homemade lasagna

Ever since my summer stint with insomia when I was 16, I have loved making homemade pasta. Nothing beats the taste of homemade noodles, the amazing texture, and just how fresh they taste. So last night when we got home from church and I had my heart set on lasagna, I decided to make homemade lasagna noodles since that is one ingredient that I almost never have on hand. (Unlike ricotta cheese, which I always have in the fridge.)

So while Ben threw together the cottage cheese, ricotta, mozarella and spices, I made homemade pasta dough and rolled it out with my pasta maker. (Kim, if you are reading this, the pasta recipe in the Better Homes and Garden cookbook is amazing. Simple, and makes the best pasta.) I rolled the pasta to the level 6 and then cut each into a 3 inch wide strip and dumped into boiling water. The great thing about fresh pasta is that they only have to cook a few minutes for them to be perfectly done. Plus, homemade pasta keeps the chewy texture better, so the noodles don't rip or fall apart when you are trying to layer your lasagna.

After sauting 1/2 of an onion, we added 1 pound of ground beef and then a jar of spagetti sauce. Layer the lasanga noodles, cheese mixture, and then meat and redsauce, and repeat about 4-5 times. After baking at 435 for 15 minutes, the cheese was melted and the edges were bubbling. Sometimes lasanga comes out too runny or really dry, but last night's was perfect. The homemade noodles don't get too soft from the baking and the texture is unbeatable.