How to make homemade pasta

Since my last post, two people e-mailed me asking how to make homemade pasta. It is really easy and you can do it "manually" without having pasta making equipment. I have a Kitchen Aid mixer with three attachments for pasta making. The first attachment is used to flatten the dough. You run it through this attachment 4 or 5 times. The other two attachments I have are for fettucini and spaghetti.

Then you "hang it out to dry"! As the picture in the post below demonstrates, you hang it on rods to dry for up to a half hour before cooking.

If you don't have equipment for pasta making, you can still get good results, it will just take a bit longer. You would knead the dough, then roll it with a rolling pin to a thin sheet. Using a knife, cut your strips of pasta. If you don't have a drying rack, simply hang it on a coat hanger or over the back of a chair covered with cloth or wax paper.

There are many different recipes. The one I used:

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons water
1/4 teaspoon olive oil

After mixing the dough and kneading it, let it rest, wrapped in cellophane wrap for about 30 minutes. Then roll it out with a rolling pin - or use a pasta machine.

There are all kinds of variations. You could use whole wheat flour. Or you can finely chop fresh spinach in a food processor and combine that with your flour.

Don't be afraid to experiment with different recipes and methods. It is unlikely that you will be a failure with it!