Four words: homemade pasta is delicious. Simply put, simply true. The first few times I made my own pasta it was a lesson in frustration. Practice makes perfect and you will get better and better at it. The recipe is simple too: for every cup of flour, use 1 whole egg. I usually make pasta from 3 or 4 cups of flour at a time. That’s it! Mix the egg in the center of the flour with a fork until crumbly, then start working with your hands until you have a nice, smooth ball of dough. Wrap with plastic wrap and rest 1 hour, or if longer put in the refrigerater. Then the fun begins. Using a pasta machine and following the directions for your specific machine you will crank out sheets of dough. Next you will put those sheets of dough back through your machine to cut your noodles. Once I began making my own pasta, store-bought never came close to good. Homemade feels like silk in your mouth when cooked, and actually has flavor. Lots of flavor.
After a few practices you can begin experimenting with different kinds of flour, with spinnach pasta, pesto pasta, the choices are endless. You can enjoy your pasta right when you make it. You will be amazed how it cooks in about 2 – 3 minutes! If you don’t cook your pasta right away you can curl your noodles into nests (the Italian way) to dry on your counter and then store in a paper bag. The pasta will last 3 months if you don’t eat it first! Either way it is wonderful. Invest in a pasta machine. Know you will be frustrated at first, but the rewards are endless. You will be eating the best pasta ever. I never want to be without my pasta machine!
Leave a Reply