Homemade Pasta!



A few birthdays ago I bought myself a pasta machine, and since then I have enjoyed trying different pasta recipes. Pinterest has a plethora of recipes to choose from or you can follow the basic recipe below. My kids love to help with the pasta making process so it makes it a fun family activity. The dried homemade pasta makes a nice gift as well. 

First, your basic pasta recipe is a great place to start which you will find below. You can add all kinds of things to this basic recipe like different herbs. I tried this Chocolate Pasta recipe I found on Pinterest. It was good in a light cream sauce, and could also be eaten as a dessert in a berry sauce. The only issue I had with it was there was so much flour and cocoa powder, I had to add another egg and water so that I could knead it. 


Homemade Pasta
Makes approximately one pound

2 Cups Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
3 Eggs
  1. Combine the flour and salt on a flat dry surface
  2. Make a well in the center of the flour, and add the eggs


  3. Gently begin to mix the eggs, gradually drawing in flour with each stroke. Eventually a stiff dough will form.
  4. Knead the pasta dough for 8-10 minutes. Add a little flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking. If it is too dry, add a very small amount of water.
  5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow to sit for about 45 minutes.
  6. Divide the dough into four equal pieces and roll into a small flat circle.
At this point you can roll until it is flat and cut using into the desired shape using a sharp kitchen knife. Or if you have a Pasta Machine, feed it in until you reach the desired flatness and shape (fettuccine vs. spaghetti). 


Now you have some options...
  1. The pasta can be cooked and eaten immediately after cutting it
  2. It can be frozen for use later
  3. Or hang it to dry to store in your pantry or give as a gift
Make sure you have plenty of Parmesan to go with your pasta!

At Christmas I dried some pasta to give as a gift. This was my first attempt at this and I did not have a fancy pasta drying rack. So I improvised and used some clean dry hangers! I hung the pasta on the hangers and hung them in a cool dry room for 24 hours. 




Have fun with this and include the kids! Let me know what you think and share your ideas in the comments.
Enjoy! 



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