Carroll Lasagne

Sully

I've always enjoyed Carroll Lasagne but I found in recent years, perhaps it was my imagination, the meat quantity dropped and it wasn't as nice. So when shopping today for some I had a look at the ingredients and was surprised to find no mention of Beef but instead 15% pork compared to Tesco which had it's own brand at 23% beef.

I wouldn't have thought Lasagne and Pork were that common, would generally associate Lasagne with beef!

odyssey06

I always assumed lasagne was beef based... Tesco Finest Beef Lasagne in their €10 meal deal has 28% beef.

I wonder was it always pork, or did they switch from pork to beef after the horse scandal?

Apparently though lasagne can use pork, or a mix of beef and pork...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lasagne_82381

chocksaway

Carrolls has been pork since as long as i can remember

Oasis1974

Pork is cheaper than beef that's the only explanation? Lasagne is always traditionally made with beef.

budgemook

Is it not traditionally 50/50 beef and pork like spag bol is?

Oasis1974

budgemook wrote: »

Is it not traditionally 50/50 beef and pork like spag bol is?

Ok fair enough but to contain all pork meat is a bit odd.

budgemook

I think eating Carrols lasagna is odd tbh!

Oasis1974

budgemook wrote: »

I think eating Carrols lasagna is odd tbh!

Learn a lesson if a fresh lasagne has a months shelf life.

colm_mcm

Tried once, was disgusting. They sell it in Dealz.

Sully

I have to say, I very much enjoyed the Tesco version this evening. I was just taken by surprise for a business I would associate with quality would pick pork (and a low amount of it) instead of Beef.

hardCopy

Oasis1974 wrote: »

Ok fair enough but to contain all pork meat is a bit odd.

Lasagne is traditionally made with any and all kinds of meat in Italy. I wouldn't see the use of pork as any reflection, good or bad, on the quality of the product.

I'd still prefer beef myself though.

gerrybbadd

I like Carroll's Lasagne, and it's been pork as long as I've been eating it (a long time!)

Lusocu

Sully wrote: »

I've always enjoyed Carroll Lasagne but I found in recent years, perhaps it was my imagination, the meat quantity dropped and it wasn't as nice. So when shopping today for some I had a look at the ingredients and was surprised to find no mention of Beef but instead 15% pork compared to Tesco which had it's own brand at 23% beef.

I wouldn't have thought Lasagne and Pork were that common, would generally associate Lasagne with beef!

I might be able to solve this for you. There is a descrepancy between the larger Carroll's lasagna and the smaller one. The larger one is definitely stuffed with more meat per square inch. The smaller one is lower on the meat percentage of overall mass. I never buy the smaller one for this reason. It's much less meatier and dry on sauce in fact. I'm suprised the two sizes they offer aren't identical in terms of ingredient proportions.

rubadub

Always pork as said, I always read ingredients, quite a few things would have meat you would not expect.

Lusocu wrote: »

The larger one is definitely stuffed with more meat per square inch. The smaller one is lower on the meat percentage of overall mass..

Tesco show the info, the meat content is very close.

1kg

Ingredients

Reconstituted Partly Skimmed-Milk Powder,Water ,Pork (16%) ,Durum Wheat Semolina ,Tomatoes ,Cheese ,Tomato Concentrate ,Wheat Flour ,Vegetable Oils and Fats (Palm, Rapeseed) ,Modified Tapioca Starch ,Onions ,Carrots ,Eggs ,Salt ,Spices and Herbs ,Flavouring

350g

Ingredients

Reconstituted Partly Skimmed-Milk Powder***, Tomatoes, Pork (15%), Durum Wheat Semolina*, Water, Cheese*** (Colour: ß-Carotene), Wheat Flour*, Non-Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils and Fats, Modified Maize Starch, Eggs**, Onions, Carrots, Salt, Spices and Herbs, Spices and Herbs Extract, Allergen info: contains Gluten*, Eggs**, Milk/Lactose***

Lusocu

rubadub wrote: »

Always pork as said, I always read ingredients, quite a few things would have meat you would not expect.


Tesco show the info, the meat content is very close.

1kg



350g

The ingredient descriptions might say that but my experience says otherwise. They're not the same product to my taste. I used to have the 350g bought for me on many occasions when I would have preferred the 1kg one as I know the smaller one is much dryer. This has proved to be the case when eating on every occasion. I could do a blind test and be certain I knew which was which.

rubadub

Lusocu wrote: »

The ingredient descriptions might say that but my experience says otherwise. They're not the same product to my taste.

I was only commenting on the meat content. You can see the other ingredients are quite different in proportion so I have no doubt you can tell them apart. Ingredients are listed in order of greatest first.

The small one has more calories per gram which makes sense if its drier. I like the small one but think it is not really anything like lasagne. I like drier lasagnes, you can cut into the small one like its a cake or something.

JackieBauer

Beef and Pork mixed together is not uncommon in "Italian" cuisine. When I was in Little Italy, NYC I had a mafia looking guy with fancy suit and all inviting me to his restaraunt saying "Bolgnese is my favourite, you got three meats, Beef, Pork AND Veal, forget about it!"

Carolls lasagne is good when you are pissed, that's it

stefanovich

JackieBauer wrote: »

Carolls lasagne is good when you are pissed, that's it

Yeah. It's junk food.

CapedCrusader

To be honest, you're probably lucky if it has beef or pork in it!

whiskeyman

I used to live on this when I was a student.
Lovely with a few slices of white bread and tasty as heck.
Not sure I'd eat it now that I can actually cook!

Hesh's Umpire

I had a Carroll's lasagne once. It was absolutely disgusting - one of the worst things I've ever eaten.

BailMeOut

IMO lasagne, meatballs and meatloaf must contain pork. 50/50 mix of beef and pork works and if you can get veal even better with equal amounts of each. Beef only lasagne (or meatballs / meat loaf) is not as nice.

Carroll's however is awful!

Keane2baMused

Carrolls is absolutely yuck!

If you want a really tasty ready made lasagne get Aldi's fresh one (it's in the fridges where the soups and fresh pizzas are usually

misscpmfan

Carrolls Lasagne is probably one of the worst Lasagnes I have ever eaten in my life. It was always really sloppy, the meat was just never there. Small amounts here and there. It sometimes tasted like mashed potatoes, it was/is just awful.

whiskeyman

I know they ain't great, and I know there's so much better, but this thread makes me really want one just for old times sake!