The Best Protein Pairing To Complement White Sauce Lasagna

Lasagna comes in many shapes and forms. According to La Cucina Italiana, this delicious Italian main dish can be made in the traditional style, which uses Bolognese meat sauce with layers of pasta sheets or lasagna noodles and veggies, ricotta, and lots of cheese. You can also make a rolled lasagna, per the Cozy Cook, which is comprised of lasagna noodles covered with a mixture of meat and veggies and rolled up, then blanketed with sauce and baked with melty cheese. You can even find recipes for low-carb lasagna, explains The Big Man's World, which uses slices of eggplant instead of pasta! Or you can make a white lasagna, which omits the red sauce and uses a velvety smooth white sauce — called bechamel — instead.

All types of lasagna are naturally delicious. But if you want to make a white lasagna — or Lasagna Blanca – what's the best protein to add? Or do you need to add protein at all?

It's important to note that there is no one type of white lasagna, just as there is no one type of red lasagna. You can add just about anything you want to your own Lasagna Blanca, as long as you don't add red sauce.

Bechamel may sound fancy and intimidating, but it's just a white sauce. You melt butter, add flour to make a roux, cook that for a bit so the flour will absorb the liquid, add the liquid, usually milk or light cream, then stir, preferably with a wire whisk to avoid lumps, until it thickens — voila! Bechamel. You can add some grated Parmesan if you like, and if you add chicken stock or broth to this sauce, it's called sauce supreme or Normande, according to Master Class.

Layer that sauce with veggies such as spinach, onions, garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper, or zucchini; cheese; and noodles. But what's the best protein to add? Traditionally, white lasagna is made with tender diced or shredded cooked chicken, notes Natasha's Kitchen, or intensely flavored sauteed pork sausage, per Cooking Professionally. You can also add any type of cooked seafood, from salmon to shrimp. Or don't add any protein at all for a vegetarian version.

Now that you know the basics of making a white lasagna including the perfect white sauce, what ingredients will you choose? After assembling everything you'll need to make the recipe — including the pasta, veggies, grated cheeses, ricotta, and eggs, be sure to cook the protein and veggies first. If you don't cook the veggies, they will release too much water and your lasagna will be soggy, according to PBS Food. Moreover, the protein should also be cooked to avoid excess fat in the dish. 

When everything is ready, start layering. If the recipe you want to try calls for bottled Alfredo sauce you can certainly make your own. Just substitute one cup of your sauce for every 8 ounces of bottled sauce.

Rants From My Crazy Kitchen suggests making crab lasagna rolls with blue cheese sauce for an elegant dinner party, or why not try white seafood lasagna from Spicy Southern Kitchen? You can even use bottled Alfredo sauce to make this white turkey lasagna. And this shrimp lasagna, from Ricardo Cuisine, is fabulous.