Hand Made Egg Pasta

I have never made pasta from scratch. And especially not by hand. I've never considered doing it  b/c I buy pasta in bulk at Sam's. Why make it when I have 600 pounds of it sitting on the pantry shelf? Besides, I like simple & easy. It's nothing to toss in some pasta with a pot of boiling water. Set timer and drain. Nothing to it. However, I am in this cookbook group. The main premise of this group is to cook from another persons cookbook (within the group) and to challenge yourself while finding some incredible recipes.

When I took a glance at this recipe it was just that. A glance. I didn't give it a second thought. I bookmarked the recipes I wanted to try and hand made egg pasta didn't make the cut. Again, I have that 600 pounds of pasta all ready for some boiling water.

Then for some reason as I was getting the book ready to send off to the next member of the group, I asked myself if I had done one recipe that I was afraid of. My goal is to always learn something new and to become an amazing cook. I want to carry down a legacy of loving the kitchen and make memories my kids can share with their kids about mom being in the kitchen and great food. I want them to crave "mom's cooking" when they are older. I also want them to laugh with me at the mistakes I make in the kitchen. It is going to happen. As a matter of fact, I made a terrible chicken recipe just the other night. It was way too dry. The kids liked it and scarfed it down, but Adam and I gave that look to one another that said, "horrible".

So, I had not made one recipe I was afraid of. I made an incredible Patate e pomodori al forno aka Potatoes Baked with Tomatoes. It was awesome. I will make that again. I also had made a Granita di limone aka Lemon Granita that was so refreshing and delicious. I love anything lemon. I need to grow a lemon tree...anyway...

So, I had made nothing too hard. And then it hit me...MAKE THE HAND MADE EGG NOODLES. Yup, that'll make ya stretch. And it will teach you something new. Instead of packaging it up to mail, I opened up the book to the recipe and started Mise en place!

Adapted from Cook's Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking by Carla Capalbo
This recipe is for 1 - 2 servings.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 eggs
pinch of salt

(Did you know that that is all you need to make pasta? I didn't. Probably why I never considered making fresh pasta.)-- HEY! I'm learning!

You will need toppings: cheese, red or white sauce or whatever color you want, pepperoni, chicken, red pepper flakes, pepper, butter. etc....what are you in the mood for?

For more servings add one egg for every 1/2 cup of flour...so if I had 1.5 cups of flour = 3 eggs serves 4-6, 2 c. of flour = 4 eggs serves 6-8 etc.

Make a well in the middle of the flour. (BTW- let me apologize for the photos up front. I like to think I take better pictures normally, but these aren't that great.)

Add the eggs and pinch of salt. See the fork? Take the fork and gradually mix the eggs and flour until you have the below pic....

Roll until it's a nice elastic. Your fingers will be sticky, just add more flour. The excess flour gets shaken off and when you boil it, the flour washes away. Roll out the dough until paper thin (for spaghetti or angel hair.) I made mine a little thicker b/c I like a thicker  noodle.

Take a sharp knife or pizza cutter (that's what I used) and cut the dough into strips. You can cut them however you like...big, small, just remember the noodle will swell a bit once boiled.

Shake off excess flour and place in a bowl. Set aside. Get a pot of water boiling. Add salt to water.

Don't forget to give the kids some of the dough so they can kneed and cut, too. It's about memories and loving the kitchen, right?

Notice her sleeves are rolled up. She did that. Not me. She's serious about this noodle business.

Now, as tempting as it might be-- DO NOT add noodles until the water is a rapid boil. Once water is boiling, add noodles. They only need to cook 30 seconds after the water comes back to a full boil.

Drain but don't rinse the noodle. This keeps the good starchy goodness on them. Add your favorite topppings or sauce. I added red pepper, fresh shaved parmesean and romano and butter.

So, there ya have it! I challenged myself to do something I have never done before. I can't fib. I did feed my kids a different meal just in case I completely messed this up. Boy, did they miss out!

Until next time,
Reb