Fresh Homemade Pasta

For over one year now, yes folks, for over 12 months, I have been itching to get a pasta roller. I had my eye on getting the attachment for the KitchenAid but decided against it because I could not come to grips to spending over $150.00 for the darn thing. Last year my in-laws were so kind to get me a gift card to Williams-Sonoma, and as I browsed over the course of the last twelve months, I was still undecided on getting the Imperia Pasta Machine, but then a few weeks ago, I gave in. I am now the proud owner of the Imperia Pasta Machine! I couldn’t be happier. Now sure, you Italians and chefs might be thinking, why not just crack a few eggs in a flour well and do it by hand…. but not this guy. Remember now that a gift my parents gave to me in highschool was the KitchenAid (I couldn’t be happier to this day), so I am able to use my dough hooks to whip up a simple egg dough to begin my noodles. Even chat, let me tell you how you can get some killer, fresh noodles on your plate in no time.

Dough Ingredients:

• Roughly 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• Pinch of salt

Begin by mixing these ingredients to form a dough. Now if you have never made dough before, you don’t want it to wet, or too dry, but somewhere in the middle. Once you have your dough formed, lightly flour your working surface, and knead the dough for a few minutes, until nice and soft. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for roughly 20 minutes.

In the meantime, I got my pasta roller ready by attaching it to my counter, and lightly flouring the roller, and cutters.

When you are ready to get the dough into a pasta state, start by lightly flouring your work surface again. Cut the dough in half, and keep one half covered with the plastic wrap so it does not dry out. Now with your rolling pin, roll the dough out, thin enough so it can be fed to the widest slot on the pasta maker. Feed it through by cranking the arm, and using your other hand to guide it out.

Next, fold the sheet of dough into three sections, then lightly flour, and roll it out again before feeding it into the same wide slot again. You repeat this process 10 times, until the dough is nice and smooth.

Next roll through each notch, counting up from 1, and going until 5. My pasta maker goes to 6 would would make a really thin pasta sheet. If your sheet gets too long, and mine did, just cut it in half, and work with the other half.

Now that your pasta sheet(s) are ready, on a large pan lined with parchment paper, add a light dusting of semolina flour. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper, and continue this process (paper, pasta, paper, pasta, etc) until you have no more pasta sheets. I covered the pan with a large towel and let the pasta wake up, for an additional 20 minutes or so before I took them through the cutter.

The cutter is the same process. You basically feed the sheets of pasta through the cutter. I have a thin spaghetti and a fettuccine sized cutter. My preference tonight was the fettuccine. Roll your sheet through the cutter, and with your other hand guide the pasta onto a plate or tray. I lightly floured the fresh cut pasta and carefully pulled some of it apart. Repeat this process until you are finished.

Now, here are your choices. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days before cooking, or do what I did, and get a large pot of boiling salt water going, and cook them for only 3-4 minutes. Yes folks, the beauty of fresh pasta is not only the reduction in cook time but also the freshness of the bite.

I plated mine with homemade red sauce without meat, and a bit of parmesan cheese. Trust me, this is fun to make, and worth every second. Enjoy.