Homemade Pasta, Without a Machine
There is nothing better than fresh, homemade pasta. Seriously, it just tastes so much better than dried pasta. If you’ve never tried making your own, don’t be intimidated. You don’t need a machine at all!
Dried pasta is certainly so much easier and definitely comes in handy when you are in a rush and need to get dinner on the table with little effort. But every now and again, I like taking the extra time to make that freshie version. In reality, despite the convenience of dried pasta, it just doesn’t have the same fresh taste that homemade pasta has. It’s massed produced and you aren’t getting all the nutritional value of its homemade counterpart.
Homemade pasta is tasty, has a perfect texture, and simply tastes decadent. It also can be molded to whatever size or shape you want.
The experience of making homemade pasta feels amazing, especially when shared with friends or family. It is a fun experience that makes you feel like you’re doing something good and creating a super cozy memory. Sounds intriguing, right?
So how do you make homemade pasta without a machine? Here you go my friends.
I hope you try it.
Ingredients (only 2 ingredients!)
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
Instructions
On a flat clean surface place the flour in a mound. Be sure to give yourself enough room to work.
Crack all 4 eggs into the center of the mound of flour to create a well that will house the eggs.
Using your hands, carefully break the yolks of the egg and gently bring the flour into the center of the well using your fingers.
Continue incorporating the flour into the eggs until all the flour has been absorbed. Head up folks, this is a messy process, but hey, it’s time to get your hands dirty for this goodness. Once the dough starts to form, begin kneading into a smooth yellow dough. Be patient, this will take about 5 minutes. Note: If your dough is a little dry, add a splash of water to bring it together.
When the dough forms a ball, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes to allow the dough the rest.
After your dough has rested, remove dough from the fridge and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Set aside and cover with a towel. This is to stop it from drying out.
Flour your work surface and roll 1 ball of dough at a time into a large thin sheet. The key point here is thin – get this rolled dough as thin as possible.
Next, fold the dough over itself several times and cut the roll of pasta into strips roughly 1/4 inch thick, depending on what pasta you are making.
Then dust some flour over the sliced strips of dough and unravel them into a pile. Repeat this process with the remaining dough balls.
Set cut pasta aside on a tray and leave it out at room temperature before cooking. Alternatively, you can place in the fridge to be cooked later – up to 3 days.
To Cook Fresh Pasta
Bring about 8 cups of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add a few pinches of salt and place the fresh pasta in the water.
Cook pasta for 2-5 minutes or until pasta floats to the top of the pot.
Strain the water and serve with marinara sauce, olive oil, pesto or whatever your little heart desires.
Enjoy!
Peace & Love.
Nikki
