Homemade lasagne pasta sheets (lasagna)
Everybody loves a good baked lasagna (lasagne al forno to the Italians). And, here on The Pasta Project there is a growing number of delicious baked lasagna recipes (yes there are different ways to make it!). However, making lasagne al forno with homemade lasagne pasta is pretty unbeatable!
(Scroll down for recipe)
Baked lasagna around Italy.
Baked lasagna is a classic dish in most Italian regions. However, the recipe varies from region to region. In Northern Italy, they make it with fresh or dried egg pasta. Usually, the other ingredients are a classic Bolognese sauce or meat ragu, Parmigiano Reggiano or grana cheese and bechamel .
In Emilia-Romagna, they often use green lasagne pasta sheets, made with spinach. A great favourite of mine for baked lasagna from Emilia-Romagna is baked pasta roses or swallow’s nests (nidi di rodine) (see link below). In this dish, the lasagne sheets are rolled with ham and cheese and sometimes other ingredients inside them and then baked covered in bechamel. I have made this recipe with homemade lasagne and boy is it good!
In Naples, Neapolitan lasagna, a typical carnival dish, is prepared with Neapolitan ragu, meatballs, cow’s ricotta, provola and pecorino cheese. Interestingly, the lasagne in the south is often dried and made without egg.
In some Italian mountain areas, they substitute the ragu or meat sauce with mushrooms. Whereas, they sometimes use pesto instead of ragu in Liguria, and in Veneto, red radicchio from Treviso.
In Umbria and in Marche, there is a particular version called ‘vincisgrassi’ in which the ragu is enriched with chicken or pork offal. In the Apennines, the ragu is replaced by a filling of porcini, truffles and pecorino and in Sicily, there is also the ‘alla Norma’ version with eggplants. Or, they add boiled eggs to the dish.
Lasagna bianca.
Not all Italian recipes for ‘lasagne al forno’ contain tomatoes. In fact, there are many ‘white’ recipes too. Italians say 'lasagna bianca'. A ‘white’ lasagna I particularly love comes from Puglia. It’s made with mushrooms and burrata (see link below). Believe me when I say, it’s amazingly delicious. Plus, there’s no meat included, perfect for vegetarians too!
Here in Northern Italy, people also call these dishes (red and white) ‘pasticcio’. However, although pasticcio has layers of pasta with various fillings baked in the oven, it isn’t always with lasagne sheets.
Making homemade lasagne pasta is easy!
Fresh lasagne sheets are available to buy throughout Italy. But, the absolute best is homemade lasagne. It’s actually pretty easy to make, with or without a pasta machine. Why not give it a try next time you want to make a baked lasagna? I’m sure once you’ve done it, you’ll want to do it again and again! There really is quite a difference in the taste of homemade pasta and store bought, even if the latter is fresh!
Do you need to precook fresh lasagne?
When making your baked lasagna dish you can either precook the pasta for a couple of minutes in boiling salted water before assembling the dish or use it raw. In the latter case, the sauce needs to be a little more liquidy. I usually don't precook fresh pasta.
If you do try making your own homemade lasagne, I’d love to hear how it turns out. Please, write a comment here on the blog or post a comment on the Pasta Project Facebook page.
Your feedback means a lot to me!
Buon Appetito!
Recipes on The Pasta Project for your homemade lasagne pasta.
(just click on the name of the recipe to go to that page)
- Lasagne al forno with Bolognese from Emilia-Romagna
- Radicchio pasticcio (Italian chicory lasagna) from Veneto
- Baked lasagna alla Norma from Sicily
- Baked pasta roses from Emilia-Romagna
- Lasagna bianca with mushrooms and burrata from Puglia
- Italian lamb lasagna
- Poached salmon and asparagus lasagna
- Lasagna baked in broth from Molise
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Homemade lasagne/lasagna pasta
Ingredients
- 400 g Italian soft wheat flour '00' (14oz) All purpose flour can be used too.
- 4 eggs large
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- To make the pasta, mound your flour on a large wooden board. Make a well in the center and add a pinch of salt.
- Break the eggs into the well and whisk them a little ( you can also beat eggs in a small bowl and then add to flour or start by mixing flour and eggs together in a bowl and then turn out onto a board to knead)
- Start to incorporate the eggs and flour by slowly bringing more flour in from the inside edges of the well. You can use a fork or scraper for this.
- Continue mixing the flour with the eggs until they are no longer runny.
- Using your hands now, bring the outside edges in, forming a large mass on your board.
- Begin to knead the dough as you would bread, pushing it down with the heel of your hand.
- Continue kneading for about 7-10 minutes. Knead until the pasta dough is smooth, elastic, and just slightly tacky. You can dust the dough with more flour if it’s too sticky, but try not to add too much additional flour or the pasta will be tough.
- Roll the dough into a ball and wrap it in cling film and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
- Cut off ⅙ of the dough, re-wrap the rest in cling film so it doesn’t dry out and roll out the piece you cut off until it is flat enough that you can pass it through a pasta machine if you are using one.
- I used my pasta machine to roll out the sheets, first 3-4 times on number 6 or 7 on the dial (widest setting) and then a couple of times more on number 4. Each time you pass the dough through the machine fold it first into thirds and pass it through again until it comes out with the right thickness and length. If you want even thinner sheets you can also pass the dough through again on number 2 or 3. Cut the sheet to the length you want.
- If you aren’t using a machine you need to keep rolling out the dough until it is thin enough to almost see your fingers through it. Then cut the sheet to the size you want.
- Transfer the ready sheets to a drying rack while you prepare the rest. Repeat with the remaining dough. (the lasagne can be stored, when completely dry and stiff, for up to 1 week). If you don't have a drying rack see recipe notes.
Notes
Nutrition
Pin for Later
New recipes for homemade pasta sheets you will love.
I've just posted (March 27th 2020) a great recipe for homemade pasta sheets that you should check out! Baked fazzoletti from Abruzzo
Also worth trying is this recipe from Liguria for silk handkerchief pasta squares with pesto. Just cut your pasta sheets into squares instead of rectangles! Silk handkerchief pasta with pesto.
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LaRena Fry says
There is nothing better than homemade pasta. Except for maybe one of your recipes which come from Italy. Thanks for sharing.
Nart at Cooking with Nart says
This is so cool! I want to be able to make this someday!
Angela says
The perfect homemade lasagna noodle recipe. Bolognese is my favorite with these tender pasta sheets.
The Gourmet Country Girl says
I like making homemade pasta, and I don't have a pasta roller either! I haven't made lasagna sheets yet, though. I think I am going to have to try them with the recipe from Apennines - I love truffles!
Ai says
Yum!! That lasagna bianca looks especially tasty 😀
Nisha says
Wow the pasta sheets look fantastic! I'm sure they must taste so good since it's home made .Wonderful to know the process of making it.
Robin says
I have made my fresh pasta tonight and it is currently drying a bit on the rack. Should I put my lasagna together tonight and bake it and reheat for lunch tomorrow OR should I put it together in the morning? I don’t want to mess up the consistency of the fresh pasta.
Jacqui says
Hi Robin, thanks for your comment. I think we must live in different time zones as you wrote this 3.40 am my time. So, you have probably already decided what to do with your pasta (it's 7.30 am now in Italy). I like to cook it more or less immediately. Lasagna is good reheated. However, it's best cooked just before eating so leaving the pasta to dry and making it the next day is what I would do. You will need to lay the sheets flat on something that allows air to reach both sides. If you dry it hanging you'll have to blanch it before assembling your pasta so it softens! Make sure you leave it overnight in a dry place. Humidity will spoil it! Let me know how it turns out!
Tina Giuffre says
Can I make you lasagna sheets , but instead of making lasagna can I make ravioli as I just purchased a ravioli cutter.... would the lasagna sheet be the same thickness that you have recommended in your recipe...I hope this makes sense...thanks
Jacqui says
Hi Tina, thanks for your comment. Yes, you can use the same pasta dough made to the same thickness for ravioli as lasagna. You can also use it for pasta ribbons, like tagliatelle, or pasta squares, fazzoletti.
Karel Smith says
How do i make lasagna from home made pasta sheets
Jacqui says
Hi Karel, you can use homemade pasta sheets in any of the lasagna (lasagne al forno) recipes on this site.
EDWARD says
Excellent. I've never made fresh lasagna before but now I can't go back to dry. Would this work to make fettuccine or spaghetti? I mean pasta dough is pasta dough yes?
Jacqui says
Hi Edward, thank you for your comment. I'm glad you are happy with your fresh lasagne! Yes, you can use the same dough to make other pasta types, particularly ribbons such as fettuccine, tagliolini, pappardelle and tagliatelle. Just roll the pasta sheets up and cut in to strips starting from one end of the roll. You can also make other shapes such as fazzoletti (squares) and farfalle (bow-tie pasta). For spaghetti you would need to pass the dough through a pasta die to get 'rounded' noodles.
Evan says
Grazie! I’m going to give this recipe a shot tomorrow with a lasagna bianca. I was specifically trying to learn if different noodle shapes, or dishes, or sauces call for different dough recipes (ie, different egg ratios or adding oil, etc)
Also curious if it was important to cut the sheets into the typical strips you find with dried lasagne noodles. I’ll probably will par cook, so just to have them manageable, i guess i’ll make wide strips.
Jacqui says
Hi Evan, thank you for your comment. Re the different dough recipes, yes many shapes/types of pasta are made with different types of flour as well as ratio of eggs or water instead of eggs. Most Southern Italian pasta is made with flour and water, traditionally the flour is durum wheat semolina. In the North most fresh pasta is made with eggs and soft wheat flour. The usual ratio is 100g flour for each egg but some types of pasta are made with egg yolks instead of whole eggs and the ratio can be different. For lasagna sheets it's usually the ratio I mentioned but if your eggs aren't large you may need to add an extra one. Italians usually cut the pasta sheets to fit their dish when making it themselves. Do let me know how your lasagna bianca turns out!
Angela says
I just made this with 3 1/8 cup of all purpose flour, 4 eggs and a pinch of salt. There was no way it was going to stick together. I had add a little water. Thoughts on why this happened?
Jacqui says
Hi Angela, thanks for your comment. I'm not sure why your dough didn't stick together. It could be your eggs were small. Here in Italy recipes don't specify egg size but maybe I should add something to the recipe. Alternatively, you may have needed to knead it for longer. It takes a little time! However, adding a little water is fine and sometimes necessary. Have you cooked the pasta? How did it taste?
Angela Burr says
Hi Jacqui,
Thank you so much for messaging me back. The pasta was good; I am going to try again this weekend. Should I add another egg or stay with the water idea. I live in Canada. I had some left over noodles but not enough to make another lasagna so I cut them in squares cooked them and added some sauce and it was a great lunch for my kids. Thanks again.... any pizza dough recipes you have?
Jacqui says
Hi Angela, I'm happy your pasta turned out well. If it were me I'd add another egg! or just an egg yolk! I actually haven't mastered pizza dough to be honest. Funnily enough we've been trying to make some whilst in lockdown but so far nothing spectacular. I'd say getting pizza dough right is harder than pasta dough!
Angela Burr says
Thank you... I will try another egg this weekend. I have one pizza recipe but love to try another one. Maybe send my way when you do? Thanks again!
Charlie says
Hi Jacqui, Thanks for the recipe! I did also get to a point where the dough was a little dry - so I did add 1 Large Egg (Australia) and dusted in approx. 1/2 cup of additional flour. Turned out great for my lasagne! I had used a rolling pin to get the sheets extra thin, so this made up 2 decent trays of lasagne, with 4 layers of pasta sheets.
Angela, I recently tried this recipe which was a big thumbs up with the family!
alyonascooking.com/fluffy-yet-crusty-pizza-dough-recipe/
Carol Martin says
My dough was very dry and hardly stuck together, i kneaded it for ages to try to soften, its in fridge now, when di i dry it?
Jacqui says
Hi Carol, I'm sorry to hear that. If your dough is very dry it could mean that you haven't used enough eggs or too much flour. The finished dough should be smooth. Have you rolled it out? If not, I suggest you roll it out into sheets by hand or using a pasta machine. The sheets should be smooth without cracks. If you want to dry them, leave the sheets spread out on a lightly floured fine tea towel in a dry place, not the fridge. Turn them occasionally so both sides dry. I don't usually dry mine but use them more or less the same day. I just hang them over a pasta stand or place them on a tea-towel until I've finished making them all and the sauce.
Fil says
Could you freeze the lasagna sheets or is it best to make the lasagna right away? Also what is 400 grams in cups?
Jacqui says
Hi thank you for your comment. Yes you can freeze fresh pasta but you need to keep the sheets separate as they will stick together. I usually use it more or less straight away. Certainly the same day. 400g of flour is just over 3 cups (US).
Cristina says
Hi Jacqui! When you are preparing a lasagna directly after making fresh pasta, do you still let the pasta dry on a drying rack for an hour?
Jacqui says
Hi Cristina, thanks for your comment. I don't make a point of allowing the pasta to dry after making it. In fact, I usually make it and use it pretty quickly. However, it's okay to let it dry a little, while you are doing somethings else!
Amy L Wood says
Can you use semolina flour?
Jacqui says
Hi Amy, yes you can. Although not traditional for fresh lasagne, some people do make it with semolina flour or half semolina and half '00' flour. Also, commercial dried egg pasta is always made with semolina flour instead of '00'.
Paige says
OMG Jacqui you are living the life! I'm in Australia and bored out of my brain during corona-crisis so I thought I'd learn a new skill.
I made your lasagne sheets last night, built a lasagne and drowned in happiness! The flavour was so different to even the store bought fresh sheets. Thank you, thank you, thank you, I will be trying many more of your recipes over the coming days.
Vanessa says
Can you use a Kitchenaid mixer to mix and then kneed the dough? If so are there any recommendations for this method?
Jacqui says
Hi Vanessa, yes I sometimes start the dough in my stand mixer. Best to put the dry ingredients in first, then add the eggs and start mixing and kneading. However, once the dough is almost ready, I tip it out onto a floured board and finish kneading there. Then, as for any method, you'll need to let it rest, wrapped in plastic wrap for 30 minutes before making the lasagne sheets. Have a good Sunday!
Maisie says
How many sheets does this make, I might be being stupid but I can’t find where it says
Jacqui says
Hi Maise, thanks for your comment. It's difficult to calculate how many sheets of lasagne you can make because it depends on the thickness of your pasta and the size you cut the sheets. Italians often cut the sheets to fit the dish they want to make the lasagna in. However,this recipe should make about 1lb or 500g of fresh lasagne sheets. I have added that information to the recipe.
Tischa says
I tried making the lasagna with a mix of wholegrain and all purpose flour but it turned out quite dense so I am unsure how it will work out when I cook it. How should you dry the pasta sheets as mine are still moist after making them last night. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated
Jacqui says
Hi Tischa, thanks for your message. If your pasta is dense it will take longer to dry. You need to put it on a floured baking tray or baking paper and leave it in a dry place for up to 24 hours, turning it occasionally. If it's in a humid place it will take much longer to dry. You can use a fan to help it dry. Dense lasagna sheets may not be so good when cooked. You might want to think about cutting it into strips like tagliatelle. You could also freeze it and then cook from frozen.
Vanessa says
Is it possible to use 00 flour combined with semolina flour? If so, use 1/2 of each? Also, do you recommend making the pasta a day ahead? I was hoping to make the pasta with friends for dinner. I will not be precooking the pasta for lasgne . Making with bechemel (northern style). Thanks!
Jacqui says
Hi Vanessa, yes you can make lasagne sheets with 1/2 semolina flour and 1/2 00 flour. So for example 100g 00 flour + 100g semolina flour + 2 eggs. Mix the 2 flours together before adding the eggs. I normally use fresh pasta more or less immediately or freeze it. Although I've never frozen lasagne sheets, usually ravioli etc. However, if you want to make the pasta a day ahead and don't want it to dry out, put it in a sealed container in the fridge. You'll need to put a baking paper sheet between each of the pasta sheets so they don't stick together. Do let me know how it goes!
Vanessa says
Thanks so much for your prompt reply! Happy to know we can use pasta immediately. My friends wanted to help make the pasta so this is great news. I will try the 50/50 since I have both flours on hand. Thanks again. Love your site.
Jeremy says
My pasta maker had been sitting in a cupboard for about three years but I finally got it out today. I had no idea how easy it is to make my own - and your website gives me more inspiration to make more. Thank you.
Jacqui says
Thanks for your comment Jeremy! So pleased to hear you made some fresh pasta. Yes it's really not that difficult and the more you make the easier it is! I'm thrilled you feel inspired by my site to make more. Do let me know what recipes you try! All the best from Verona!
Jeremy says
Hi Jacqui, I added spinach to my latest dough and the sheets of lasagna are a beautiful green. I made some large drying boxes for mushrooms and these are also ideal for drying lasagna sheets. I made a batch of 30 this afternoon. One tip for people using a pasta machine: (perhaps everyone is doing this already). Put all your sheets through on the widest setting, the reduce it and pass them all through again, keep going until all the sheets have passed through the narrowest setting you want.
Jacqui says
Hi Jeremy, your spinach lasagna sheets sound amazing. I'd love to see a photo! I like your tip re passing dough sheets through a pasta machine. I pass each sheet through each setting before doing the next one. Next time I might try your way!