Woman's 'healthy' lasagna outraged the internet
A woman is getting slammed online for the unusual way in which she made a lasagna.
A traditional Italian lasagna is made a specific way — with lasagna noodles, meat sauce filling and ricotta cheese. So when one woman online tried making a 'healthier' version of it — the internet lost its marbles.
A woman named Courtney Knill innocently shared on X (formerly Twitter) a photo of something that resembled the Italian staple in a glass casserole-type dish.
The accompanying caption read: 'came up with a new recipe that I'm not quite sure what to call, essentially it's a healthier version of lasagna.'
In another Tweet below her original one, she further explained her take on the traditional dish, writing, 'I used ground chicken instead of beef, and subbed pasta out for quinoa!'
Well, leave it to the ruthless people of the internet to run and explain to Knill that what she did was disgraceful to the entire tri-state area — and Italy.
People couldn't believe what they were reading when Courtney Knill shared her 'healthy lasagna' recipe.
kobbymendez – stock.adobe.com
'Someone's nonna needs to smack you upside the head for this,' read one tweet.
'Please don't call this lasagna,' someone else pleaded.
'Pretty sure that's what they serve in the 9th ring of Hell cafeteria,' another disappointed tweet read.
'All of New Jersey cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced,' a person hilariously wrote.
Another grumpy person couldn't contain themselves by writing: 'That's a capital offense in Italy, and the Mafia will whack you in the US.'
Knill eventually responded to all the hate and tried to defend her bizarre recipe by writing, 'I haven't eaten pasta in over 8 months. leave me and my quinoa in peace' with a crying emoji.
While lasagna is clearly a favorite in the US — there are other dishes that Italian chefs wouldn't dare to order out here.
And some of these might be shocking.
'When Italians began to immigrate to the U.S., most hailed from poor, rural backgrounds and their cooking was leaner with few ingredients, dishes were mostly vegetarian, and they basically used whatever was available to them,' Italian celeb chef Gennaro Contaldo told Huff Post.
Alfredo sauce? Chefs argue that it's not 'Italian enough.'
'For an Italian, fettuccine Alfredo is a big no in the rule book,' Jacopo Falleni, owner of Nonna in Westlake Village, California, said.
Random pizza toppings? Another reported no-no.
'Pineapple doesn't go on pizza. It's a fruit that doesn't match with Italian flavors. It's too strong and the finish will cover most of the delicate flavors of the other ingredients,' Chef Matteo Venini of Washington, D.C. said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
7 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Streeterville 3-bedroom home with custom stone bathrooms: $2.7M
Address: 100 E. Huron St., No. 4803, Chicago Price: $2,700,000 Listed: April 29, 2025 This three-bedroom home is a penthouse duplex with four full bathrooms, two half bathrooms, marble and wide-plank white oak floors and custom stone bathrooms. The main level has a paneled library and a living room with herringbone floors and a wood-burning fireplace. The eat-in kitchen is equipped with an island with a breakfast bar, a built-in desk, a walk-in pantry and a full laundry room. The primary suite features a second wood-burning fireplace, dual baths with Italian marble, two walk-in closets, and an en suite office. A media room with a home theater and wet bar completes this home, which is located in a building with 24-hour door and maintenance staff, a fitness center and an indoor lap pool. Listing agent: Jennifer Ames, Engel & Volkers, 312-440-7525 Some listing photos are 'virtually staged,' meaning they have been digitally altered to represent different furnishing or decorating options. To feature your luxury listing of $1,000,000 or more in Chicago Tribune's Dream Homes, send listing information and high-res photos to ctc-realestate@
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Italian genius' Inzaghi to coach Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal
Al Hilal's new coach Simone Inzaghi took Inter Milan to two Champions League finals in three seasons but lost both. (Marco BERTORELLO) Simone Inzaghi was revealed as the new coach of Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal on Thursday, days after he led Inter Milan to a heavy defeat in the Champions League final. "The Italian genius is here," Al Hilal posted on X, with a slickly produced video of the Italian coach. "Welcome, Simone Inzaghi." Advertisement Inzaghi joins the Riyadh club, a mainstay of the oil-funded Saudi Pro League, weeks before it takes part in the new-look Club World Cup in the United States. "I am Simone Inzaghi and today begins my story with Al Hilal," he said in the video message to fans, in which he sips Arabian coffee and pins an Al Hilal lapel badge on his suit. Inzaghi's Inter slumped 5-0 to Qatar-funded Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday's Champions League final. His departure was confirmed on Tuesday. The 49-year-old guided Inter to one Serie A title and two Italian Cups since joining in 2021. He took them to two Champions League finals in three seasons but lost both. Advertisement On track to repeat the treble heroics of 2010 just a few weeks ago, Inter ended the season trophyless after falling away in each competition. Last month, Inzaghi played down rumours of a two-year deal with Al Hilal worth 50 million euros. bur/th/kir
National Geographic
21 hours ago
- National Geographic
Sinful. Poisonous. Stinky? How tomatoes overcame their wicked reputation
Tomatoes were reviled for centuries—so how did we come to embrace them? This small New Jersey town claims to have played a major role. Once called the "poison apple," tomatoes were thought to be supernatural and sinful—especially because of their red color. Photograph by The Maas Gallery, London / Bridgeman Images While Salem, Massachusetts gets all the hype for its infamous 1692 witch trials, there's another city called Salem—this time in New Jersey—that's tied to a rather legendary tale where tomatoes were the enemy. (Witch hunts were common in the 17th century. Here's what made Salem infamous.) There are many myths and legends about how the tomato was once seen as the so-called 'poison apple,' but how it lost its evil reputation and became a beloved piece of produce is a complicated story. According to historian Andrew F. Smith, author of The Tomato in America: Early History, Culture, and Cookery, the tale involves a farmer and horticulturist who went to brazen lengths to prove the tomato was safe to eat. Aristocrats would fall ill or die when they consumed tomatoes—but it was the plates they were eating on that posed the problem. Photograph by O. F. Cook, Nat Geo Image Collection In 1544, Italian herbalist Pietro Andrea Mattioli classified the tomato as both a nightshade and a mandrake—a category of food known as an aphrodisiac. The tomato was often referred to as a 'love apple' and kept at arm's length. Later in 1597, prominent English herbalist and botanist John Gerard called tomatoes 'corrupt' and 'of rank and stinking savor' in his book, Herbal. This statement essentially sealed the tomato's fate in Great Britain and later the American colonies. By the 18th century, the tomato was nicknamed the 'poison apple' because aristocrats would fall ill or die after consuming them. But it wasn't the consumption of the tomato that triggered their illness or death. Instead, it was the plates the wealthy used to dine on—specifically the pewter plate. These plates contained high levels of lead that, when mixed with the natural acidity of the tomato, caused lead poisoning. (How the simple fork almost tore apart the fabric of society.) In his book, Smith notes that some of the earliest references of tomatoes in American colonies were in the late 18th century, but people were growing the fruit out of curiosity, not eating them. 'For those who came to America in the colonial period, it just wasn't on their agenda,' says Smith. The rise in tomatoes with myth and folklore According to Smith, large-scale immigration to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—particularly from Italians, who brought with them the invention of pizza—contributed to the eventual consumption of tomatoes. (Think you know who invented pizza? These foods have surprising global origins.) But it was Robert Gibbon Johnson, a farmer and horticulturist from Salem, New Jersey, who had a lasting impression on the general public's opinion of tomatoes. According to legend, Johnson stood on the Salem's courthouse steps in 1820, eating a basket full of tomatoes for all the public to see. When he didn't die of poison, word spread that tomatoes were safe to eat. Despite there being no record of Johnson's actions on the courthouse steps in Salem, that didn't stop this New Jersey town from playing along with the tale. Photograph by Justin Locke, Nat Geo Image Collection Smith did find evidence that Johnson actually grew tomatoes, so 'it's certainly possible that his work encouraged others to consume,' he says. But Smith notes that a lot of other folks were growing tomatoes at the time, so this isn't the sole reason the fruit became popular. By the 1830s, an array of tomato cookbooks and recipes were being published in America. Rich Guido, executive director and librarian of the Salem County Historical Society, believes this tall tale is typical of a small rural town that's passionate about their local history, even if the story may have a lot of half-truths. 'We've always had a connection with history and being a rural agricultural community—that's why the tomato story really comes into play,' says Guido. How the tomato lives on in Salem Although there is no physical evidence or documentation of Johnson's tomato trial, that hasn't stopped people from embracing this tale. Sickler eventually recounted the story to Harry Emerson Wildes, an American sociologist and historian, who wrote about it in his 1940 book, The Delaware. Stewart Holbrook added further embellishment to the event in his 1946 book, Lost Men of American History. On January 30, 1949, CBS radio gave the narrative even more notoriety when it broadcast a reenactment of Johnson famously eating a tomato on the show, You Are There; Sickler acted as a historical consultant for the show. In New Jersey's Salem, from 1989 till 2022, the town held the Salem Tomato Festival, where locals and visitors would watch reenactments of Johnson's event, wear costumes, and, of course, eat tomatoes. However, according to Guido, the festival was put on hold when it was revealed that Johnson was a slaveholder to Amy Hester Reckless. As to why Salem and New Jersey embraced this legendary tale as the obscure history of the Garden State, Curtis Harker, records manager at the County of Salem, thinks it's the love of the Salem tomato—which also involved a certain ketchup company at one point. (How Henry Heinz used ketchup to improve food safety.) 'It's a combination of the love of the huge flavorful Salem tomato plopped on a hamburger, Heinz Company's citywide aroma making ketchup in Salem City for 100 years until 1977, and the amusing story of Johnson bravely eating a tomato on the courthouse steps,' he says. Although the lore around Johnson has been tarnished by his slaveholding, the tomato continues to maintain its grip on this small New Jersey town.
