Today I would like to introduce you, personally, to the most wonderful thing ever….HOMEMADE PASTA!!! I know, I know….it sounds scary and impossible to make, but trust me, it’s not!! It’s sooo much easier than I ever thought it could be to whip up some fresh noodles and it tastes a thousand times better than dried, yellow pasta packaged in thin plastic bags.
So this is the story,…my husband and I have been blessed to have the chance to live in the downtown, Little Italy area for the first early years of our marriage together. It has been so fun being able to run over to the little Italian Market across the street and buy our random necessities such as wine, cheeses, and the everyday container of milk (yes, of course they are random necessities!!). On one of our trips away to the east coast, my precious and dear friend, Mel stayed at our place while we were gone. Well, the smart girl that she is bought an old fashioned style pasta maker on her trip across the street to the Italian Market. (What a smart girl she is! I know, I know….) So, of course when we arrived back from our trip, one of the first things she did was introduce us to this wonderful concept…
After going through a practice session with her, we went out right away and bought one for ourselves!!
Here is a beautiful picture of it:
Doesn’t it look so old-fashioned? I love it!
So last night my husband, J, and I decided we’d try out our pasta making skills. Are you ready for some excitement?! This is really exciting! I promise!!
Yellow Pasta
1 cup of unbleached flour
2 large eggs
The only ingredients you will need for this recipe are flour and eggs. Yes, that is it! 1 cup of flour and 2 eggs. Grab those two items and make a large, volcano style mound with your flour. Crack your two eggs into your flour hole. After you have done this, carefully beat the eggs in the hole like you would for scrambled eggs.
It should look something like this. However, after I did this, I realized I could have just beaten the eggs in a separate bowl and then poured them in the flour hole. It may be easier that way,…but it’s your choice!!
Once you have the flour and egg mound ready, gradually mix the flour into the egg. Continue mixing with a fork or your hands until it is a smooth and dry consistency.
Roll your smooth and dry dough into a ball like this.
Next comes kneading. Knead in the same direction, either clockwise or counterclockwise, the entire time. Throughout your kneading, you may need to add more flour. You should continue kneading for about 8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and soft like baby skin.
After you have your flour that is soft as baby skin, roll it into an even mound and cut the piece into 6 even slices. Flatten each piece with your hand and fold into 1/3 of its size. Feed the folded piece, with the narrow end, into the machine. Repeat this process 2-3 times.
After you have folded the dough and run it 2-3 times through the machine, it should look something like this. Continue to close down the opening of the machine one notch at a time. There are 6 notches on the machine. So, you will do it 6 times.
Watch out! The pieces get longer and longer!!! Continue to lay them out, flat on your towel, until you have reached the 6th notch.
At the end of your flattening, the pieces should look something like this. Let the flat dough dry for about 15 minutes, so that it doesn’t become sticky when you feed it through the pasta cutter.
Now here comes the fun part! After you have flattened out all your pieces and they are dry, crank your the flat pieces through the pasta cutter and lay them neatly on the towels.
While you are cutting your pasta, boil a large pot of water. Once it is at the boiling state, add salt and wait until it is boiling once again. When it begins to boil a second time, throw your pasta in and cook until it is al dente. When it tastes like it is ready, drain it right away.
And there you have it! Your freshly made pasta. We like to eat our pasta with freshly made pesto. (Which is very easy to make too, despite the fears you may have!)
Yummy! Maybe the next post should be on Pesto making!!!
There you have it! If that doesn’t make you salivate, I don’t know what will!!!
Enjoy!
