homemade pasta

I've given you marinara. I've given you meatballs. The final missing ingredient? Pasta! Of course you can buy a box of pasta at the grocery store. Or maybe you even spring for the "fresh" stuff sold in the refrigerated aisle. But do you really want your freshly made marinara and meatballs to suffer such injustice? I know you don't. That's why you're still reading.

Now if you don't have an Italian grandmother, don't worry. You can still successfully make fabulous, fresh homemade pasta. Unless you truly want to go old school and roll it out yourself, it does take some equipment. I have always used the aid of a pasta roller, which is most easily operated with two people. I have since upgraded to the amazing pasta attachments for my KitchenAid stand mixer as you can see here; making pasta production that much easier. That all being said, this contraption wasn't always in existence and I think it's safe to conclude that the pasta came before the roller. I recently saw pasta being made strictly by hand on an episode of No Reservations while Anthony Bourdain () was visiting Sardinia. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to trying it out that way. If you don't have a pasta machine though it doesn't seem that complicated by hand. And just because your pasta may not look perfect doesn't mean it won't taste amazing. Let me forewarn you though....once you go fresh, it's hard to eat anything out of a box again.

The recipe listed here is a tried and true favorite with my family. One batch will make approximately 8 servings. Once the pasta has dried it can be frozen for up two months. Semolina flour can be found at Italian/gourmet/specialty food type shops.

pasta dough
yields 8 servings
(if you want to make more, don't double the recipe; make two separate batches.)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour (2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 cup semolina flour)
2 eggs
1/2 cup water

Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl; create a "well" in the center. By hand, beat eggs and water together. Pour into the "well". Using a fork slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Once the mixture becomes thick (should be a crumbly mess at this point), transfer the mixture to a lightly floured flat surface. Begin to knead the mixture until it comes together in a ball; texture should be similar to bread dough but heavier. If the mixture is dry, add water SLOWLY, a teaspoon at a time.

Form into a ball, cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Cut into 4 or 5 pieces and feed through pasta machine or roll out by hand. Lay pasta out on a flat surface to dry; gently toss with flour to prevent sticking. Pasta can be cooked almost immediately. Add to a pot of boiling salted water; let boil for about 5 minutes. Drain and serve.

TIP: Let pasta dry completely before storing; it can be left out overnight.