My First Shot At Homemade Pasta

One of my personal goals this year was to continue to eat cleaner and healthier and make more of my own food.  I am always striving towards a healthier lifestyle.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my Cheetos!  Yes, I actually admitted that!    My daughter visited my nephew and his wife in December and when I went to pick her up they were making homemade pasta.  He made it look so easy and it was so fresh and delicious.  He made me roasted red pepper and it only took 3-4 minutes to cook right after it was made.  I left there thinking, I could do this, I was inspired!

I went home and bought a pasta cookbook and the pasta attachments for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer.  It was my Christmas gift to myself.  My daughter and I were looking forward to making pasta for the first time.  We made the “Three-Egg Basic Pasta Dough” recipe.  There are only 3 ingredients: eggs, flour (I like using King Arthurs) and water.

Create a “crater” in your flour and add in the eggs and water, use a fork to start incorporating the ingredients.

Once you have the dough in a mass, transfer to a floured work surface and knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it is cohesive and moderately smooth.  Wrap your dough in plastic and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Roll it out and then take smaller pieces and run it through the pasta roller.  I usually put it on a slower speed so I have more control when handing the delicate dough.  For your next step you select your type of pasta, fettuccine or spaghetti.  I like the fettuccine because it is easier to handle with my clumsy hands and I love the bigger pieces of pasta.  Change your attachment on your mixer and let it work for you!

Immediately toss into boiling water for 3-4 minutes.  Do not rinse your pasta unless you plan on using it in a cold pasta salad.  Rinsing takes away the starch which allows for the pasta sauce to stick.  Drain your pasta.  Plate and enjoy with your favorite sauce!  I used a pesto sauce which is one of my favorites.

My daughter and I were very proud of ourselves.  It tasted delicious and it was very easy!  This past week we decided to try and make gluten free homemade pasta.  We used gluten free flour and it turned out pretty tasty.  I actually didn’t notice any changes in flavor it was just a little harder to handle.  I think we are going to tweak our recipe.  The gluten free flour we used had some xanthan gum and tapioca starch already in it but I think we may need to add a bit more next time.

We made quite a bit in our first batch and were able to hang it to dry.  When storing make sure to dust the pasta lightly with some flour to keep it from sticking together.  You can store in the refrigerator for up to 18 hours.  If you want to store it longer, I recommend putting it in the freezer.  It will store and be fresh for up to a month.

I hope this recipe inspires you to make your own homemade pasta.  I love cooking with my daughter and this was another one of those fun things we can do together.  Plus, I am always trying to find ways to have a cleaner diet at home and know what I am putting in my food!