Homemade Lasagna Noodles

Easy Homemade Lasagna Noodles are ridiculously tender and delicious. Make them with fresh milled flour, and they add a pop of nutrition to a timeless dinner staple.

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Homemade lasagna noodles are such a great staple to have in your repertoire. My boys love lasagna. And my girl loves lasagna. Also, my husband loves lasagna. A lot of times we sit down to dinner, and I’ve tried to add in vegetables where there ought not be vegetables, or I’ve made a healthy substitution that is met with disdain, and dinner feels like a long, slow, uphill battle. But sometimes we have lasagna. And everyone cheers and smiles and scarfs down their dinners and I feel like a champion because, not only did my entire family love the meal, but I also feel really good about what is in it.

That’s what I love so much about homemade pasta of any kind, including homemade lasagna noodles. Not only is homemade pasta tender and delicious, but you can also choose what flour you use and really customize it to your family’s tastes and nutritional goals. Whether that means throwing a little bit of wheat flour in for the extra protein and fiber, or maybe your crew only tolerates ancient grains, or maybe you want to use good old all-purpose flour but skip out on any additives, making pasta from scratch means you’re in control of what goes into your bellies. And I love that.

Why Fresh Milled Flour?

The most obvious but important reason to cook or bake with fresh milled flour is that you know exactly what you’re getting. When using a home mill, you take the whole wheat berry and mill a fine flour that retains every component. Grains in their complete form contain many vital nutrients as well as fiber for belly health.

When you purchase white flour from the store, the bran and germ of the wheat kernels have been removed taking much of the fiber and nutrients with them. Even whole wheat flour is often made by taking white flour and adding bran back in. During the commercial milling process, the good oil that is found within the wheat berry is removed in order to extend the shelf life of the flour. Often preservatives are used as well. Just like with anything you make from scratch, there’s security in knowing how food is created from start to finish and milling your own flour gives you this knowledge.

Additionally, fresh milled flour has a complex flavor profile that’s a little sweeter and a little nuttier than the grains you find on a store shelf. Compare freshly ground wheat berries to coffee beans and you start to understand how time can make them a little stale. For the best flavor, it’s best to use milled wheat within 3 days but it can last on a shelf for 7-10 days.

Interested in grain mills? Click Here!

Making Pasta Specific Flour

Traditional Pasta is made with a very finely ground semolina flour. In order to mimic this at home, I grind my wheat berries on the finest setting of my grain mill. The result is a very fine flour that makes for supple pasta dough and smooth noodles. Any wheat variety will work, but lately I’ve been using Kamut, an ancient grain that you can purchase as either wheat berries, whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour. Because it’s a close cousin to semolina flour, Kamut gives your pasta a nice golden color that I love when making homemade lasagna noodles. Also, because it’s an ancient grain, some folks with gluten intolerances find they are able to consume Kamut flour without issue.

Making the Dough for your Homemade Lasagna Noodles

Pulling pasta dough together is so simple and requires absolutely no special tools. You can make your dough on your countertop with nothing but your hands and it will turn out fabulously. Alternately, you can mix your ingredients in a shallow bowl with either your hands or a Dutch Whisk. Dump your freshly ground flour onto your surface and make a well in the middle to hold your wet ingredients. Crack your eggs into the well and then add your oil and water.

Using your fingers or your whisk, break up the eggs and start mixing your ingredients, starting with the center and working your way out until all of the flour is hydrated. I usually keep a bit of extra water on hand and add a little as needed. Continue working until your dough forms a ball. The dough will be slightly tacky but should not stick to your fingers.

Once the ingredients come together to form a ball, you want to give your dough a little time to rest. Whole wheat flour takes a bit longer than white flour to absorb liquid. As flour absorbs water, the gluten activates and begins to strengthen your dough. If you were to immediately start working your dough, it would likely tear very easily and be difficult to work with. Place your dough in a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and give it twenty minutes for the flour to fully hydrate.

After 20 minutes your dough will feel more relaxed and elastic. Knead your pasta dough for about three minutes by hand or until it starts to feel nice and smooth. At this point let your dough rest 15 minutes before attempting to roll it out.

Read more about Homemade Pasta

Getting Everything Ready for your Homemade Lasagna

While your homemade lasagna noodle dough is resting, make your meat sauce. Start by browning the sausage and ground beef and draining off the fat. Next, add your tomato puree or crushed tomatos, tomato paste, minced garlic, and seasonings. You’ll want to simmer the sauce for 15-20 minutes to get rid of excess water from the tomatoes and give the seasonings time to merry.

To make the cheese mixture, combine the cottage cheese with the grated parmesan, salt, pepper, parsley, and eggs. Stir everything together until well blended.

At this point you should be ready to roll out your homemade lasagna noodles. Roll out your pasta dough using either a rolling pin or a pasta maker. Either will work wonderfully. I use a pasta maker and it does make it a little easier to get nice and thin pasta.

If using a pasta maker, divide the dough into six pieces and flatten each piece into a disk that can be run through the machine. Dust lightly with flour to ensure it does not stick to the machine. I start with my pasta maker on the thickest setting and run each piece of dough through.

Decreasing the setting by one, I run each piece through again and continue until my dough is the desired thickness. You want the dough to be slightly transparent, enough that you can see light through it, and to be about 2 1/2 feet long. You’ll end up with 6 long, wide noodles each 2-2 1/2 feet long. Don’t worry if they don’t look like the kind of lasagna noodles you buy at the store! They will be longer and more irregular, and that’s ok. Lay them out nice and flat on the counter to ensure they don’t stick to each other.

Assembling your Lasagna with Homemade Noodles

To put your Lasagna together, you’re going to start by laying three of the noodles side by side long ways in a 9×13 baking dish. Center the noodles to they hang over both sides of the dish. Next, start forming your layers by adding 1 cup of the cheese mixture and spreading it out to cover the noodles. Follow this with 2 cups of meat sauce.

Now you’re going to gently fold the ends of the lasagna noodles over the meat sauce to create the next layer of noodles. Repeat the layers of cheese and meat sauce, then lay the remaining three lasagna noodles into the dish. Add another layer of cheese and another layer of meat sauce before folding the noodles over everything. Finish the lasagna by topping with mozzarella cheese!

You’ll want to bake your lasagna until it’s nice and bubbly and the mozzarella cheese is starting to turn golden brown and your kitchen smells like Italy. Serve with a crunchy salad and enjoy!

Making Homemade Lasagna Noodles a Part of your Lifestyle

When I first started making lasagna, the process seemed a little intimidating. It’s a meal with several components and the process can seem long, especially when you add in homemade lasagna noodles. However, the more you make it the easier each component becomes and soon it’s a mindless part of your routine. I think a lot of cooking from scratch is this way. Once you master a recipe, you figure out how to fit it into your day. Maybe you make your pasta dough first thing in the morning so it’s ready to roll out when you get a chance. This is also a great recipe to always make two of, so you really get the most from your efforts. Stick one in the freezer for an easy dinner later on.

I’ve also found that having the right tools really helps me to stick with a habit, and my pasta maker is a great example of this. It has made the process so much less overwhelming, and I feel confident that I can whip up pasta in no time. Find the pasta maker that I use and love HERE.