Bobby Flay's Lasagna Throwdown

Bobby Flay challenges a contender for the best lasagna recipe - so which will it be? Bobby's braised meat lasagna, or the competing meatball lasagna?

Bobby: Flay's Lasagna Throwdown Bobby: I challenged Mark Bove of Bove’s Restaurant to a lasagna throwdown and he still really from the shock. Mark: Oh my God! I’m shaking right now. Bobby: We’ll see if my braised meat lasagna is any match for his famous meatball lasagna. We’re making sort of a Northern Italian style lasagna. There’s going to be tomatoes and a cream sauce a bechamel, some fresh ricotta cheese of course Vermont made, with some eggs, parmesan cheese and some parsley. Mark: Wow! I can’t believe Bobby Flay is over there on one table making lasagna against my lasagna right here. I just can’t believe it. Bobby: He may be nervous but that’s not stopping him from crossing enemy lines and tasting my sauce. Oh, you're tasting already? This is unfair. Oh boy! Mark: Remember, 66 years. Bobby: 66 minutes. Mark: This is a little bland, he has three people doing it but it’s a little too thick for me. Bobby: It looks like tasting my sauce is boosting Mark’s confidence. Mark: Mr. Flay, do you season your ricotta cheese? Bobby: Do I season my ricotta cheese, I do. Mark: We don’t need to season our ricotta cheese because the meatballs that we use are plenty seasoned and when it melts, it all blends with the lasagna. It’s really, and it’s a great taste. Bobby: Enough chitchat, we both have work to do. Mark: Crisscross your noodle. Mr. Flay, how are you doing over there? Bobby: I’m good. I’m concentrating. We have the beef and pork shanks that have been braised with red wine and chicken stock. And then tomatoes, tomato sauce and some pancetta. Panchetta, however Giada says it. Mark: There you go, 70 years of tradition right there in that pan, 70 years of tradition. Bobby, watch out. The “Sauce Boys” are coming for you. Bobby: Our lasagna’s have been layered. Now, it’s time to cover them and cook them. We’ve made a bunch of it ahead of time obviously because we can’t make these people wait forever to eat. Who’s ready for lasagna? Mark: See that pocket of steam? Look at that. Oh yeah, that’s a work of art right there. You know what, this first piece, I’m going to dedicate it to Mr. Flay. So, I’m going to bring this over to Bobby. Bobby: Do I get to feed my whole family with this? Alright, you got me on size. I can tell you that much, cheers! Mark: Cheers! Booby: That’s good. Mark: This is going to be a battle. Bobby: This reminds me what I ate growing up. Nice, like--to it, very clean, this is delicious. I mean, it’s fantastic. I’ll eat this all day long. Mark: There’s a lot of flavors going on here and you know that sauce, I was a little skeptical at first, but the sauce is pretty good. Bobby: I don’t believe him. Mark: How was that, was I lying well? Bobby: Will the crowd be as critical? There’s only one way to find out. Male: I’ll have to say, I'm a purest when it comes to lasagna. I like multiple layers, a lot of meat and a lot of cheese. This is Bove’s. I love it. Female: What’s really unique that makes Bobby:’s lasagna stand out is the braised pork and beef, it's delicious. Female: I liked Bove’s actually better than Bobby’s because the flavor just fills my mouth more and fills my taste buds. Female: I’m loving Bobby’s. It’s not traditional. I like the simple flavors and simple layers. It’s my second serving. I think it pretty cool. I’m going to sleep it off. Bobby: There’s no time for napping at the throwdown. You still need to hear from our secret judges. Rod: Rod Rehwinkel, Executive Chef, Davis Center, University of Vermont. Melissa: Hi! I’m Melissa Pasanen. I’m a freelance food and restaurant journalist based in South Burlington, Vermont. Bobby: Who’s ready to eat some lasagna? Our lasagna’s will be judgerd on three criteria; texture, flavor and layering. Rod: Well, let's dig in to Plate A. Bobby: Plate A is Mark’s hearty helping of meatball lasagna. Melissa: Good flavor, a great tomato flavor in that. Rod: And very savory too. I like the texture and I like the cheese, nice. Melissa: This has that herbiness that you said you like, right? Rod: I do. I like the flavor of herbs. Bobby: Next they tried Plate B, my northern style lasagna with braised beef and pork. Rod: This is very interesting. Melissa: Very different, not like mom used to make at all. Rod: The flavor are separate and there are a number of different things that go on in this dish. And they dance. They introduce themselves along the layer when you’ll eat this dish. Melissa: We’re very torn. There’s a different kind of lasagna out there and these are two great examples of two very different styles of lasagna. Rod: I love the complexity of flavors in B and I love the herbs. I love the fact that I taste different things at different times in eating that dish. It’s fascinating to eat it as entertaining. In dish A, I love the comfort level of the dish itself. I took a large portion. The sauce is very savory, lots of cheese. I like the kind of the gooeyness of the cheese mixing with the beef. Melissa: We just felt that the flavors of this one were more distinct although I will say I do like the tomato sauce better on that one. But the throwdown winner today is, Lasagna B! Female: I was a little bit disappointed that Mark Bove didn’t win. I thought he’s lasagna was delicious and it was just good home cooking and everyone in Burlington loves it. So, Bobby Flay can I don’t know, take his lasagna back to New York. Bobby: It was a big surprise because I thought their lasagna was fantastic. And it reminded me of like what lasagna usually taste like. We sort of went the sort of contemporary way, more Northern Italian but it’s just one of those things. Mike: The judges went with his lasagna but you know what, that’s okay. I mean, it was such an honor to have Bobby Flay taste the lasagna and the comments from the judges said that the sauce was great. So Bobby, Food Network, thank you very much for coming to Burlington. You made my family very happy. Bobby: So the all you awesome cooks out there, keep doing what you do. But ask yourself this, “Are you ready for a throwdown?”