EF Core 5 + Sql Server: slow query

EF Core created a paginated query that searches data in a navigation property. The generated raw query is:

DECLARE @__p_1 varchar(40) = '%Ordine Rilasciato%';
DECLARE @__p_2 int = 0;
DECLARE @__p_3 int = 20;

SELECT *
FROM [RDA] AS [r]
LEFT JOIN [StatoRDA] AS [s] ON (([r].[IdSocieta] = [s].[IdSocieta]) AND ([r].[CodiceStato] = [s].[CodiceStato])) AND ([r].[CodiceStatoOrigine] = [s].[CodiceStatoOrigine])
WHERE LOWER([s].[DescrizioneStato]) LIKE @__p_1
ORDER BY LOWER([s].[DescrizioneStato])
OFFSET @__p_2 ROWS FETCH NEXT @__p_3 ROWS ONLY

this query takes up to 40 seconds to elaborate, but if I omit the declaration like this:

SELECT *
FROM [RDA] AS [r]
LEFT JOIN [StatoRDA] AS [s] ON (([r].[IdSocieta] = [s].[IdSocieta]) AND ([r].[CodiceStato] = [s].[CodiceStato])) AND ([r].[CodiceStatoOrigine] = [s].[CodiceStatoOrigine])
WHERE LOWER([s].[DescrizioneStato]) LIKE '%Ordine Rilasciato%'
ORDER BY LOWER([s].[DescrizioneStato])
OFFSET 0 ROWS FETCH NEXT 20 ROWS ONLY

the elaboration is immediate.

Since the first query is generated by EF I have no control on it.

Query code:

var qry = myContext.Rda
    .Where(x => EF.Functions.Like(x.StatoRda.DescrizioneStato.ToLower(), "%" + item.Valore + "%"))
    .OrderBy(x => x.StatoRda.DescrizioneStato.ToLower()
    .Skip((pageIndex - 1) * pageSize)
    .Take(pageSize)

Both filter and order are made on a related table