Though I've posted more than one lasagna recipe, my first love of lasagna is for the "classic": tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, meat. You'll also note that two of those recipes feature homemade lasagna noodles.

I will admit now, before the Interwebs, that my food snobbishness has in fact progressed to the point that I won't make lasagna without also making the noodles.* In my mind, it's totally worth the effort: the taste and texture differences between store-bought lasagna noodles and homemade are too profound. The effort-to-deliciousness ratio is definitely in the favor of the homemade noodles. If you have any doubt, check out how fast sexpot Jamie Oliver can make homemade pasta.



H/T Fillipelli for the video find.

I am extremely lucky in that one of Scheidt's geology colleagues shares a similar obsession with fresh pasta. In our short acquaintance, thus far any party at Casa Morealli has featured her fresh pasta. Now, I thought it was her Sicilian** background powering her pasta-making skillz, but it turns out, Sarah is just as obsessed with pasta as I am and has gained her knowledge from a library book, from which she diligently copied several different pasta recipes. In a highly scientific process, Sarah and I tested several of these recipes.

And man, am I glad we did, because I now have the best lasagna noodle recipe I have ever tried (and the examples given previously show I have indeed tried many.) What makes it great? Try EIGHT EGG YOLKS.

I once read a Jeffrey Steingarten book in which he mentioned in passing pasta made with yolks-only. I too passed over it, but the memory of that book leapt back into my consciousness when I first bit into this pasta. It's all in the texture: firm yet satiny, with enough integrity to stand up to my teeth and eggy flavor strong enough to carry through meat, cheese and tomatoes. And for the record, rolling fresh lasagna noodles is even easier than Mr. Oliver up there would lead you to believe, because there's nothing to cut.

Classic Meat Lasagna with Homemade Sheet Pasta
Pasta recipe pirated from Sarah Morealli

For the pasta:
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
7 egg yolks
1 tablespoon olive oil
A small amount of water, as needed

I use the food processor method that Jamie Oliver demonstrated, but if you don't have a food processor or want to be super old-fashioned, try this video.

In the food processor, pulse together flour and salt. With the food processor off, add the whole egg and seven egg yolks. Turn the machine on, and watch as the dough begins to form. Drizzle the olive oil through the feed tube. If the dough is not coming together, add water one teaspoon at a time.

When the dough is ready, it will be uniform in color. It may not form a ball, but when you press two pieces together, they will stick easily but won't feel sticky to the touch - as Mr. Oliver says, "squidgy but not sticky." Dump the pasta out on the counter, press it into a ball, and cover it with a bowl right on the counter. Leave to rest for one hour.

Now it's time to roll! Prepare your workspace with a floured (not greased!) cookie sheet and a cup of additional flour. Clamp on your pasta maker and let's go!

Cut the dough into four pieces. Set the machine on its widest setting (mine goes from 1-9). Run the pasta through three or four times, until it passes with no problems, rips or tears. You can sprinkle each side with flour between runs if it appears to be too moist. Once it's rolling into a clean sheet, start making it thinner, running it through once on each progressively narrower setting. We rolled the pasta out to level 6 - not nearly as thin as for millefeuille - for a hearty, thick noodle, but you can go thinner if you want something more delicate.

Cut the pasta into sheets that fit your usage - in this case, we cut them to about 12.5 inches - just short of touching the edge of a 13 inch pan. Rolling to level 6, Sarah and I got 9 cut noodles from the full batch. Flour each side of the pasta and fold it for safekeeping under a towel until you are ready to cook. See here for (untested by me) longer-term storage instructions.
 
For the lasagna:
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
8 ounces pecorino romano, coarsely grated, divided
A few shaves of fresh nutmeg (1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground)
6-8 leaves of fresh basil - half finely chopped, half thinly sliced
One recipe sheet pasta, above, cut to eight 12-inch noodles
One quart chunky ragu
One large ball fresh mozzarella (maybe 5-8 ounces), thinly shredded

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a deep 9x13 inch pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta, egg, 4 ounces pecorino cheese, nutmeg and chopped basil. Salt and pepper generously. 

Prepare your workspace thusly, if you are indeed working with the fresh pasta.*** Set a big pot of water to boil on the stove. Salt it mercilessly - salty water = flavorful pasta. Next to the stove, place the pan in the middle of your workspace and arrange the ricotta cheese mixture, your ragu and the remaining romano on the counter around it. Spread 1/2 cup ragu in the bottom of the pan. It won't cover the bottom evenly, but that's ok.

Now, get ready to work fast. Boil two 12-inch sheets of pasta at a time for 2 minutes, until just barely cooked through. Use a deep-fry skimmer to ever-so-gently fish the pasta out of the pot. Place the two cooked noodles in the pan, overlapping if necessary to fully cover the bottom. Put two more noodles in the pot to boil. Set the timer for 2 minutes. While the next noodles are boiling, spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Top that with 1 cup of ragu, then sprinkle 1/4 of the remaining romano over the ragu. Layer in the next two lasagna noodles and continue - pasta, ricotta, ragu, romano - until you top the final layer with the last two noodles. Spoon the remaining 1/2 cup of ragu over the top layer, along with any dregs of the ricotta mixture that might remain. Top with the sliced mozzarella cheese, any remaining romano and the shredded basil. Cover with foil.

Bake for 30 minutes covered, then for an additional 15 minutes uncovered. You can even turn the broiler on in the last two minutes for extra crispiness. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.

*Roll-ups are the exception, because I like the ruffly edges that store-bought noodles have.
**Never mess with a Sicilian when death is on the line! Or fresh pasta.
***If you are using store-bought pasta, cook it first and cool it in ice water before assembling the lasagna.