Today was the epitome of a great day off. I went to church, cooked, baked, read, ran to the gym, worked out (and drove home with Fritz), took a long bubble bath, snuggled with the world’s worst cat, talked to my mom and dad, drank copious amounts of tea, talked to my parents, am currently watching my favorite movie of all time (Dan In Real Life) while I blog (while Fritz watches the Superbowl online), have a FaceTime date with Fritz’s parents in an hour, and not to mention I straight-up conquered some seriously adventurous cooking.
I made my own pasta. And just wrote an epic run-on sentence.
Weird that it seemed so adventurous when it was actually so easy (both the pasta and the run-on sentence).
Tharrie (Fritz’s mom) gave me a pasta maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid for Christmas, and I finally got around to taking it on–I am now officially a converted make-your-own pasta maker. For my first time around, I used a recipe that came with the attachment ’cause I thought I’d better be safe than sorry. I decided to go with mostly whole-wheat flour, but to use some white flour so I know Fritz won’t hate it. Next time I’ll try 100% whole-wheat.
Whole-Wheat Pasta (makes 1 1/4 lbs of pasta)
- 4 eggs
- 2 1/2 C whole-wheat flour
- 1 C all-purpose flour
- 1/2 t salt
- 1-2 T water
Combine all the ingredients in the mixer bowl, starting with just 1 T of water. Mix with the flat beater until it all comes together in a ball. Pasta dough should be as dry as possible–when you pinch a piece, it should stick together but not stick to your fingers. I had to add a second T of water to get to the right consistency…most likely because I didn’t (and I never) sift out my flour.
Knead the dough by hand for a minute or two, then cut into eight pieces. Cover the pieces with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out while you cut the others.
To start, flatten one piece with the palm of your hand–it doesn’t have to be crazy skinny; that’s what the rollers are for. Attach the rollers to the mixer and set it on the widest setting (1). Turn the mixer motor on to 2 and feed the dough through.
Because pasta dough is so dry, the edges will be cracked at first.
Fold the edges in towards the middle (into thirds, like a piece of paper), and feed it through the same setting again. I did this at least two times before the edges stayed nice and smooth.
Switch to the next smallest setting (2), and feed it through. You now should need to put the dough through each setting only once.
Setting 3.
Setting 4.
And setting 5. For fettucine and regular spaghetti, 5 is good enough. Go up to 7 or 8 if you are making angel hair spaghetti.
Switch from the roller to the cutter. Carefully feed the pasta through–try to keep it going through the same spot for nice, even lengths of spaghetti:
Or fettucine. Isn’t this totally awesome?
You can cook this right away (just like you would boxed pasta–in hot boiling water, but only for 3-4 minutes, since it is fresh, after all) or dry it.
To dry the pasta, either hang it over a drying rack (which I do not yet own) or drape flat on a towel. Let them dry for an hour, then bag ‘em up. If the pasta is still wet, you can’t keep it at room temperature or it will grow mold. You’ll have to freeze it.
You can also (this is what I did) dust the pasta with flour and roll into little “birds nests”. Let the pasta dry for a bit, then store in a plastic bag and toss it in the freezer.
I cooked the spaghetti for dinner (you’ll see that recipe in the near future), and froze the fettucine for later.
I’m super excited about how easy this was! Since it was my first time, I was a little slow, but I can imagine being able to knock the whole process out in less than a half an hour. Making a double batch and freezing the extra would barely take any more time.
I also really loved the texture and taste of the cooked pasta. You definitely got the whole-wheat nuttiness from the whole-wheat flour, which is not Fritz’s favorite but is most definitely mine. I couldn’t believe how it actually cooked up like real pasta! I had a fear that it would be a pile of mush, but that wasn’t true at all.
Just like regular spaghetti. I added a teensy bit of oil to the cooked pasta to keep it from sticking, which worked perfectly (I don’t add oil to the cooking water–it’s a waste!).
Next pasta experiment is ravioli! With the pasta roller and a pizza cutter or round cookie cutter, I think I’ll be able to make it super easily.
And check out this elephant ring holder that Fritz pulled out of his super top secret present stash this morning. He basically will do anything to keep me from hanging my rings on the window.
Oh, also…yeah Giants!
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Maria
February 5, 2012 at 10:19 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You have inspired me! I’ve had the pasta maker attachment since last summer but haven’t found time to use it yet. It just feels like it would be so much work, but your post encourages me that it won’t be as monumental a task as I think. Thanks!
Quee
February 5, 2012 at 10:24 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You know who makes their own pasta????? TOP CHEFS!!!!
Also that elephant is such a cutener!! Go Fritz!
Lauren Zietsman
February 6, 2012 at 9:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I owe you a phone call. You are the best. I am the worst. Love you!
Nuts about food
February 6, 2012 at 5:18 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I am very envious, I have been dreaming of a couple of attachments for my KA, and this is one of those. Looks like you were incredibly successful. Great job!
Paula @ Spoons 'n' Spades
February 6, 2012 at 9:26 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Oh, this post really make me want a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid! Your pasta looks wonderful
nat@thesweetslife
February 6, 2012 at 11:36 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
oh i LOVE Dan in Real Life! Great flick
I’ve had a pasta maker for almost 2 years and for whatever reason have not gotten it out to use yet. Shame on me, esp when homemade pasta is so gorgeous! (and much tastier!)
2peasandapot
February 6, 2012 at 2:43 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Nice post! I only make the same pasta but whole wheat is on the way! (never seen the movie, though).
2peasandapot
February 6, 2012 at 2:44 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
did that show up? Anyway, nice post!
Heidi @ Food Doodles
February 6, 2012 at 3:20 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Awesome! I love making my own pasta. And I love making it whole wheat, although my hubby isn’t much of a fan either. I actually have a manual pasta machine that works pretty well. I’m sure it’s slower than your process, but I love it! We occasionally use store bought dry pasta just for convenience, but you really can’t beat homemade pasta – it’s so much tastier and filling, plus I like the texture more too
Russell at Chasing Delicious
February 6, 2012 at 7:11 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I love homemade pasta! I haven’t tried making a whole-wheat pasta yet though. I’m going to have to change that as this looks scrumptious!
Christina
May 18, 2012 at 10:16 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m in awe. This pasta looks beautiful and so authentic – just like you see all dried in nests at the Italian markets. Your perfect day sounds just like my perfect day – any day that kicks off with church, followed by exercise, family and cooking is a good one!
Yvonne
July 12, 2012 at 1:17 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I have made home made pasta twice so far (once regular one and once with spinach) and am looking forward to try your whole wheat recipe. Sounds great!
Lauren Zietsman
July 13, 2012 at 11:28 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I think I might attempt spinach this weekend! Any recipe suggestions?
Robin
August 26, 2012 at 2:54 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’d already decided to try out my KA attachments (Christmas 2010!) on this rainy day in D.C. Found your blog by accident and followed your recommendations. It’s delicious!
Nina
January 23, 2013 at 11:26 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Great recipe! My kids and husband loved it! This has easily become our go to homemade pasta recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Arianna Navarro
February 7, 2013 at 11:37 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hi, when you are scooping the flour do you pack your cups? I want to make this pasta for my aunts this weekend.
Lauren Zietsman
February 7, 2013 at 11:40 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
No I usually lightly fill the cups
Jaclyn
March 2, 2013 at 11:21 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
We found your post and was hoping to get some feedback. We made the spinach pasta recipe for the KA manual tonight and it came out awesome! We were on a roll so we decided to make the whole wheat pasta. There were two choices. The light whole wheat and the whole wheat recipe. We wanted to use 100% whole wheat. So we used the recipe I’m the manual that is exactly the same one you posted here. The problem? Our dough never formed. Seemed like there was wayyyy to much flour and not enough liquid. We thought maybe we didn’t mix it long enough but we followed the directions. We thought maybe we should have sifted the flour but it didn’t call to. As both the light whole wheat recipe did and the spinach We used bobs red mill whole wheat.
Lauren Zietsman
March 3, 2013 at 6:58 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m not sure, since it did work for me. Possibly the eggs were smaller or something? I think you would have been okay to slowly add more liquid until it came together!
Eleanor
April 13, 2013 at 1:06 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Just made the Light Whole Wheat recipe for the 3rd time. Very much too dry and could be because my house is so very dry during the winter here in Canada.
I did not sift the flour. How do you sift whole wheat flour anyway!!! Will go with adding some water during the mixing process next time until it forms a ball.
Do you flatten all 8 sections before cutting? If so, how do you keep the flattened ones from drying out while you cut the others?
Lauren Zietsman
April 16, 2013 at 10:04 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
no, I kept them in a ball and covered with plastic wrap until I was ready for the next one.
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