The story of homemade pasta starts off a lot like the story of why I have been MIA for a couple months.  I’ve been in the new place for about three months and one of the things that I had been the most excited about was making homemade pasta!  I have lots of counter space, well sealed off granite counters, and plenty of space for storing crazy new utensils.  Unfortunately, demands of other events, work, vacation kept delaying my experimentation.  I finally got a chance to create pasta on Saturday and while the results were tasty, I surely have work to do to master the task.

One of the things that seemed to attract me the most to making pasta is that every recipe calls for some sort of device to make it easier.  I do not have a Cuisinart, a bread machine, a salad spinner (rethinking that one,) a working dishwasher (rethinking that one too,) a garlic press, a proofer, or a pasta machine.  I suppose since cooking is a hobby, something I enjoy, I get a kick out of doing things myself.  I will probably get a pasta machine eventually, and a kitchenaid with the sausage attachment, but not yet.  The other draw is that I find pasta sort of insipid, usually.  Pasta is overdone, in every restaurant, the staple of so many.  By itself it is bland and has little character unless you buy from a specialty vendor.  Or become the specialty vendor.

I have my camera all worked out now, so there are going to be a bunch of extra action shots of making the pasta.

The Pasta

Pasta is not all that difficult to make.  The ingredients are straightforward.  It does not take that much time.  I’m really unsure why people do not make it more often.  I guess it is pretty much the cheapest and easiest thing to buy in the grocery store, but still.  I made Pappardelle, which is basically beginners pasta.  I used a foodnetwork recipe, because it was the first one I found that did not require a pasta machine.

Ingredients: (for 30 oz pasta)

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 1/2 cup semolina flour, plus more for dusting
• 9 large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt

Procedure:

Clean a large flat surface and make sure it is thoroughly dry.  Combine the flour in a large bowl, then place a half cup at a time over a clean splatter screen, or sift it if you have the fancy equipment, onto the large surface into a large mound.  In a clean bowl combine the remaining ingredients and mix slightly to break up the eggs.  Make a bowl in the mound of flour and pour the wet ingredients in, try not to let them overflow.  Slowly mix the wet and dry ingredients together.  The dough will be messy and very moist still.  Gather the dough together and set aside to clean off the counter surface, preferably with a bench scraper.

Separate the dough into three balls.  Lightly dust the counter and your hands with all purpose flour.  Knead each ball of dough for about 5 minutes, adding flour as needed to keep your hands from sticking.  Form each piece of dough into a ball and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, up to 1 day.

Again, clean the surface and be sure it is dry.  Process each piece of dough one at a time.  Dust the counter with flour and place a piece of dough.  With your hands flatten it into a disk about 9″ in diameter.  Dust this disk with flour and begin to roll it out.  Rotate and dust with flour as necessary.  If the dough begins to stick use the bench scraper to separate it from the counter and toss a little flour underneath.  The dough should hold together fairly well and you should be able to flip it and rotate it with a little bit of care.  Continue to roll it until you can see your fingers through the dough, about 1/8″ thick.  As you roll keep in mind that for uniform pasta lengths the sheet will need to be a rectangle, and either the width or the length should be the desired length of pasta.  Set the sheet aside on a lightly floured surface and let rest for 10 minutes while you begin the next piece of pasta.

Sprinkle the rolled out piece of dough with semolina flour and roll into a loose cylinder.  Cut the cylinder into 1/2″ wide pieces, then unroll and place on a baking sheet or casserole tray to await boiling.  The cut pasta can be frozen for later use.  If it is left out for 10 minutes or more before boiling, cover with a moist towel.  Boil as you usually do with pasta, but be aware that the cooking time is only 2-3 minutes because the pasta is fresh and does not need to hydrate.

For the first I tossed the pasta with a mushroom buerre blanc (made by Dylan), so that it would have accentuation through sauce, but simple enough that the texture and flavor of the pasta could remain the focus.  I also served pork meatballs with pepper, salt, cinnamon, fresh thyme, and cognac.  To add some vegetables I roasted carnival squash with some freshly ground cumin and cardamom in the oil.

So the procedure is slightly modified from what I actually did.  Everywhere it tells you to dust with flour I dusted with a semolina/all purpose flour mixture.  The texture came out grainy, and I think this was the cause.  Semolina should only be used for the final dusting before you roll it up into the cylinder.  The texture of the cooked pasta was a little thick.  I think if I was making less I think I would have rolled it a bit thinner.  The pasta, although already wet with egg and oil, absorbed water while boiling.  Still, this lead to a pleasant hearty pasta.  The taste was simple but somehow more satisfying than store bought pasta.  I think the fact that store bought is so homogeneous, combined with the drying and rehydration process take away some of the charm.

Notes:

• Overall I feel very good about making pasta.  It was not anything like the difficulty I was expecting.
• I am a little intimidated by the complex pasta shapes that are in markets.  Penne?  Fusilli?  Rotini?  Uhhhhh…
• The cognac in the pork meatballs was noticeable but not definable.  A great call by Dylan.
• Cumin and Squash.  Cumin and Squash.  Say it with me!  Thanksgiving is coming up and winter squash is everywhere.  Whole cumin seeds or freshly ground is required, but this should go into the list of classic pairings.  Cumin and Squash.
• It is good to be back!

-Gabe