Making Pasta For Fun

A couple of weeks ago I cleaned out the cabinets under the island and found my old hand-cranked pasta machine.  When I showed it to Son Donald he said he'd really like to try making fresh pasta.  Today we did.

Check out the vintage packaging!

I'm not sure exactly when I acquired the pasta machine, but I know it was before the boys were born when I had time to be a really adventurous cook.  Back then I subscribed to Bon Appétit and Food and Wine magazines and a Time-Life book series called The Good Cook. I'd read each of them cover to cover, then try out the concepts and recipes that sounded interesting.  Eventually I had less time and inclination to put together elaborate meals so a lot of the doo-dads and accessories got donated or shoved (like the pasta machine) to the dark corners of the kitchen. 

Today Donald and I used a pasta recipe from Mario Batali which calls for two ingredients: flour and eggs. I did the initial mixing, then divided the dough into two sections so both Donald and I could knead. After the kneading was done we set the dough aside to rest. 

I clamped the machine to the table and turned the dial to the widest setting while Donald divided the dough into sections. We took turns feeding each section through the machine several times, then began to roll them thinner by turning the dial to progressively narrower settings. We were having so much fun that Hubby Tony got in on the act, too.

The finished product

After everything was the correct thickness we used the blades to cut the pasta into fettuccine noodles, laid them on a cookie sheet, and set the sheet in the microwave to dry (because I was concerned that the cats might like to sample our work.)  When it was time for dinner I cooked the noodles in salted water for five minutes, then sauced them with a simple crock pot sauce of jarred marinara, stew beef, green peppers, onions, garlic, and canned tomatoes.  We passed the Parmesan and a marinated broccoli salad at the table

The noodles were thick and chewy, almost like an egg noodle dumpling.  It was very good, but next time we'll choose to roll it thinner.  And according to Donald, there   will be a next time!

Five years ago today: Why Not?