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. 

Step-by-step how to make homemade ravioli

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If you have been following me, you have probably noticed that I write quite the lengthy stories (which, I am afraid, only a handful of very kind and patient creatures can read to the very end.) This post will be a bit unusual as the recipe and the instructions are so long that I have the feeling that if I write one of my usual sagas I might loose you somewhere in the middle.

So, my dear fiends, the only thing you should know is that fresh ravioli is one of my favorite things to make and eat. Fresh ravioli are a bit of a time investment, but just as anything in life that takes time to bloom, they are totally worth waiting for and make. When you make them for the first time you will feel so good, and will be so proud of yourself! Even if you screw them up, still proud! And if that happens, don’t despair, do it again another time, and ask me questions. I had even made a step-by-step visual tutorial, plus a fun little video for you to follow, to show you how easy ravioli are.

As I always say: Pour yourself a glass of your favorite wine, put your apron on and cook along!

Cooking Notes:

Does the dough recipe matters?
The below recipe proportions are based on my pasta dough recipe from my previous post. However, you could use a different dough recipe if you wish, just make sure it calls (or adjust it) for the same amount of flour as mine (1 cup, bit more or less) to ensure you end up with the same size dough. Why I prefer the pasta dough I make? It’s because it has a very high yolk content, which makes for a very silky dough that is very sturdy, and will keep itself together as well as the ravioli filling.

The pasta sheet thickness:
You want a pasta sheet that is not too thick, or one that is way too thin. In both cases your filling might burst out while boiling in the water. If your pasta sheet is too thick, it will be hard to glue the two ravioli sheets together as a packet. If your dough is too thin, it won’t be sturdy enough to hold the filling. To know you’ve got your pasta sheet thickness right, hold it up to the light and pass your hand behind it. If you can see the shadow of your hand, you’re good to go.

The filling size: 
I call for a 1/2 tablespoon of filling. This is meant to be more of a starting point than an absolute measurement. Play and adjust your filling since each piece of dough is going to be a different size. No two pieces of pasta roll out the same. I am a person that likes LOTS of filling, but often I am reminded during boiling, as things move and expand, the filling might burst in the water if there is too much of it. Test, test, test. Test to see what works for you.

Seal those ravioli babies:
Make sure that you individually press and seal really well the ravioli. Press with your fingers around the filling to get the air out of each packet and to seal the edges really well. This will ensure beautiful, even packets that will not burst while boiling.

Tools:
Set your table before you start making the ravioli.
• Small bowl of water (to seal the ravioli)
• Bowl with the ravioli filling
• Pastry wheel (I like the one that has straight edge on one side and fluted on the other for versatility)
• Rolling pin. I use a long, French rolling pin which allows me to cover a larger area, resulting in a wide 14” diameter circle sheet. However, if you have a standard American 10-12” rolling pin either cut your dough ball in two and roll two skinny and long sheets, or cur the dough ball in fourths and roll four skinny, long sheets.

Ricotta and Spinach Ravioli Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

Fresh Pasta Dough
Follow this recipe from my previous blog post

Ricotta and Spinach Filling
• 1 bag (6oz) fresh spinach
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup whole milk ricotta (preferably hand-dipped)
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• Rind of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• Salt 
• Pepper

Brown Butter Sauce
• 8 tbsp butter
• 20 sage leaves
• 8-10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 4-5 tbsp not too sweet white wine
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish

Directions:

Pasta Dough
Follow the recipe from my previous post about making the pasta dough. You can use a different, or a favorite pasta dough recipe if you prefer (just make sure the flour proportion is same as mine, about a 1cup). As your dough is resting, make the ravioli filling:

Ravioli Filling

1. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tbsp of the olive oil and about half of the spinach (removing any yellow or wilted leaves) in the pan. Sprinkle some (but not too much) salt over the spinach (this will help the spinach to wilt faster). Lower your heat a bit and cook the spinach by tossing it frequently with tongs to ensure the leaves are wilting evenly. As the spinach wilts and looks about half of its size (after a minute or so), slowly add a handful of the remaining spinach from the bag, tossing with the tongs to help wilt evenly. Continue until all the spinach is in your pan. Add a splash of water or pinch of salt if the leaves need help wilting. Keep tossing until all the water has evaporated form the pan and all the spinach has wilted. Transfer spinach to a plate lined with 2-3 paper towels and let it cool for 10-15 minutes.

2. Stack 2 paper towels and place the cooled spinach on top, cover the spinach with 2 more towels and press down with your hands to help extract all the extra water form the spinach. Repeat if needed to make sure all extra water is extracted from the spinach. You might need to replace the wet paper towels with dry ones and keep pressing. Removing the excessive water from the spinach will ensure your ravioli stays closed while cooking. 

3. Place the spinach on a cutting board and chop very finely. Add the spinach to a small mixing bowl, with the rest of ravioli filling ingredients and the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil. Mix well until evenly incorporated, taste and add salt and black pepper to taste.

Rolling the Pasta Dough

1. Follow the recipe in my previous post about hand-rolling the pasta dough. Roll your pasta dough with a pasta machine if that works better for you. If you are hand-rolling, roll only half, or a fourth (see my NOTE) of the dough. Work with 1 piece at a time and keep the remaining dough wrapped in plastic. NOTE: I use a long, French rolling pin which allows me to cover a larger area, resulting in a wide 14” diameter circle sheet. However, if you have a standard American 10-12” rolling pin either cut your dough ball in two and roll two skinny and long sheets, or cur the dough ball in fourths and roll four skinny, long sheets. If using pasta machine, work with 1 piece at a time and keeping remaining dough wrapped in plastic as you work. 

2. Make sure to roll the dough really thin (but not ultra thin). To know you’ve got your dough thin enough, hold it up to the light and pass your hand behind it. If you can see the shadow of your hand, you’re good to go.

Fill the Ravioli

1. After your dough is thin enough, if you rolled your dough with a pasta machine, leave the sheet as is. If rolling by hand cut the sheet of dough in half lengthwise as well as the bottom 1” or so to have a straight line on top and bottom (if you wish, cut the sides too to create a rectangular piece, however, that is not necessary as those pieces will be cut removed during the ravioli cutting.) Starting 1” inch from the side, and 1” from the top, spoon the filling mixture, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, up length, spacing about 1” apart (you should get 4-5 mounds). Play and adjust your filling because each piece of dough is going to be a different size. No two pieces of pasta roll out the same. 

2. Have a small bowl of water on the counter and dip your finger in and run a damp bead of water down each edge of the pasta and between each spoon full of filling. When done, flip the dough from the bottom over your filling.

3. Dry your hands. Run your finger over the top edge by pressing just slightly to seal the ravioli. With the edges of your hands press down between each pocket of filling to seal together. Using a pastry wheel, run a straight line at the top to trim up the top and side edges and shape the ravioli. Make sure you don’t cut too close to the filling as it might come out during cooking. Run the pastry wheel between each pocket of filling to cut each individual ravioli. 

4. One ravioli at the time, press around each pocket of filling to seal, then press outward toward edges, pushing out any air pockets. The most important part of this step is getting the air out of the ravioli when you seal it, otherwise it might burst in the water.

5. Arrange ravioli on a baking sheet and dust top and bottom with semolina. Cover the ravioli loosely with plastic wrap. Repeat these steps with the remaining dough and filling.

Cook the Ravioli
Working in batches if needed, cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and place in serving pasta bowls. Keep about 1/2 cup of the pasta water in case you need it for the sauce.

Make the Sauce
In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tbsp butter over medium-high heat. Add half of the sage. Cook until leaves crisp up a bit and become a darker green (about a 1minute or less). Remove from heat and place leaves on a plate lined with a paper towel. Place the pan back on the heat and repeat with the remaining sage. Place the second batch of sage to the paper towel-lined plate. Add the remaining butter to the pan, let it melt and add the sliced garlic. Cook until fragrant, and the garlic becomes lightly golden color (be careful to not burn the garlic as this happens easily). Add the wine and let it cook for a few seconds. Add the Parmesan cheese and swirl the sauce around the pan to mix and melt cheese a bit (no more than few seconds). Sauce should look lightly brown and creamy. Turn the heat off. Spoon the sauce over the ravioli. Top with 5 sage leaves and freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano. 

NOTE: Sometimes the ravioli dry out a bit while the sauce is cooking, or the sauce looks too thick. In that case, add a tablespoon or two of the pasta water to the sauce to loosen it.

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.