Anyone make their own pasta?

[freemotion]

Ever look at some of the food pictures put out by the Martha Stewart empire? Positively rustic at times, and considered the best of the best! So cut it with a knife and make it all uneven and beautiful.

It's like pearls....everyone is slightly different. If you want absolutely perfectly even pearls, every one exactly like every other one, you go to WalMart and buy fake ones. To me, the beauty of homemade is that it is NOT perfectly even. I don't even trim the dough when I make lasagna noodles, I just dry them as they come out of the roller, all jagged along the edges.

Yup, if you look at the super-high-priced gourmet foods, you will see a lot of what we make in our own kitchens. Goat butter for $45 per pound! Goat cheese for $25 per lb! And roasted bell pepper pasta for $20 per lb! And what you make in your own kitchen can be even higher quality. This is what excites me.

 

[ORChick]

While I agree with free that the slight imperfections of homemade shouldn't be a problem, I'd just like to throw this in about cutting your own pasta. I haven't actually done this as I have the nifty little machine, but, to get more or less even widths on your linguine or fettucine or whatever, make the pasta, knead it and roll it out as specified in the recipe, sprinkle flour on the pasta sheet (so it doesn't stick to itself), and roll it up loosely. Then cut to desired width, unroll the strands, and proceed with cooking or drying.
I've seen pictures of that wire device; its called a chitarra (sp?), or guitar, and was, I think, the original spaghetti, before they had extruders to make them round.

 

[The YardFarmers]

I make noodles by hand and cut them into the size strips I want. Or even squares- I think I've seen them called handkerchiefs? I usually put them in soups or just plain chicken broth- my kids LOVE them, so I guess they think they taste better than store bought. I've made herb ones too, they turned out fine, but I would rather have plain ones. I found a push noodle cutter at Lehmans hardware, I think it was less than $10.

Hint for the dough- don't be afraid of turning the dough over on the floured surface to keep rolling it. Keeps it from getting too sticky. (I have very little patience for too sticky cookie/cracker dough).

I'm on the look-out for a used pasta maker too- haven't found one yet.

Spaetzel is easy to make too, i bought a spaetzel maker for less than $10. I have read that you can push the batter through the holes in a colander, but I haven't tried it. I drop it straight into gravy or soup. Dumplings are also easy to make.

Good luck on your pasta. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[ORChick]

Spaetzle are lovely! One way they are served in Germany is to cook them, and drain them. Brown some breadcrumbs in butter in a pan large enough to hold the Spaetzle - add some herbs or minced garlic if you like - and toss the Spaetzle in the crumbs just before serving as a side dish. --- The crumbs are good spooned over a whole steamed cauliflower too.

 

[Dace]

I am with Orchick.....lay out your sheet of rolled pasta dough on a generously floured surface. It should be a couple feet long (or more).

Dust more flour over the length of the pasta...generously!

Fold length of pasta over itself.

Dust generously again, fold in half again,

Repeat until your pasta is small enough that you can cut it with a sharp knife.

Immediately separate the strands.

 

[Rebecka]

I am pretty sure my family might revolt if I used store bought pasta. We have pasta sometimes 3 times a week. I do not hand roll it with a pin. I got a used ( but good quality) manual pasta roller with cutter on Ebay. I am sure I gave no more than 60 bucks, even with shipping. I use whole wheat flour, nothing special about it at all. Just a nice whole wheat. We started doing this when my husband started having blood sugar issues and we discovered white flour was a contributory factor.

A few things I learned was homemade pasta is so much more filling than store bought, use very hot water when making dough and seriously.. let it rest a good 20 minutes before you roll it out. After rolling, let it rest again, maybe another 5. This maybe because I am using whole wheat flour, but I find it makes a far better pasta. I also use my pasta roller to make sheets for crackers and pizza pockets. Sometimes I use it for little pies I make in custard dishes, but that requires that I put the roller in the freezer for a bit, so that doesnt happen near as often as my family would like. There is no way I would have spent that much money on something I was only going to use for one thing.

 

[Schmism]

Ive got the pasta attachment for my kitchenaid mixer and love makeing home made pasta.

it literally is as easy as he shows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dufoH9mFEeE&feature=related

I use reg white flower and it does fine although it takes a few more passes to get the gluten developed but when the mixer is doing the work i really dont care....

i can make fresh pasta at home for a fraction of the cost what you pay for dryed pasta at the store.

 

[ScottSD]

Ive got the pasta attachment for my kitchenaid mixer and love makeing home made pasta.

it literally is as easy as he shows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dufoH9mFEeE&feature=related

I use reg white flower and it does fine although it takes a few more passes to get the gluten developed but when the mixer is doing the work i really dont care....

i can make fresh pasta at home for a fraction of the cost what you pay for dryed pasta at the store.

We bought the pasta makers for our kitchen aid a while back but haven't had a chance to use them.

thanks for the link to the video!

 

[Oberhaslikid]

My DH and I made a double batch yeasterday. He was really getting into it. He said He was gonna be a master at it. I told him When He could do this he could Quit his job.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80747057/

 

[squiqwe]

Anyone that says homemade pasta isn't worth it must not have taste buds. I bought an atlas electric 2 years ago. The first thing i realized is I can flavor my pasta with anything. My favorite herb is pesto. We started a herb garden and Oh boy! Pasta look out.

My favorite recipe is in the blender mix a few leaves each of the; Pesto, chives,oregano and basil with 1/2 cup water. Add this to your pasta. Amazing!