So…confession time…this is not my first attempt at home made pasta. The first attempt was over a year ago and…as the kids would say these days…it was an epic fail. It resulted in me taking some time away from the idea of making my own pasta.
That first attempt was brought on by this beautiful cookbook on pasta that I had bought. I swear I followed the recipe, but instead of using a fork and my hands, I went with the food processor.
The pasta dough turned out almost solid as a rock and a weird orange color. There was no attempt at even rolling it out and I was truly discouraged. (By the way…these photos are of the successful pasta making experience. The ‘epic fail’ pics have been deleted.)
After a year of not thinking about it and the stuck-inside-the-house season upon us, I was over my discouragement and wanted to try this again.
This time I used a fork and my hands and well…the results were awesome! These nice thick noodles have great flavor, wonderful texture and compliment any sauce that accompanies the pasta.
The only change I will try next time is to somehow to make my cuts a little more even…and smaller. Maybe it’s time to bust out the new pasta attachment to the Kitchen-aid!
Home Made Pasta
Ingredients:
- 2 Cup flour
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
Preparation:
- On a clean surface, pour the flour, sprinkle the salt over the top and make a well in the center of the flour. Pour cracked eggs in the center of the well.
- Using a fork, whisk the eggs and slowly work flour into the eggs until you can no longer use the fork. Using your hands, knead the dough until you have a solid, yet soft ball of dough.
- Let dough rest for 20 minutes. Clean and flour your surface.
- Using a rolling pin (or pasta roller if you have one), roll out the ball to thin enough to almost see through the pasta.
- Lay a flour sack towel on the counter and rest the pasta round over the side. Rotate every 5-10 minutes, for the next 30-40 minutes. The goal is to dry out the pasta a bit before cooking.
- Once the pasta is dry, fold one end over the top of the pasta about 2″, and continue folding until the pasta is all rolled up. Cut the past into thin strips and unfold. Add small amount of flour if the dough is sticky.
- Boil water with salt. Cook pasta for 3-4 minutes until it is floating at the top.
- Serve with pesto, marinara sauce, or add noodles to chicken soup.
Happy Rolling!!!