Lasagna with Homemade Lasagna Noodles

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When I was a kid, lasagna was this mystical dish that the cartoon character Garfield devoured with so much pleasure and excitement, so to the young me lasagna was the dish of the happy, joyful creatures of the world.

The very first time I had lasagna in my life was in December of 2000. This was the very same year in which I arrived in the United States, and the first of many years to be away from my family for Christmas. That year, a warm-hearted American family (who soon after became my American family) invited me to celebrate Christmas Eve with them, and to my surprise and dismay they served homemade lasagna with a salad at the Christmas Eve dinner.  

Reading, you might be wondering what is so strange about having lasagna for dinner on Christmas Eve. You see, growing up our Bulgarian customs were to have vegan food for Christmas Eve dinner. And in fact there were some very specific traditions about it. For example: the number of dishes is to be an odd number, and some staple Bulgarian dishes have to be present – like: bean stew, rolled cabbage leaves, and fortune bread. For some unknown to this day reason, my child head believed that if I don’t honor Jesus’s birth and don’t eat vegan food I will be punished by the Gods. Don’t ask me which Gods since I made up the whole story. One could think that perhaps my family was religious, but in fact my family was not even remotely religious, therefore I have no idea where this story came about in my head, but strangely enough I believed in it – kind of like believing in Santa, until you don’t.

So here I was, sitting in a beautiful American home, surrounded by a loving group of people with a meat lasagna in front of me for Christmas Eve dinner. 

I had to eat it. I couldn’t let down the most wonderful family who took a barely-speaking English young woman under their arm, and made her part of their family for Christmas. I was going to deal with the Gods later. And, to be honest, I was hoping that the Gods in America were different than in Bulgaria, and their will was that people had to eat meat Lasagna for Christmas dinner in order not to be punished by them.

The lasagna was amazing! The dinner was amazing! And in fact, it was one of the most memorable Christmas dinners in my life. However, the entire time I ate the lasagna my head was going through probable scenarios of me being punished by the Gods later. Some of the stories swirling in my head were around me getting in a car accident after leaving dinner. Or that my plane going back home would crash. All imaginary scenarios were very dramatic, and included very sudden and super deserved (as far as I was concerned) death.

On my way home from dinner, I kept waiting for my car to explode, or to be hit by a deer, but nope – I came home in one piece, my car and I were ok. Traveling back to Bulgaria a few days later, to my dismay the plane didn’t crash either. In fact nothing even remotely bad happened to me in the days and months following the Christmas dinner. Relieved by the outcome, I promised to my twenty-something years old self, that I will definitely eat lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner again someday. 

So here I was, exactly 20 years later and during another year where old habits and traditions were being tested and broken by another huge life change – the virus. It was Christmas time, and I found myself remembering the lasagna story. It was then when I decided to have lasagna for Christmas again, as a tribute and a symbol of opening the door to a wonderful, and unexpected new traditions. 

While rolling the lasagna sheets I was giggling to myself and thinking “Life is giving me the same unexpected gift for a second time in my life.” As one door closed, another one opened, and it gave me the chance to experience life in a new way.  

About the recipe:

Lasagna with homemade lasagna sheets sounds impossible to make at home and waaaaay too complicated than it actually is. Don’t know about you, but for me the store-bought lasagna sheets seem like a real good idea until it’s time to dig-in and enjoy the final result of my hard labor. This is what usually happens to me: I put my fork into the mound of cheesy goodness and sauce, and all the saucy yumminess slides off to the side, leaving a massive amount of hot dough on my fork. Nope. Not a fan.

To me, the whole idea of lasagna is that the lasagna sheets have to hold the saucy, cheesy goodness together. But with most store-bought sheets usually the opposite happens. After many years of using the store stuff, getting excited, and then frustrated, I thought “what’s the point?” and I gave up on making lasagna at home ...until last year when I decided to make my own pasta sheets (eggs, salt, flour—that’s it!). I was freaking out at first, but my first attempt tasted so good, and I got hooked up and never looked back. 

Unlike the store-bought lasagna sheets the homemade ones act like a sponge to the sauces and cheese, binding everything together for a perfect bite of silky dough and saucy goodness. The other nice part of making your own lasagna sheets is that you can make them the size of your pan, or cut them in strips like the store-bought ones, or make the sheets as thin or thick as you like. Added bonus — you don’t even have to boil the homemade lasagna sheets. Some people do, but I didn’t find any difference in taste, just more work (try fetching those soft, boiled sheets out of the hot water without tearing them apart—no, thank you!). 

If I got your curiosity and excited to make lasagna again, yay! Now, roll up your sleeves, pour yourself a glass of wine, and let’s make lasagna!

Lasagna with Homemade Lasagna Noodles

Makes 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

Homemade Lasagna Noodles
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
• 1 tbsp semolina flour (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 3 egg yolk
• 1 whole egg

Filling
• 1 can (28oz) whole tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4-5 garlic cloves, mashed
• 1.5 pounds lean ground beef
• 2.5 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1.5 cups + 1 cup (for topping) shredded Mozzarella = 2.5 cups
• 1 cup + 3/4 cup (for topping) freshly shredded Parmesan = 1.3/4 cups
• 1 egg
• 1/5 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley + more for topping
• Salt 
• Pepper
• Olive oil

Equipment
• Long rolling pin, or a Pasta Roller
• 8x12 or 9x13 baking pan
• Ruler

Directions:

To make the Pasta Dough: Follow my recipe from this blog post.

Make the dough per directions, form a ball, wrap in a plastic wrap and let it rest for 30min on the counter.

To make Lasagna filling:

1. While the dough is resting, place the canned whole tomatoes in a food processor and pulse a few times. The mixture should become slightly rough but without large tomato chunks. Set aside for later.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add some olive oil, onion and garlic, and sauté until soft and translucent (be careful not to burn the garlic as the flavor will become unpleasant). Place cooked onion and garlic in a bowl and set aside for later. Return the empty pan back to the stove and add the ground beef (work in 2 batches if necessary) brown and cook the meat thoroughly. Place the cooked meat on a paper towel to absorb some of the excess fat. Remove any fat from the pan, return the cooked ground beef back to the pan, and add the cooked onion and garlic, the tomatoes plus some salt and pepper. Mix well and simmer without a lid for 15-20 minutes by stirring from time to time, until the mixture is slightly thicker. Remove from heat, taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Set aside to cool.

3. While the beef mixture is simmering, in a large bowl combine the ricotta, the 1.5 cup shredded mozzarella, 1 cup shredded Parmesan, parsley, thyme, the egg and a couple of pinches of salt and pepper. Mix well and set the bowl aside.

To make the Lasagna Sheets:

Have your pan nearby for size reference. Cut the dough in 3 and form 3 balls. Cover 2 of them with a plastic wrap and set aside. Lightly flour your surface, working 1 ball at the time and roll out the dough to the size of your pan. Oval shapes, not perfect rectangles, or slightly small or large lasagna sheets are totally fine. If you are using a pasta machine instead of a rolling pin, roll the dough as wide as possible and make the sheets a bit longer, so you can cut a piece to fill the empty spots in the pan. But if possible, roll the sheet as close to the size of the pan since that will make the spreading of the filling easier for you. Place the rolled out lasagna sheet on a parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining dough and place the rolled out sheets on top of each other separated by parchment paper.

To assemble:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Spread 1 cup of meat and tomato mixture on the bottom of your pan. Place one lasagna sheet on top. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the lasagna sheet, using a spoon. Follow with 1 cup of the meat and tomato sauce and spread well over the cheese mixture. Repeat the process with the remaining lasagna noodles. Your top layer should be a layer of meat and tomato sauce. Sprinkle the remaining 1cup of shredded Mozzarella and 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 45-50 min, or until fragrant and bubbly. Remove the foil and place lasagna back in the oven for additional 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned. 

Remove from oven and let rest for 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle with some chopped parsley if desired. Cut and serve until still warm. 

How to make homemade pasta without pasta maker

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This pasta recipe is my all-time favorite. I have made it so many times over the years and its my go-to every time. Occasionally, I’ll try a new pasta recipe version – with less eggs, with only whole eggs, adding olive oil, adding lots of water – you name it, and I keep coming time after time to this one. It is a simple recipe containing only eggs and flour. I discovered its original version watching a Julia’s Child episode of ‘In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs’ with Jimmy Sneed where he was so charming, showing Julia how to make pasta telling her that everyone can make a pasta, even a child can do it!  At the time I watched the episode for a first time, I had never made pasta before in my life. I was super intimidated by pasta making, thinking of it as this big, scary, fancy thing requiring years of special chef training, also that I must an Italian grandma, or at the very least must be living in Italy, breathing Italian air, and eating only double 00 flour in order to be able to make a good pasta. I don’t know about you, but growing up my mom only bought packaged dry pasta and the woman was a fabulous home-chef, baking bread and cooking cow’s tongue, but she never made pasta, so I never thought that could I possibly do it myself.  My other mental obstacle (yes, it’s always the head, isn’t it?) was that for years I believed that pasta can’t be made without a pasta roller/machine. And I thought to myself  “I can buy one, but what if I suck at pasta making and then I just blew $80 bucks and have a gadget that I can’t use for anything else! ” That is why that episode of Julia Child and Jimmy Sneed was so revolutionary for me – a turning point in my beliefs about pasta, challenging all of them. And the whole owning a pasta rolling machine, I got over that thought after having the realization that Italian grandmas have made pasta for years and years, far before the pasta machine became available, so if they can do it I can do it too. As a famous slogan goes: Just do it :) so, I put my apron on and I did it, and fresh pasta has become one of my favorite things to cook.

About the pasta dough: the original recipe called for half all-purpose flour and half semolina flour. The large quantity of semolina makes for a denser pasta and I personally prefer a soft pasta that is strong enough to hold ravioli filling, or thin noodles without falling apart. I also found that adding more semolina makes for a very hard dough to roll, mainly due to the high yolk content. So over the years I perfected the pasta consistency to what I like – a firm textured pasta, yet silky and very flavorful. In the recipe I call for mostly all-purpose flour and only a tablespoon of semolina in the dough. Additional semolina is used for the already made noodles as they are being tossed in the semolina, preventing them from sticking together. If you are a beginner at pasta making don’t despair if it doesn’t turn right the very first time, and don’t be an overachiever starting with ravioli, try an easy to cut pappardelle. And if you have a hard time rolling this eggy dough. Start over, or try a different recipe like this one.

How to make homemade pasta without pasta maker

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
• 1 tbsp semolina flour (plus more for preventing pasta form sticking together)
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 3 egg yolks*
• 1 whole egg

*Wondering what to do with those 3 leftover egg whites? Make some meringues. They are so silky and wonderful to snack on, or crumble them over your favorite ice cream

Directions:

1. Start with 3/4 cup all-purpose flour as the size of egg yolks vary. On a clean work surface or  a mixing bowl place flour, semolina and salt. Make a well in the center and add egg yolks and the egg. Starting from the center using a fork (easier to clean up and work with) or your fingers start by mixing the eggs together, working outward from the center of well, gradually incorporate flour mixture into egg mixture until a irregular dough forms. If using your hands and they are sticky, remove as much dough from them and wash hands before kneading the dough otherwise you will find it difficult to work. If the dough seems sticky add the remaining flour 1 tablespoon at a time. If the dough becomes stiff add 1 tablespoon of water, but only enough to keep the dough together.

2. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead until dough is smooth and springs back when pressed with a finger, 8 to 10 minutes. While kneading, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if dough feels too dry; or add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if dough feels too sticky.

3. Shape dough in a ball, wrap it in a plastic wrap. Let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out the pasta: cut the dough in half. Roll out one half at a time, keeping the rest of the dough wrapped. Very lightly flour the work surface. Shape the dough into a ball. Press dough down so it flattens like a disk. Start rolling by placing your rolling pin in the center of the disk and roll away from you and then back towards you to even out the dough thickness. Lift up the dough and turn it 90 degrees, roll in the same manner described. With each pass as you roll, lift the dough up, re-dust the counter beneath if needed, and turn it over. Keep rolling and stretching until the pasta is thin enough to see the color of your hand or its print through it. 

   For pappardelle: flour the dough really well, roll it and cut strips as wide as you prefer. When done cutting, loosen up the ribbon-like strips and toss them generously with semolina. Place in an airtight container until ready to boil. 

   For ravioli: see my next post. 

5. Repeat with the remaining dough. 

   To cook the pasta: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Shake off the extra semolina and add the pasta handful by handful to the water, gently stir, lower the heat to a medium-high and cook for 5 minutes. Taste a noodle to check if it is done to your desired firmness.

Fresh Pasta with Chanterelle Mushrooms

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Homemade pasta is one of those lush and comforting type of foods that I love to do on a regular basis. There is something so wonderful when my hands get to touch the wet pile of eggs and flour and feel the stickiness that through gentle movements turns into a soft ball of dough. The process gives me a child-like feeling. Like the feeling when you find yourself in the middle of an unexpected experience and your curiosity just makes you go for it. You are not sure you can do it. You are not sure why you are doing it. Yet, the doing of it brings you so much joy that you want to do it again. And again. And again. That is how pasta making is for me. I can buy an already made pasta. Dry pasta, or even fresh store bought pasta. Yet, every time I want to go through the messiness and the stickiness and the flour everywhere in my kitchen. And oh, what to do with the left over noodles? So many of them!!! It is totally worth it. Just like life itself...I can get someone else’s version of it. I can read a book about someone else’s experience – then attempt to skip some steps in order to save myself that’s person opinion on perceived struggles. Or, go and experience life myself and see how I feel about it. The bottom line is, making homemade pasta makes my heart happy and brings me joy just as life is.

As a person that cooks often I fall into my loving-this-one-recipe-to-the-end-of-life mode (quite often, lets be honest). However, I try to remind myself that I haven’t tried it all and I don’t know it all, so lets see what other people are doing in their kitchens. And fresh pasta fell into this “I am sticking with my recipe” category for me, but I broke it. I went and tried a different recipe and let me tell you that I was wonderfully surprised because the dough turned out to be soft and silky and yummy. Basically, my new favorite go-to pasta dough thanks to the lovely Rachel form On the Acre.

I met Rachel a few months ago and I loved her instantly. She is one of these passionate people who follows her heart and makes magic with every step she takes. Rachel’s love for growing her own food and making down to earth, simple and true recipes is so transparent in her photography and writing. And if I could describe her with few words it would be: honest and with a heart (all of the profits form her class went to help a friend who is adopting a child from India). Rachel thought me so many things that day in her pasta making class. How to color my pasta with vegetable paste like a tomato and kale (she made the kale paste herself from the kale from her garden!!!). How to use a pasta roller (I am that close to buy one because I got obsessed wit it by the end of class). And how to make wonderful, silky pasta dough only with 2 eggs (my staple old recipe called for 3 egg yolks and 1 whole egg...I see saving money in my future). 

So, if you are wondering what to do for dinner and want to be inspired, head to On the Acre and make this lush, velvety pasta. I guarantee you that you will find your new staple dinner recipe that makes your heart and tummy happy and will give you lots of delicious and envious leftovers for work lunch tomorrow. 

xoxo

Fresh Pasta with Chanterelle Mushrooms

Sevres 4 (plus some leftover noodles)

Ingredients

• Fresh made pasta. Recipe from On the Acre
• 6 tbsp butter, divided
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cups of Chanterelle Mushrooms (about 1/2 pound), brushed clean (halved if large)
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of white wine (rose works too)
• 2 tbsp Crème Fraiche or Mascarpone
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano + extra for serving
• 1/4 cup of shopped fresh herbs (thyme, lemon thyme, oregano, parsley, chives), only parsley or thyme works well too
• Salt + Pepper 

Directions

Fresh Pasta
Follow instructions from On the Acre on how to make the fresh pasta. 

Sauce and Assembly

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and follow the instructions from On the Acre on how to cook the pasta.

2. Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons butter with 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the Chanterelles, season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally until mushrooms are lightly golden, about 5 minutes. If the mushrooms are a bit dry and woody, add a 1/4 cup of water to soften them and cook until the water is fully evaporated. Place the mushrooms in a bowl and set aside. Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter, remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the skillet and the shallots. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly golden, 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in wine and cook until liquid is reduced by half, about 1 minute.

3. When pasta is ready add the desired amount of noodles for 4 people in the skillet (you might have some leftover cooked noodles, which you can store for the next day or two to enjoy with your favorite sauce). Add a ladle of the pasta water in the skillet and toss gently to mix the pasta with the sauce. Add the cooked chanterelles, toss and let pasta cook for 2 min to let all the flavors come together. Add the Crème Fraiche or Mascarpone + the Parmigiano Reggiano and toss until the sauce becomes lush and creamy. Add a bit more of the pasta water if it seems dry. Add the fresh herbs and toss until fully incorporated. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired. Divide pasta into 4 pasta bowls and serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

4. Enjoy!