I don’t know about you, but I love lasagna. I love pasta, tomatoes, and I love cheese. Lasagna incorporates all of these things in a saucy way. I’m all about it.

Now, I’m not going to lie. I’m not a fan of ricotta. So all of you ricotta fans out there… I’m sorry to disappoint. This recipe will not include ricotta. BUT. It will consist of a delicious white sauce layered throughout the dish.

I made this lasagna with homemade pasta. As your expert beginner pasta maker, I will admit that it was a little thick for the pasta layers. But we still gobbled up every single bite with enjoyment. You can use store-bought pasta for the layers. I’ll have the instructions for both ways in the steps.

For the tomato sauce, you can make it from scratch like I did here. You can use store-bought. Or if you can like I do, you can also use your home-canned sauce!

Need a pasta machine? Here’s what I’d use: https://amzn.to/4kEqzXM

Rustic Lasagna

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Home-made Pasta

• 2 Eggs
• 1 1/4 cups Flour
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 pinch Salt

Red Sauce

• 1 tbs Olive Oil
• 1 Onion Chopped
• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 3 Cloves Garlic
• 2 cups Tomatoes or 14.5 ounces of canned tomatoes
• 1 tsp Basil seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Thyme seasing
• 1/2 tsp Oregano
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/4 cup Mozzarella Shredded

White Sauce

• 4 tbsp Butter
• 1/4 cup Flour
• 2 cups Milk Whole preferred
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Shredded

Assembly

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese Shredded
• 1/2 cup Asiago Cheese Shredded
• 1 cup Water Boiled

Method

 

Home-made Pasta

1. Add your flour to your surface. Create a well in the center.
2. Add your eggs, salt, and olive oil into the well.
3. Slowly begin to incorporate the flour into the center, mixing it with the ingredients within the well using a fork.
4. Once you've incorporated all of the flour with the other ingredients, use your hands to knead the dough. After about 10 minutes of kneading, form the dough into a ball.
5. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes covered.

Red Sauce

1. Get your medium pan on the skillet over medium heat. Add your oil and then your onions. Allow those to cook for about 3-4 minutes. Until onions are translucent.
2. Add your garlic and allow that to cook for 1 minute.
3. Add your ground beef. Break it up into small pieces and cook it until you see almost no pink. It should be around 10 minutes.
4. Add your chopped or canned tomatoes with your seasonings. Mix and allow to cook for another 10 minutes while stirring every few minutes.
5. Add your mozzarella and bring your heat to low/medium. Allow to cook for another three minutes before shutting it off and putting it to the side.

White Sauce

1. Place your small saucepan onto your stovetop over medium heat. Add your butter and allow it to melt.
2. Add the flour and mix until the flour is completely blended into the butter mixture.
3. Add the milk and allow that to cook while mixing constantly for about 5 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken.
4. Add your parmesan into the pot and mix until it's melted and blended into the sauce.

Home-made Pasta Continued

1. Take your ball of dough and cut it into four pieces.
2. Roll out each piece to get it to the thickness and length that you desire.

Assembly and Finale

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Take your pan (mine is 12×6), and pour your olive oil on the bottom.
3. Add some of your red sauce to coat the whole bottom of the pan.
4. Then add one level of pasta. Then your white sauce. Then, half of your Asiago cheese and Parmesan cheese over that.
5. Then repeat. Red sauce, pasta, white sauce, and the other half of the shredded Parmesan and Asiago cheese.
6. Add water to the pan. Distribute it all around and pour over any exposed pasta with it.
7. Cover it with foil. Place it into the oven to cook for 35 minutes covered. Then uncover it and have it cook for another 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

Notes

• You will know that the homemade dough is ready to rest once you make it into a ball after kneading, and you can press into the dough with your thumb, and it bounces back. 
• For rolling out the pasta dough, I recommend a pasta machine. Doing it by hand is possible. But does take a lot more effort and strength. You will need to roll the dough multiple times to make it thin enough to eat. (Just know, the best part of a rustic lasagna is that it isn’t perfect.) 
• When assembling the lasagna, instead of adding water, you can add beef stock/broth. This would give your dish a rich beef flavor.
• If you don’t want to make pasta from scratch, you can cook the pasta until it’s al dente. Then place it onto parchment paper until you’re ready to assemble the lasagna.