Nonna Emilia's Homemade Lasagna

March 30, 2023

One of Nonna's favourite and staples of the last 80 years. A recipe handed down through the generations.

Prep time 4 hours

Cook time 50 mins

Ingredients

Pasta Dough

700 grams (5 cups of flour) - Approx 1 cup per person
3 small eggs or 2 large eggs
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 pinches salt
250m of water

Lasagna Mix

Sauce
500 grams minced beef
1 onion
2 x 750ml bottles of passata sauce
200 ml water
Handful of basil
3 tbsp salt
1 tbsp Bippi - hot
2 carrots diced (pea size)
2 cups of peas
250g Mozzarella shredded
200g Pecorino or parmesan grated
2 hand fulls of spinach (optional)

Instructions

Pasta Sheets: Add eggs to middle of flour, with salt and oil, then mix. Slowly add the water in as needed. If extra pieces of dough won't stick, add more water or wet hands and mix again.
Once dough is smooth, place into freezer bag and leave in cool dry place. Let rest for 3 hours.
Sauce: Add onion and oil to saucepan, then add the meat.
Once the meat is slightly browned, add the passata sauce, water, salt and basil. Bring to boil.
Reduce to a simmer then add chilli. After 45 minutes add the carrots and peas into the mix.
Simmer for another 45 minutes. Whilst and after the sauce is cooked, add more water to ensure the sauce is not thick. As it will cook more in the oven it is important the sauce is runny. It will also allow for more absorption in the pasta sheets.
Back to Pasta Sheets: After letting the Pasta dough rest for 3 hours, prepare to roll the sheets.
Cut off pieces at a time and fold into a rectangular shape. About 10cm by 5cm pieces.
Using a pasta machine, Roll through the widest setting on the machine, then fold over again and repeat 5-6 times until the sheets are approx 15cm wide.
Then change the machine setting to a thinner number and pass through once to get the required width for the dish. If sheets are too long, don't worry, fold the excess back over once you have added the lasanga mix and cheese to the layer. Cut if required to fill the gaps when adding the pasta.
Putting it all together: Base the tray with the lasagna sauce mix, then layer the pecorino & mozzarella cheese, then lay the pasta sheet and repeat until all the sheets have been used.
If adding spinach, add on every second layer.
Cook for 50 mins at 180 degrees covering the tray with foil. If from the fridge it will need an extra 10 mins.
Once time is up, Remove the foil then cook for an additional 10 mins to crisp the top.