Gluten-Free Homemade Egg Noodle Lasagna

Yield:  This recipe makes enough pasta for a 13 x 9 inch pan, basically one lasagna.

There’s nothing like homemade fresh egg pasta.  It is quite easy to make yourself at home.

My grandmother used to make fresh egg pasta noodles by hand in the old days.  We were really spoiled with good home cooking and great family recipes to share together.  We made memories together that I’ll never forget!  I learned from the best–how to cook with lots of love and bonding.

So my son, Paul, and I decided to spend an afternoon trying out the new pasta maker he bought me for Christmas. My husband, Cy, was on a business trip, and Paul’s girlfriend, Samantha, was spending the day with her sister.  So nice; I love it when families take time together.  We all need more of that!   Anyway, Paul and I thought we would take a crack at this new pasta maker.   Gluten-free pasta from scratch–wow!  I hadn’t heard that phrase since the in 1960’s with my grandparents!   With so many people having food sensitivities and problems these days and with so much food processing, it makes you wonder if we don’t need to go back to cooking real food with real ingredients the way past generations cooked.

It was quite a process that day, but it was fun!  It was another great bonding time for Paul and me in the kitchen like I used to do with my grandmothers and my mother.  That’s how people spent their time in my family when I was growing up.  Each weekend, there were family gatherings.  Everyone pitched in to cook so we could have meals together.  One of my great aunts would host these large family get-togethers with aunts, uncles, and cousins all laughing, eating, and playing together.  Many of those people are gone now, but I will always love the memories of those times where I learned so much about, not only cooking and serving, but bonding together as well.  Lets face it, when tough times come (if they haven’t yet, they will because hard times come to us all), we need each other.

If you don’t have a large family, your friends and acquaintances can become your family.  Either way, we need each other.  It says in the bible in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10: “two are better than one, for when one falls the other one picks the other up!  And pity the man who is alone.”   I have seen this to be true and have found great blessing in sharing, not only in family, but with friends also.  And I have to tell you, I’ve been very blessed with some beautiful friendships in my lifetime.  Some from when I was very little, to the newest ones I have developed as an adult.  There’s another principle I have always followed:  “In order to have a friend, you must first be a friend.”  We get when we give.  Inviting people over to break bread with you (and it can be gluten free) is a great way to start a new relationship with someone or a family.

So, check out our time together as we share some photos and directions (under each photo) for the gluten-free pasta Paul and I made.  It was a memory we will always cherish!  (:  Iris

P.S.  Ok!  So it’s not an easy recipe.  Paul said when he was done that he felt like he had done a shift at work. Nevertheless, we bonded!  Poor Paul, he had to make up for not having a sister! Lol! (:  We did laugh a lot together that day!

Pasta Noodle Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix
2 large whole eggs
3 large egg yokes
Pinch of salt

 

1. Start to make the pasta by mounding the flour on a large pastry board, or on the counter, with the salt.  Make a well in the center as pictured above.  Then, break the eggs and the yolks in the center of the well and start to scramble each egg with a fork as it is being added.

 

2. Start to incorporate the eggs and the flour by slowly bringing more flour in from the inside edges of the middle well.  Then, continue mixing the flour and the eggs until the eggs are no longer runny.

 

 

 

3. Using your hands now , bring the outside edges in, forming a large mass on your board or counter.

4. Use only the right amount of flour to form it the size of a softball. At this point, begin to knead the ball of dough as you would a ball of dough for bread, using the heel of your hand to push it down and knead it.  Continue kneading until the dough is smooth, which may take between 5 and 7 minutes.

 

 

5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and then let it sit for about 30 minutes on the counter or board.

 

 

 

After you have rolled the dough, cut into 12 inch long strips.

 

 

 

 

 

6. Use a pasta roller or roll by hand to make long sheets of pasta  1/8 inch thick.  (I use my kitchen aid mixer  at this point).  My son bought me a pasta maker attachment to go with it.  With this attachment, I roll my pasta to the third last position or to the number 6 on the dial.

 

12-inch long strips seen here in the following pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Pre-cook the strips in boiling water for 30 seconds is all that’s needed.Then place in ice water for about the same amount of time.  Very quick process.

 

Then dry each strip and set aside on clean kitchen towels.

 

You are now ready to use the noodles to make your lasagna.  Refer to my other recipe on how to make lasagna in this blog. You’ll never go back to store bought noodles or pasta again, except when you are in a hurry. The flavor of the pasta is amazing!

 

 

 

This is what your egg noodle pasta should look like as you prepare the lasagna .

 

All put together and ready to bake.  Enjoy a little vino (wine) with it!   Most wines these days are gluten-free and safe for people with Celiac disease.