality product on a budget Both chefs might change something, but that pasta could be served with no regrets.

[@Diogenes.of.Sinope]

should change the battery on that smoke alarm

[@adeptfelix]

Thank god someone else heard it, I got super paranoid that I had one dying in my house.

[@MGC-XIII]

Brian, you're overthinking the cost. All it demonstrates is that you do not have to spend too much on lasagna.

[@Monsux]

At this rate $1 lasagna cost $2 by the end of the year.

[@sirbiff10]

As weird as it might sound i actually rinse my shredded cheese in cold water to get rid of that powder to prevent sticking.

[@jnd13keba]

You really could use the fondant rollers that have those sizing rings

[@xdeathknightx]

Good to talk about the costs of making food in a restaurant. Used to know a chef who explained that they made very little profit at all from food, and that drinks was where most of the money came from.

[@isaiah513623]

Great educational video