Date Night Dinners - Homemade Pasta Dough
There is no use denying it anymore. I have a problem. I am obsessed with making and eating fresh, homemade pasta. Phew I said it. After all, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, isn't it? But is this really a problem I want to, or even need to, get over? I guess that is for Brenden to decide. When he gets tired of eating pasta for every meal we will call it quits...maybe. It's just so easy, and delicious!
Yes, you heard me correctly. Making pasta is easy. I mean crazy easy. I was super intimidated by making my own pasta, but I have been wanting to try it for years. I had had a KitchenAid mixer on my wish list for a while, and finally after years of dropping hints, I got one this past Hannukah. I was more then excited, and not just for the dozens of cookies I would now be able to easily produce, but because it meant I was one step closer to being able to make my own pasta. I know there are tons of people who make pasta KitchenAid-less, but I told you, I was intimidated and felt I needed as many tools as possible to make the process easier. Fortunately, the extra KitchenAid pasta attachments are readily available for purchase at many online cooking stores, unfortunately, they are available for a hefty price, way over my budget.
Luckily, my cousin, Chef Arthur over at DC Harvest, had some extra attachments laying around from his pre-co-owning-an-amazing-resturant days. And, even more luckily, he said I could have them. After enjoying a tasty and filling brunch at the restaurant, he handed the attachments to me with some useful tips. He sent me off to experiment, or according to the fears in my head, crash and burn. It was going to be great.
After reviewing a few basic pasta recipes, we chose one and didn't look back. Except for when we needed to make sure we were following the steps correctly. Any-who, the recipe called for all of three ingredients. Flour, eggs, and water. We could handle this. It even told us what speed and amount of time to mix the dough. We were gaining confidence.
We mixed the ingredients together and anxiously waited for the dough to rest. One batch of pasta dough makes a ton of pasta. We cut it into fourths, and since we were so excited about this new feat, made all different types of pasta. We of course started with the easiest, fettuccine, since we had that attachment. Then we made a round of spaghetti and then, feeling good about ourselves, tested our hand at tortellini. We froze the fourth quarter of the dough because we figured we had made enough pasta for two. But who are we kidding, it will be defrosted and gone in a matter of days.
Plus, making the pasta was an instant mood booster. No more chocolate, ice cream and pj's for me when I'm in a bad mood, just give me my KitchenAid and a ball of pasta dough. Instant smile. What can I tell you, I'm obsessed, but at least I warned you.
- Pair our homemade pasta with our homemade crockpot bolognese.
- Create different types of pasta, in terms of shape...ravioli, lasagna, pappardelle...and buy the extruder attachment for macaroni, rigatoni, and angel hair, the choices are endless.
- Try flavored dough...basil garlic is first on our list...and with more confidence, spinach and roasted red pepper.
- Build up our flour collection and experiment with different flours...spelt, buckwheat, rye...suggestions anyone?!
Recipe adapted from julieblanner.com, How to Make Homemade Pasta in Minutes
Ingredients
- 3.5 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
- 4 large eggs
- 4 Tbs water, dived
- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer combine the flour, eggs, and 2 Tbsps of water.
- With the paddle attachment on speed 4, mix the ingredients until they are combined.
- Switch to the dough hook and kneed on speed four until the ingredients/dough have come together and form a ball.
- Remove the ball of dough from the mixer and cover it with plastic wrap.
- Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
- After the dough has rested, divide it into four equal pieces.
- Roll one piece of dough out on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
- Place the pasta attachment on your KitchenAid mixer and roll the dough through the attachment on setting 1.
- Repeat this step, feeding your pasta through the attachment on setting 2, then 3, then 4, then 5 or until desired thickness. The dough will become a very long sheet of pasta.
- Fold the dough into thirds width-wise, and repeat steps 8 & 9 once more.
- Repeat steps 7 - 10 to turn the remaining dough balls into noodles, or freeze the dough balls (cover each in flour, wrap in plastic wrap, and then place into a freezer bag) to be used at a later time.
Note: If you do not have a pasta attachment, from step 7, you can continue to roll out your pasta with a rolling pin as thin as possible. Cut the dough by hand with a dough knife or pizza cutter, into the shape you desire.
For Fettuccine:
- Cut the long sheet of pasta to the length of your desired noodles.
- Switch the flat pasta attachment for the fettuccine attachment and feed each sheet through.
- Bring a pot of water to boil and place the noodles into the pot, cooking for 3-4 minutes depending on thickness. They will cook very quickly, so keep an eye out. Or, air dry the noodles by hanging them in a cool dry area.
For Tortellini
shaping instructions adapted from thekitchn.com, How To Make Tortellini From Scratch
- Cut the long sheet of pasta into 3 inch squares.
- Place about a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square.
- Dip your index finger into water and run it along two edges of the square to moisten the dough so it will stick together when folded.
- Fold the square in half, around the filling, making a triangle shape. Press tightly to seal.
- Roll the pocket of filling 180 degrees, toward the tip of the triangle.
- Wrap the two side corners around the pocket of filling, pressing tightly to seal together.
- Place the tortellini on a well floured baking sheet while you repeat these steps with each remaining dough square. If you have a lot to complete, cover the finished tortellini with a towel or plastic wrap so they do not get dried out.
- Bring a pot of water to boil and place the tortellini into the pot, cooking for 2-3 minutes.depending on thickness. They will cook very quickly, so keep an eye out. Or, air dry the noodles by hanging them in a cool dry area.
For the tortellini filling I used a 15 ounce container of skim ricotta cheese as the base. I mixed the ricotta with shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, dried basil, and garlic powder to taste.
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