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I’ve made homemade pasta off and on for a few years now. I started off using a rolling pin, but that got old pretty quickly so I upgraded to this pasta machine in 2010. I’ve learned a few tricks over the years.
How to Make Homemade Pasta
My favorite recipe uses three eggs mixed with two cups of flour, plus however much water you need to make a very thick dough. The amount of water needed depends on how large your eggs are, but it isn’t very much.
It’s very important to let the dough sit for at least fifteen minutes after you finish kneading it before you start rolling it out.
I’ve learned to roll all of my sheets of pasta out first, and then start with the one that has been sitting out the longest when I run them through the slicer. I also use the sheets of pasta uncut in lasagna, and to make ravioli. When I make ravioli, it works best to roll out a sheet, fold it in half to make the ravioli sections, cut them apart, then move on to the next sheet. I also learned that I like the pasta to dry sitting out on clean dish cloths rather than on a tray. Maybe eventually I will upgrade to something like this pasta drying rack – or fulfill my life-long dream of learning woodworking so that I can make my own. They don’t look that difficult!
We made pasta over Christmas, and it was the first time that having the kids help was actually helpful – a new milestone in our family! I think we will be making more homemade pasta now that I have three able-bodied helpers in the kitchen!
Do you make noodles from scratch? Do you have a favorite pasta dish that we should try making? I usually use our sliced noodles for chicken noodle soup – so delicious!
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
I tried making homemade pasta one time but it didn’t turn out so well. How great to have so many kitchen helpers!
I have a pasta machine (christmas gift) so we are looking forward to trying it! Thanks for the tips – the recipes seem pretty easy but I’m trying to envision where we will let all the noodle dry :)
A neighbor brought over her pasta machine, and my kids enjoyed the tutorial. I thought it was interesting, but very time consuming!
I have always wanted to make my own pasta…and you seem to have it down…I should give it a try soon!
I’ve only ever tried it (twice) with a rolling pin and could never get the dough as thin as what your pasta machine does!
Have you tried making baked ravioli? That’s one of Ben’s favourites from growing up in St. Louis. It’s served crunchy as an appetizer, with marinara sauce for dipping.
I have never heard of baked ravioli! Do you have a recipe? I’m very intrigued…
I could never get it thin enough with a rolling pin, either – not patient enough, I guess… The pasta machine works really well!
Homemade pasta is always something I want to try, but I become so overwhelmed at the thought that making a box of $0.99 pasta seems a lot easier. Maybe when we have a bigger kitchen…
Maybe you can bring J over to help make some sometime :)
I’m sure he’d love that! He’s a good kitchen helper.
Email me and we’ll set a date for it then :)
WE did and blogged about it too =) SO much fun, there is a book called Noodles from Scratch. Although, we hand rolled ours. If I had a noodle maker, I would never buy store bought again!
I need to look for that book! Thanks for the recommendation!
Never tried it, and I am not sure if I will ever get to doing this! But making noodles from scratch does sound amazing :)
They taste fantastic, if you ever get the chance to give it a try!
I attempted making noodles from scratch once when we studied China a few years ago….. They were very yummy, but took much longer than expected, and the pasta roller did not work right, not sure why.
It’s such a fun time when the kids move from not really helpful to genuinely helpful in cooking/chores.
The dough consistency has to be *just* right for the pasta roller to work. I’ve gotten pretty good at it, but it took a few false starts at the beginning.
I’ve made flourless pasta. Eggs with potatoe starch..gluten free
Thanks for sharing, Faigie! I have a sibling who can’t eat gluten, so I am always interested in gluten-free options.
looks yummy! we’ve never made our own pasta… i’m not handy in the kitchen, lol
It tastes SO good – but is a little tricky to get right at the beginning.
This looks like it would really simplify the process!
My kids are becoming helpful too and it is awesome.
I have only ever made gnocchi but when I was a kid we made pasta once. We made it with our play-doh fun factory. We cleaned it out really good first : )
I have never made gnocchi. I love that you made pasta using your play-doh fun factory once as a kid!
What a fabulous idea. The children will have those wonderful memories to hopefully pass on to their own children one day. :) I love it. I’ve never made pasta from scratch but certainly worth considering.
I hope they do remember this fondly! The pasta tastes amazing when it is made fresh like this!
Very ambitious! I once did make gnocchi from scratch and it’s a lot of effort! Of course I only did it once so who knows it probably would’ve been easy by now if I had stuck it out :) My favorite pasta has to be my mom’s spaghetti. Yum!
I have never tried making gnocchi. Maybe we’ll try that next!