homemade pasta

don't you love when you finally do something that you've been wanting to do for a really long time? and isn't even better when that something is super fun, yummy, and turns out just as well as you had hoped? well that was me yesterday when i finally made my own pasta!

yes, this is something that i have been wanting to do and i got the little extra push i needed on christmas when i opened the pasta roller/cutter attachments for our kitchenaid. and in a funny coincidence (one that is certainly better than that summer when we both coincidentally blew out car tires and got hit by oversized vehicles) wouldn't ya know erin got a pasta roller for christmas too! so i think you can expect lots of pasta posts here at the yumcoast. making pasta from scratch is really simple and you can definitely do it with just a rolling pin....but a pasta roller does make it much easier. here is the recipe that i used:

fresh pasta
(from the artful vegan)
ingredients:
2 cups semolina flour, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
1/2 cup water

in a mixing bowl hand sift the flour with the salt. add the water and knead to form a stiff dough, 1 to 2 minutes.
lay the dough on a floured surface and roll it flat using a rolling pin. fold and roll the dough many times adding flour as needed to prevent sticking. if using a pasta roller, gradually decrease the thickness of the dough to the desired final thickness.
to cook, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add a splash of olive oil. boil until al dente (my fettuccini took about 2 minutes). makes about 1 pound of pasta.

i was a little concerned about my dough at first because it was very tough and crumbly. just rolling it out enough to put in the the pasta roller took a lot of muscle and i don't think i could have done the whole process by hand. but by the magic of the kitchenaid everything worked out.


the last picture shows the difference between a sheet rolled at the thickest setting and another sheet that went through just one setting thinner. it amazed me how much longer they got with the slightest adjustment. once they were all at the desired thickness it was time to switch to the fettuccini cutter! this part was really fun. here is kris in action....

and last but not least, the noodles in dinner form.

these were so much better than dried noodles from a box! they were soft and light but sturdy enough that they didn't fall apart when i used tongs to toss everything together. i can't wait to experiment with mixing herbs and spices into the dough, using the spaghetti cutter, making lasagna, ravioli.....there is lots of pasta to come!

-d