Lasagna with homemade noodles

So dinner tonight was lasagna.  When I have the time, I like to make our noodles from scratch.  They tend to taste better in general, but you can also add herbs into the noodles themselves to compliment whatever dish you're going to use them in.  So first, the noodles.

The recipe I use is technically a ravioli pasta, but I just use it for any pasta so far.

2 cups flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3 Tablespoons of water 

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl, then add wet ingredients. If you want to add herbs to the dough, they are easiest to add before you put the wet ingredients in, but can be added at any point. I usually use a combination of thyme, oregano, and rosemary. This time, it was just thyme.  Once the dough is mixed, it should be put into a lightly oiled bowl, covered with a towel, and allowed to sit for 20-30 minutes.  This makes it much easier to work with.

 

I forgot to oil the bowl this time. It's not a huge deal, but it is easier to work with the dough if the bowl is very lightly oiled.

Once the dough has rested for 20 or so minutes, cut the ball in half and roll it out.  You can roll the dough as thin or thick as you prefer, just bear in mind that it will expand slightly with cooking.  Also, the thicker you roll the dough, the fewer noodles you will get out of it.  I usually roll mine much thinner and get enough for 2 lasagnas out of this recipe.  This time, I simply made the noodles thicker.  Then you can use a knife, pizza cutter, or pasta cutter to cut the dough into strips.

 Sorry that the picture is slightly blurry.

If you want, you can always take the time to square the dough off more and make more even strips.  I really wasn't that worried about it.  The rounded noodles work just fine in the pan I use. Then you lay the noodles flat on a table or countertop to dry for approximately 3 hours.  Long enough that they aren't flexible anymore and they don't try to tear when you pick them up.

  

You can then either cook the noodles immediately, or layer them with wax paper into a container and freeze them until you're ready to use them.

I made my noodles on Friday and simply put them into a container in my pantry until today.  The noodles only need boiled about 5 or fewer minutes.  You don't want them completely cooked because they will continue to cook in the oven.

To make the rest of your lasagna, you will also need:

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Shredded parmesan cheese

Spaghetti sauce

1 pound of meat of your choice

I didn't put any amounts in because I don't really measure them.  I just know what I need for my size baking dish.  I do use everything in the picture.

The first step is to cook your noodles and meat.  This time, I used ground pork.  It had a very low fat content, so I just used a little bit of olive oil.  Just be careful to not use too much and make your meat greasy. Start to preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

 Then you're going to take either a little bit of your sauce or olive oil and lightly coat the bottom of your pan.

 Then put down your first layer of noodles.

Your next layer is your meat (or if you're making it meatless, you can use ricotta cheese). You can even just use ricotta cheese as an additional cheese and put it on before the meat, I just didn't have any today.

 Then some more sauce.

 Then spread some mozzarella cheese.

Then your parmesan.

After that, you just repeat your layers. I usually get 3 or 4 layers out of mine.  Most of the time, your last layer would be just noodles, sauce and cheese, but I just do the normal layers all the way up and put extra cheese on the top. Once you're done it should look like this.

You then cover your dish with aluminum foil, put in on a baking sheet, and bake it for 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling.  If the sauce is bubbling, but the cheese isn't melted, then take the foil off and leave it in for a few more minutes.  When you take the lasagna out of the oven, let it sit for a few more minutes before serving.

Please excuse the cut part.  I almost forgot to take the picture!

This usually lasts the two of us 2 meals, though it probably would stretch farther if I could get C to enjoy a salad with it.  I'm trying to find recipes to help work more vegetables into our meals while getting around his aversion to most of them.  So hopefully the veggie content will slowly pick up here.  As for this meal, at least I used a pretty veggie heavy sauce.  Usually I would make my own, but we had company last night, so I didn't have time. This week, we have a couple of new recipes on the menu and the chicken pastina from an earlier post here, so hopefully I'll have a couple more posts this week! Have a blessed week everyone!