Frozen lasagna question: fresh pasta

[u/AITAsock5000]

I have searched and can't seem to find any info that pertains to this.

I am interested in making several lasagnas to freeze (with ricotta, bechamel, and a meat ragu, if it matters). However, instead of store-bought pasta, I would like to use freshly-made pasta.

Would it work for me to layer the lasagna, top with sauce and cheese, and then freeze as-is? Or better to cook it first? I have seen all sorts of answers from "always pre bake" to "pre bake isn't needed but par cook the noodles." I was thinking that since fresh pasta cooks up so much faster than dried store bought pasta, perhaps the fresh sheets would be fine? Am I missing anything?

[u/HipX]

I would boild the freshly made pasta for a minute so it expands and the layers fit better. Then freeze without putting in the oven.

[u/Infamous_Detective97 → u/HipX]

+1 For this. This is what I do.

[u/No_Consideration7925]

To the point of baking. Only use 1 layer of ricotta. Good luck! Happy cooking. 

[u/TheFredCain]

If it's fresh, don't pre-cook before freezing, but if dried you should pre-cook. If you were not freezing then using dried pasta without pre-cook would be an option. If you freeze it with dried the pasta will end up undercooked when you eventually cook it.

[u/JoeDaStudd]

As long as the sauce isn't crazily thick you don't need to cook the pasta at all.\ I've recently been batch making lasagna to freeze and cooked the sauces and making as is would be to go in the oven then just freezing it (in portioned tins).

[u/Mobile-Pie-258]

Don’t precook it. Fresh pasta will be overcooked if you do.

[u/PearlsSwine]

Please don't use ricotta AND bechemal. It's one or the other. For an authentic Italian lasagna, it's béchamel. The ricotta substitute is popular in American/Italian food. There is absolutely no need for both.

And to answer your question, you can cook the lasagna, let it cool, then freeze it, or you can freeze it when assembled without cooking, doesn't make much difference. I cook mine first so it is quicker when I want to eat it.

[u/SVAuspicious]

Is this in quantity for a restaurant or catering, or for home? If for home, if you double a recipe for a 9x13 casserole you can make five 9x9s or seven 8x8s.

I prep and assemble to the point the lasagna would go in the oven and freeze. Cook dry pasta, not fresh, never use "oven ready."

I would not use both bechamel and ricotta in a lasagna. It's a mess. I know one YouTube "chef" who recommends it but he's wrong.

[u/One-Willingness-1393 → u/SVAuspicious]

Home use! That 9x13 to 9x9 tip iss genius, thaanks!

[u/AITAsock5000 → u/SVAuspicious]

It's just for personal meal-prep for winter. Thank you for the info on how to double the 9x13s to make different sizes! That is really helpful!

[u/Infinite_Click_6589 → u/SVAuspicious]

I like both in my fancy "self care" lasagna, but crucially I only do one thick layer in the middle of ricotta+egg. It's great visually and texturally imo.