Fresh Pasta Lasagna

Earlier this month I introduced you to the Philips Pasta Maker and gave you a chance to win one yourself, because I’m kind like that! You’re welcome! lol If you haven’t entered yet, what are you waiting for????? Seriously, go now, to this post, and come right back to find out all the yummy things we’ve been making with ours!

Spaghetti seemed like a simple place to start and it was a success so we moved on from there. Next, I decided to try a whole wheat egg noodle fettuccini and it turned out fabulous as well. The noodles were not as wide and flat as I would have liked, but they tasted great.

So I was feeling confident enough to tackle a full lasagna! I needed to make one double batch, plus one single batch for my large lasagna. I’ve discovered that I like the pasta better without the egg added in, just water and flour makes a nice pliable noodle to work with. Making your own noodles is a sure fire way to get your kids in the kitchen! It’s fascinating to watch come to life!

Fresh Pasta Lasagna

Ingredients

1 lb Italian sausage
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 oz) cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp white sugar
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp parsley
1 tub ricotta cheese
1 tub cottage cheese
1 egg
1/3 cup frozen spinach – defrosted and drained
1 package (450g) mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 – 1 batch servings of fresh lasagna noodles from the Philips Pasta Maker

Directions

In a large cooking pot, cook sausage, ground beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Pour off any fat. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water. Season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours or longer, stirring occasionally.

In a mixing bowl combine ricotta, cottage cheese, egg and spinach.

Preheat oven to 375 degress F (190 C)

To assemble, spread one third of the meat sauce into the bottom of a 10×14 inch baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles over the meat sauce. Spread half of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles.  Top with a third of the mozzarella cheese.

Repeat.

Your final layers are the last of the meat sauce, a third layer of noodles, and a third and final layer of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. 

Spray foil with cooking spray and cover dish. My 10×14 dish is usually filled to the brim so I place a cooking sheet underneath the pan to catch any spills while cooking. Bake for 25 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for additional 25 minutes. Cool for about 15 minutes before serving. 

You can also make your own lasagna noodles using spinach juice and they will be green, which is just kind of extra cool! We found that the top layer of noodles got a little crispy (perfect!) but not stiff and hard like dry noodles usually do. We much preferred the fresh noodles because of this and will be making our lasagna this way from now on!

Visit the Philips website for more ways to you use your Pasta Maker including full recipes

Don’t forget to enter to win your own!