Homemade Pasta
Homemade pasta is on a whoooole other level than it’s grocery store shelf boxed counterpart. Over the years I have had so many people tell me they have wanted to try making fresh pasta, but it seemed too difficult, or they thought it would take too much time, or they didn’t have any pasta “equipment” so they couldn’t make it…….I’m here to tell you not one of those things are true! YOU CAN easily make delicious, fresh pasta, at home with a few items you are sure to already have in the kitchen! Yes, of course, a pasta roller/cutter is a MAJOR time and effort saver IF you make all of your pasta from scratch like our house….but I made pasta with a rolling pin and knife for a looooong time before upgrading to the crank the handle by hand tighten to the counter pasta machine that I love soooo much.
We are currently at my Mom and Dad’s house and my beloved pasta “machine” hasn’t arrived in the mail to me from Korea yet; truly should have packed it in one of our suitcases, buuuut those were all busting at the seams as it was….I made pasta twice over the past week the good ‘ol fashion rolling pin and knife way; and YES I am definitely missing the fast and convenient pasta roller, but fresh pasta is delicious and worth it either way! I will be the first to admit that carbs are my favorite; fresh pasta and a fresh loaf of homemade sourdough bread and I’m a happy Hattie!
However, I feel like I need to forewarn you…… (others agreed with this statement as well) once you have eaten freshly made pasta you won’t be able to return to dried, boxed pasta!
Homemade Pasta Recipe:
3 cups flour; all purpose flour OR half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour (photos show both options)
6 eggs, room temperature
~ 1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
*recipe can be cut in half for less pasta; use ~ 2.5 tablespoons olive oil in half batch
Add all purpose flour or half all purpose and half whole wheat flour to a large mixing bowl
Make a well in the center of flour; add salt, oil, and eggs to the center
Use a fork to begin whisking wet ingredients into the flour; continue mixing until thoroughly combined, sometimes towards the end of mixing it is easier to finish working everything together using your hands
Gently knead dough just until a uniform ball forms, it will only take a minute or two
Cover dough and let rest on counter for about 1 hour; I just place the bowl over the dough to cover or return dough to the bowl and place a plate/lid over top
After dough has rested, divide into 4 pieces (or 2 pieces if making a half batch of pasta)
Hand rolling pasta: Lightly flour counter/work surface and use a rolling pin to roll dough into a rectangle, adding small amounts of flour as needed to prevent sticking; envelope fold the dough; roll dough and envelope fold 2 more times before rolling out to desired noodle thickness
Rolling with pasta machine: Lightly flour dough, run through pasta machine roller on widest setting (for some machines its the largest number and on others its the smallest number); envelope fold dough, run through pasta roller again on widest setting; repeat envelope fold and going through on widest setting 1-2 additional times before gradually stepping down to roll dough thinner until at desired thicknessCutting by hand: you can flour pasta dough sheet after rolling to prevent sticking, fold dough as many times as needed to easily slice into noodles using a knife or pizza cutter; repeat for remaining sheets of pasta dough
Cutting using pasta machine: roll all sections of dough to desired thickness before beginning to cut into noodles, the machine will cut dough easier after rolled pasta sheets have sat/dried for 10-15 minutes; cut as machine instructs
Flour noodles as needed after cutting to prevent cut noodles from sticking together while waiting to be cooked; you can twist into little “nests” if desired
To cook: bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil, add cut noodles and let boil for 2-3 minutes; noodles will float to top when done
Drain water from pasta using a colander; serve with your desired sauce….I will be sharing some of my favorite pasta sauce recipes soon!!