*

Homemade Pasta is easy...especially if you have a pasta maker. My first was a hand crank like this:



Hand Crank Pasta Maker

 

Then I got an attachment to my Kitchen Aide which is much easier!
















Even if you just roll out the pasta with a rolling pin, fresh pasta is VERY rewarding!

Homemade Pasta

3 cups of flour

3 eggs, beaten

Form a well in the center of the flour. Pour the eggs into the well and slowly (with a fork) begin to pull the flour into the eggs. Continue grabbing the "wall" of flour into the eggs until all of the flour has been incorporated. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes or until the dough becomes "elastic" (easy to stretch). Wrap the dough in some Saran Wrap and let it rest for at least 10 minutes or up to an hour.

Uncover the dough and divide into 8-10 balls. Flatten each ball and run it through the pasta maker twice on the lowest (widest) setting. Adjust the pasta maker to the next setting and run each disk through again. Continue running the disks through until the dough is completely stretched. (I usually stop at #5 because I like my pasta to have a bit of thickness.)

Heat a large pot (preferably a pasta pot) filled with water to boiling; add 2-3 T. sea salt. Add the pasta and cook until just softened. It doesn't take long. Fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried.

Drain and mix into the rest of the dish just before serving. This way the pasta will absorb some of the sauce from your dish!

*The dish shown at the top of this page is just some basic meatballs, mushrooms and a little beef broth that has been thickened with a cornstarch/water slurry.