Step #3: Cut Sheets Into Lasagna Noodles
- Make sure the pasta sheet is cut to the right size for your 9 x 13-inch baking pan. As an example, I can make roughly three 5 by 12 inch lasagna noodles out of a single, 38-inch-long rolled-out pasta sheet. Your measurements will be slightly different from mine in terms of both length and width. This is normal. The objective is to have ten or twelve cut lasagna noodles in total.
- When you’re done, spread the lasagna noodles out in a single layer on the sheet pan lined with parchment paper. To prevent them from drying out, cover with another parchment paper sheet.
- Continue rolling and slicing the final three pasta dough pieces.
At this point, you have a few options. Prepare my traditional Bolognese lasagna using ragù and béchamel sauce—it’s delicious! Or, jump to the storage options below.
Ingredients & Equipment (You Will Need):
- Make space. To roll out the dough, you’ll need a sizable, clear surface—a kitchen table works well for this. Don’t forget this advice. Rolled out pasta sheets can measure up to 3ft. long.
- Lasagna noodles need to be thin (but not too thin!). The correct thickness is approximately . 60- 1 mm thick. Should the noodles be excessively thin, they will absorb all the sauce, resulting in a dry lasagna. If the noodles are too thick, they won’t cook properly. Fresh pasta absorbs more liquid than regular dried pasta. Remember that.
- Different pasta machines/attachments have different settings. Please follow the specific instructions that came with your pasta machine to achieve the desired thickness for your pasta dough. For example, setting #4 or #5 on the Kitchen Aid, which is recommended for lasagna noodles, is not the same thickness as setting #5 on the Marcato Atlas hand-crank pasta machine.
- Think ahead. When your lasagna noodles are ready, what will you do with them? Cook them immediately away, or freeze them for a later time? Make a plan before you start. Homemade lasagna is a project. Jump to my storage options below for ideas.
It’s always amazing how different and inventive each chef can get with this traditional Italian dish. The staff at the Alaskan restaurant I worked for was enamored with the copious amounts of ricotta cheese that the chef used. To counterbalance the acidic and bitter taste of the tomatoes, a line cook from outside Cincinnati would incorporate sugar into the meat sauce. It seemed like a simple solution and it was. That Italian restaurant’s owner, I recall, didn’t like his attitude but loved his sauce. With just a tiny bit of sugar, his Bolognese sauce went from being mediocre to outstanding.
I’ve spent the last ten years honing my lasagna-making technique. It’s a bit of a personal obsession. This recipe represents the result of years of experimenting and fine-tuning to suit my tastes.
Finally, I was patiently taught how to make the lasagna noodles using semolina flour by a chef I know in Big Sky, Montana. Sometimes I just don’t have the time or want to take the trouble to make homemade pasta. You may not want to make the pasta either. Don’t worry, your lasagna will still be a huge hit even with store-bought dried lasagna sheets. You can use dry pasta instead of fresh noodles by simply following the recipe below. There’s no need to parboil the pasta.
To assemble, fill a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce. Arrange noodles over meat sauce. Dollop one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese. Top mozzarella with 1 1/2 cups meat sauce and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, then with foil. To prevent sticking spray the plastic wrap with cooking spray.
