A creamy, cheesy, deliciously hearty lasagna has to be the ultimate in comfort food. It's pure bliss biting into a fresh lasagna bake that's oozing with goodness! But there's one guaranteed way to make your favorite lasagna recipe even better, and that's by preparing fresh, homemade lasagna noodles!
It's simpler than you might think. You only need three ingredientsto start churning out deliciously authentic and wonderfully fresh homemade pasta sheets for your lasagna. Why not give it a try?
Measure out 2 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and pour it all into a large mound on a clean countertop or kitchen work surface.
At the top of the mound, dig out a large well, using your fingers to push the flour into shape.
Crack all 4 eggs into the center of the well and use a fork to beat them lightly.
Once you beat the eggs, use your fingers to slowly fold over the flour into the eggs, filling in the well and mixing everything as you do so.
Keep doing this until a soft dough has begun to form, and it's springy enough to shape into a ball.
When you have the right shape, place more flour down onto the kitchen surface, and begin kneading your dough.
Keep kneading for at least 10 minutes. The dough needs to be elastic and smooth.
If the dough is too wet, you need to add more flour. If it's much too dry, then consider adding one further egg to the mixture and remixing.
When you're pleased with your dough's texture, wrap it up in cling wrap. You should let your dough rest at room temperature for half an hour before you start rolling out your fresh lasagne sheets!
How to roll the dough
Remove your dough ball from the cling wrap once it's rested for at least half an hour.
With a sharp knife, slice the dough ball into 6 equally sized pieces.
Place one piece on a lightly floured kitchen counter and wrap the rest up to keep the remaining dough from drying out.
Push the dough ball into a flat rectangular shape with both hands.
Set up your pasta maker on the side and place it onto the widest noodle setting.
Pass the rectangle of dough through the roller to flatten it.
Fold the flattened dough over into thirds and pass the rectangle through the roller while it is still on the widest setting.
Keep repeating and rolling the dough through the pasta maker at least 10 times to flatten it out. You may need to add more flour if things start to get sticky!
After the tenth attempt, place the pasta maker onto the next setting down from the widest and pass the dough through again.
Keep putting the setting down a notch and passing the dough through until you've reached the thinnest setting it can be. The result should only be about 1/16 of an inch thick.
Place your long, thin stretch of dough onto parchment paper and gently slice it into lasagna noodle-sized pieces.
Repeat until you have no remaining dough left to roll out through your pasta maker!
How to cook your homemade lasagna noodles
Place a large saucepan on the stovetop and bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
You also need a large pot of ice-cold water ready on the side (within easy reach!).
Place individual lasagna sheets into the boiling water and allow them to cook for just 30 seconds.
Immediately remove the lasagna sheets and place them into the ice-cold water you have waiting.
Repeat this process until you have no lasagna sheets left to cook.
Drain the lasagna sheets and give them a quick rinse under the water before transferring them to a baking tray or parchment paper where they can rest until it's time to assemble your homemade lasagna and bake it in the oven!
Recipe Note
This recipe makes enough fresh lasagna noodles for one 9 x 13-inch lasagna. Scale quantities up to make larger amounts.
To make this recipe easier to follow, we've broken it up into three separate stages: making the dough, rolling the dough, and cooking the pasta!
Homemade lasagna noodles recipes FAQ
We've gathered some quick answers to common questions first-time noodle makers have. Read on to make sure your lasagna noodles come out flawlessly.
How thick should homemade lasagna noodles be?
The great thing about homemade lasagna noodles is that you can roll them as thin or as thick as you like. Of course if they are too thick, the noodles won't cook properly when the lasagna is baking!
We recommend trying to size your noodles to around 1/16 of an inch thick and approximately 3 inches across in width.
How long do I need to cook lasagna noodles?
Lasagna noodles do not take long to cook. As we already mentioned in the instructions, you only want to boil them for 30 seconds. Any longer than this and the noodles will become too soft, which means they could turn to mush later on when they are baking (remember that you will cook the pasta sheets later on as part of the lasagna!).
Can I prepare homemade lasagna noodles ahead of time?
Homemade pasta will stay fresh for at least 24 hours, so you can make it the day before or in the morning if you're tight on time in the evenings. Just leave it in the fridge once you've cooked the sheets and left them to cool down.
Alternatively, if you're not going to bake a lasagna for a while, you could dry the pasta sheets out. The best way to do this is to leave them to hang on a pasta drying rack (if you have one) overnight. If you don't have a drying rack, then you can either leave them on parchment paper or place the sheets into a resealable, airtight container to dry them out quicker.
Dried pasta will keep in the cupboard for months. When it's time to cook with them, you'll need to boil them in water for a few minutes (rather than a quick 30 seconds) before you can then layer up your lasagna and start baking.
You could also freeze your fresh pasta right after it's cooled down. Freezing will keep pasta fresh as long as you keep the sheets in a ziplock bag or resealable container.
Enjoy our homemade lasagna noodle recipe!
Now you will be a pro at making homemade lasagna noodles. Our recipe is guaranteed to take your traditional or vegetarian lasagna to the next level of cooking. With just three ingredients and plenty of rolling, your lasagna will be the ultimate in taste and authenticity!
The best thing is, it's not so difficult once you've had a little practice with the pasta maker. Save our homemade noodles recipe for your next fresh pasta lasagna dinner!
