Homemade pasta is totally where it’s at. You’ll never want to go back to the store bought stuff and you won’t believe how simple it is. Only 3 ingredients to fresh, delicious pasta from scratch.
Last week Noah and I were making macaroni salad and he was pretty insistent that we make homemade noodles for it. I’ve been loving his interest in cooking and photography lately so I didn’t want to discourage him by saying no so we did a little negotiating and I promised him that we would make some on the weekend.
He asked every single day if it was the weekend yet. The kid doesn’t forget anything. So finally when Saturday rolled around it was time and he was over the top excited. Like couldn’t stop moving or talking or dancing on the counters excited.
So we got to work mixing the flour and salt then made a well for the eggs.
Then he “lightly” (or as lightly as a 4 year old can) whisked the eggs in the well.
And started to pull in the flour from the sides of the well and mixed until a shaggy dough was formed.
Then it was time to knead the dough. I lost him for awhile on this one since it was “boring” and he doesn’t like to get dirty (he gets that from his mama, kneading is the worst). Slowly add in water as needed for the dough to come together. Then cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.
We then divided the dough into 6 pieces and rolled them out starting with the lowest (thickest) setting and continued to smaller settings until we reached the desired thickness.
Then, what he was most excited about, we cut the pasta using the fettuccine attachment.
Although the process takes a little bit of time and planning, it probably took us about an hour, the end result is definitely worth it. And keep in mind I had an active 4 year old helping me which added some time.
Plus, I got to check off another item on my Top 100 (I admit I’ve made fresh pasta before but have never photographed and shared it here). I’ve kind of neglected the list lately so it was nice to have accomplished something there. We may just have to start fresh pasta Saturday’s around here.
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 4 eggs
- Mix flour and salt then make a mound and make a well in the center.
- Crack eggs in well then whisk lightly. Slowly pull in flour from the well walls until a shaggy dough is formed.
- Knead dough until smooth and elastic (5-7 minutes), adding water by the tablespoon if it's dry. Then cover with clean towel and let rest 15 minutes.
- Divide into 6 pieces, work with one piece at a time and keep remaining pieces covered. Flatten into a rectangle and pass through pasta roller on lowest setting, fold in half then pass through the roller another 2-3 times. Crank to next setting and pass through another 3-4 times, then again on the next setting. Lay on floured surface then cover with a towel. Proceed with remaining pieces. Switch to the pasta cutting attachment (we used fettuccine) and pass each pasta sheet through. Place cut pasta on a floured surface and cover with a towel while you complete the remaining pasta. Boil 2-3 minutes in salted water.
March 25, 2015 at 5:02 am
[…] delicious pockets of goodness are started with my homemade pasta and a simple 3 ingredient filling. I swear, I will never purchase store-bought ravioli again. The […]