Homemade Pasta?! No Way!!!

I was feeling all puffed up after such a successful first attempt at baking challah, and I thought I should make my own pasta, at least once. Just to know how.  My maternal great-grandfather owned a pasta factory with his brothers, so I figured it was in my blood. Before I have always thought "Me? Make my own pasta?! No way!!!"

Then, I noticed that Joy the Baker, one of my favorite places to get recipes, had just posted instructions for making pasta! Holy Cannoli! It was my lucky day!

Not only did Joy the Baker post instructions for making pasta, she made it look easy! My doubts started to fade. After all, I have a 25 pound bag of flour to use up! So I did it. I made my very own pasta. You may wonder how making pasta could possibly be worth the effort, when it costs less than a dollar to buy a box of pasta. I will tell you. Homemade pasta is more delicious than anything I have ever eaten. EVER. I can not even begin to explain to you the tastey goodness of homemade pasta.

Anyway. Making pasta is also fun. You get to play with your food. I think this would be a fun thing to do with little kids, as long as they don't mind making a mess!

Now, for the part you've all been waiting for: the pictures! First, you make a well out of flour. This is my flour well, and my wine pretending to hide behind it. (You can't make pasta without a glass of wine...)

Then you crack 6 eggs into the pasta well, wash your hands, and try to take nice pictures.

 

Then you slowly incorporate the eggs and flour together until you have a nice dough ball. (Joy the Baker's was much nicer looking than mine.) 

 

Then, you are supposed to let the dough ball sit at room temp for a while, during which time you remember that you probably shouldn't just eat pasta. People think you are wierd when you do that. So you cut of some veggies to saute.

Then you roll out the pasta until it is transparently thin. I did not roll it out enough. I rolled it until the edges went all the way to the back of the counter, all the way to the sink, and all the way to the bread box, and it was still not that thin. I cut it up anyway, because I am lazy and didn't want to move things around. (Or, if you are lucky, you use a pasta roller for less of an arm workout.)

Then you cut it into strips with a pizza cutter. My strips were horribly uneven. After this, you boil the pasta for about 3 minutes (depending on the thickness). When you take your first piece out to see if they are done, you will be beside yourself. I guarantee it. I took one out to sample, and when I put it in my mouth my eyes got SO wide. "Is it good?" Seth asked. "Oh my," I said, "I think we could have eaten it without the vegetables. They will only mar the taste." Seriously. It is incredible. If your strips are horribly uneven, like mine, the larger ones will be kind of chewy. But if you take the time to roll it out as thin as you can, and cut them evenly, Holy Moses, you will never turn back.

My next goal is a good batch of gnocchi. Wish me luck!