Homemade Pasta

Pasta is all too often an afterthought in home cooking. We are all too happy to purchase the 99 cent package of pasta from the grocery store boil it in water and plop it over butter or tomato sauce and dinner is served. I have certainly done it and it works well. But sometimes you want more. This post is about those times.

People seem apprehensive to make fresh pasta, but it is actually quite simple (but it is somewhat time consuming).

Pasta Dough

• 3.75 cups All Purpose Flour
  
• 5 Eggs
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 tablespoons Rosemary (optional)
  

Form the the flour in a crater-like well on a large surface. The surface should look like an onion ring with the flour on the edges and the surface visible in the middle (I will add pictures in the future). Break the eggs and put them in the middle of the "crater" along with the rosemary and olive oil. Whisk the ingredients together with a fork until they are combined. At this point, start to add the flour to the eggs bit by bit from the sides of the mound (be careful not to break the edges or the eggs will go everywhere - advice from experience!). Keep combining the flour from the edges until it is combined. Kneed the dough by pushing it out with the palms of your hand and then folding it on top of itself until it is soft and the lumps are worked out. This will take 10-15 minutes.

Cover the dough and let it rest for about 1.5 hours. That is it. I recommend that you make more than you will use because it is easily frozen and thawed for future use. This way, you can prepare a homemade pasta dish in under 30 minutes (which is what I did last night).

Old fashioned pasta rollers can be purchased for under $40. The Mixer attachment versions are much more (around $200). I have the former, and it works just as well - the only difference is the manual labor (you have to operate a crank instead of using the mixer's motor).

A pasta roller will have a dial with different numbers. The higher the number, the wider the separation between the individual rollers. First, dust the roller with some flour, then set the dial to the highest number and pass about a quarter of the dough through it. The dough will expand, so you don't want to add too much. The first few times through the roller, fold the dough on top of itself before sending it through the roller again. After about 5 or so passes through the roller at this setting, reduce the number to a low-middle width and pass the dough through the roller another 2-3 times. You want to dough to be almost translucent, but not so thin that you cannot work with it.

At this point, you will have a basic noodle from which you can make lasagna or ravioli (I will write about that process in a later post). If, however, you want to make a thinner noodle, such as fettuccine or angel hair, you will need to add an attachment (which comes with the pasta roller). All it takes is one pass through this attachment and your pasta is done.

Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes (it does not take as long as store-bought pasta because it is fresh and not dried).

Add the pasta to your favorite sauce and enjoy!