Success! Sort of. I made either really thick pasta or really good dumplings. Still, I couldn’t stop eating it. Not bad for my first time making homemade pasta without a pasta roller or cutter!
I followed the instructions (mostly) from Alice Water’s The Art of Simple Food. It only requires two ingredients:
- 2 Cups flour (I used an unbleached white/wheat flour mix)
- 2 eggs + 2 egg yolks
I placed the flour in a large-ish bowl, then in a separate small bowl I mixed the eggs and yolks together. Then, I poured the eggs into the middle of the flour and mixed it together with a fork, until it was crumbly and I had to get my hands in there to get it to stick together. I added enough water so that it wasn’t dry and crumbly and kneaded until it held together reasonably well. Then I put it in a plastic bag for an hour.
And looked for my Kitchen Aid attachments. Turns out, a pasta roller was not among them. Hmmm. I decided to look for a rolling pin. No luck – you can tell I am not a baker! All I could find was a one handed plastic jobby. I decided to at least use a pizza cutter to make cutting easier.
I rolled out a handful of dough as thin as I could get it (I read somewhere that it should be the thickness of a stick of gum. I can’t remember the last time I had gum. So I guesstimated. I brought a pot of heavily salted water to a boil and dropped in a few test strips. Six minutes later, I fished one out. It tasted soooo good, just like pasta at a good Italian restaurant. Only . . . it wasn’t quite cooked enough.
While I let it cook some more DH came in and I asked if he would like to try rolling out some dough. The plastic roller kept popping out. He did his best, but he said “I sure as ‘heck’ am not going to roll enough for us to eat pasta tonight.” When he was finished he went out to the garage to grab some potatoes to eat with the lamb that was in the roaster.
I cooked up both batches, and we snacked on it while waiting for our “real” dinner to get finished. He says the flavor is worth perhaps getting a pasta roller so we can make pasta at home from now on. I’m not so sure, but it was pretty easy other than the rolling out part.
Have you made your own pasta? What’s your secret?
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Definitely get a pasta roller – it will make your life so much easier!!
For years and years I made pasta (plain ol’ egg noodles for soup) by hand, using a wooden rolling pin. Easy-peasy with the right tools.! (the rolling pin)
I borrowed Anja’s pasta maker, which is hand-cranked, but WAY easier, and am able to make a bigger variety of shapes….well, not shapes, exactly…but able to make actual spaghetti instead of broad soup noodles. When I do make it by hand, I also use my pizza cutter to cut the strips. It tastes so much better than anything I have found dried, in a bag, that it makes it really hard for me to purchase pasta anymore.
I think I’m going to have to break down and buy an actual rolling pin. Maybe a pasta roller for Christmas – because I agree, homemade pasta tastes sooo much better than dried!
Homemade is DEFINITELY better than what you get in the store. After making my own pasta, I haven’t bought it in the store in years!! I bought my pasta machine from The Kitchen Collection (www.kitchencollection.com) – it wasn’t very expensive (under $30). It does make life so much easier!!
It sounds delicious! My dd is allergic to eggs though, so no homemade pasta around here unfortunately. It looks so easy though.
My best friend’s daughter is allergic to eggs too. I may have to explore egg free alternatives.
Homemade pasta is awesome! I roll and cut mine with a rolling pin and knife, though I’ve used a hand-powered pasta roller in the past, and loved it! I’m hoping to scrape enough loose change together sometime in the future to get a pasta attachment for my kitchenaid. 🙂
I love the taste of homemade pasta, but agree that it’s a lot of work!
Thank you so much for sharing your talent and creativity on “A Little Birdie Told Me…” at Rook No. 17! Looking forward to seeing what inspirations you’ll share tomorrow!
Warmest wishes,
Jenn