Home(made Pasta) for the Holidays

The first time I made homemade pasta I was somewhere around the age of 4. I come from a very traditional Italian-American family so homemade everything is what we do. Every Sunday we would make homemade pasta for "dinner" and I use quotes because we would eat at 3 pm, followed by homemade pizza which, we would make around 7 pm when everyone was starving again. As our family grew in age and numbers this tradition dwindled. We do frequently get together for Sunday dinner but over the years homemade pasta has been replaced by a bag of Colavita. It gets the job done, for sure, but homemade pasta will always be twice as good as any store-bought product.

Now that I have made my way to the adult table in my family, I have been passed the torch to take over one of our holiday's too. I decided, since I will be doing Christmas Eve my way, homemade pasta would be a staple on the menu. About 8 years ago I was gifted a pasta-making machine by a great friend of mine and, while I haven't used it as much as I would like to say I have, it is my best friend when the holidays roll around. So many people are equally as impressed as they are intimidated when it comes to making homemade pasta but it is honestly SO simple (my husband can do it). It's 2021 and, let's be honest, almost everyone who cooks has a KitchenAid. KitchenAid makes a pasta attachment that basically takes all the hard work out of the pasta-making process. However, if you are like me, I hand crank my pasta like all my Nonna's before me.

I truly don't know who in my family decided to replace homemade pasta with the bag stuff because fresh pasta is pretty easy to make. The dough can be prepped in less than 15 minutes if you are doing it by hand (even quicker if you use a food processor) and once you get the hang of using the pasta maker the noodles take just a few minutes as well. My pasta maker can be used to make lasagna, spaghetti, and fettuccini. I have made other types of pasta but we will save that for another blog (maybe I will share my infamous ravioli story). But, this dough recipe can be used for whatever type of pasta you are craving.

To make 1lb of pasta you will need:

Flour: 2 1/2 cups of flour. I like to use 00 flour for the silkiest soft pasta but if you want something a little more hearty you can use half 00 and half semolina flour. All-purpose flour works too if that is all you have on hand.

Eggs: 4 large eggs

Salt: Teaspoon of fine salt

Olive Oil/Water: 1tbsp Olive Oil. I like to use olive oil to moisten the dough a little but many recipes do not call for this. You can also use a few teaspoons of water if you think the dough is too dry)

I place the flour on my counter but you can do this in a bowl or combine all the ingredients in a food processor if you wish. But, for now, let's stick to the traditional way. Once you have the flour poured out onto the counter make a well in the center. Then pour the eggs into the well. Using your hands begin to slowly incorporate the flour with the eggs, a little at a time until everything is combined. Now you need to knead the dough which will take some effort. If the consistency is too sticky add a little flour, or, if is it too hard/crumbly add a drop of water. After 10(ish) minutes, make the dough into a ball and wrap it tightly with cling wrap and let it rest for 15-30 minutes.

If you are using a hand crank pasta machine like me, MAKE SURE, it is secure to the counter. Like really secure, I learned this the hard way. Unwrap your dough and cut 1/4 of it out of the ball to begin rolling out. Wrap the dough you are not yet working with to keep it from hardening. Using the 1/4 piece, roll it out into an oval disc shape. Lightly flour both sides of the dough with all-purpose or semolina flour as well as the machine before running the dough through it. I start out on setting 1 (which is the widest) and put the dough through it a few times folding it in between each roll. I then move on to setting 2 which makes the dough slightly thinner repeating the above process until I gradually reach setting 6. On my machine, setting 6 gives me my desired thickness. Whenever the dough seems to be getting sticky as you are passing it through just sprinkle on more flour (both sides) to keep it from getting stuck.

The best thing about making homemade pasta is it is pretty forgiving. If you mess up just grab all your dough pieces, put them together, roll out another oval disc and start again from setting 1.

Once your dough sheet is ready to go, sprinkle both sides with flour once more. If you are using a crank machine like mine, connect the cutter attachment (if you have not already done so) and move the handle from the flat setting to the cutting style of your choice. Feed the sheet of dough through the attachment to create your desired shape of pasta. Once your pasta is cut, hang the pieces to dry or place them in a bird's nest on a floured surface. Dry for about 30 minutes and repeat this process until all of your dough has been transformed into beautiful pasta.

Fresh pasta cooks faster than you may think. When you are ready to cook it, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and place the pasta in the water for about 3 minutes. The cooking time of pasta depends on the thickness so if you made yours thicker it may need an extra minute in the water. If you are not going to make the pasta right away you can refrigerate it after it has dried for up to two days or freeze it for 2-3 months.