The Best Recipe For Making Homemade Pasta Noodles Plus A Look At The Kitchenaid Pasta Press Attachment

HOMEMADE PASTA RECIPE

Steps:

• Place eggs, water, flour and salt in mixer bowl. Attached bowl and flat beater. Turn to speed 2 and mix for 30 to 60 seconds. Add more water if the dough is too dry, in 1/2 Tablespoon increments.
• Change out the flat beater for the dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and knead for 2 minutes. Remove the dough and knead by hand for 2 minutes. Let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Cut dough into four pieces before processing with pasta sheet attachment. Take one piece and flatten into a rectangular shape. Adding flour to both sides. Be sure to cover the other pieces. Attach the pasta sheet roller to your stand mixer and set it to #1. Turn on the stand mixer to speed 2 and run the pasta dough through the pasta sheet roller. While on #1, fold the dough in half and run it through again. I do this several times.
• Adding a little bit of flour on each side of the dough again, change setting to #2 and pass the pasta dough through the sheet roller. I do this twice and then twice each on #3 and then #4. If you want thicker dough, don't do the #4 setting.
• Once again, add flour to each side of your long pasta sheet. Change the attachment to your spaghetti or fettuccine cutter and turn on to speed 2. Run the pasta sheet through and with your left hand, hold on to the pasta as it comes through the cutter. It's usually really long so I cut it and then wind it around my hand to create a nest. Allow pasta to dry for a few minutes before boiling.
• When boiling your pasta, it only needs 3 to 7 minutes to boil.
• With this pasta recipe, I prefer the fettuccine cutter.

HOMEMADE PASTA RECIPE

Steps:

• On a clean surface, add the flour in a mound. Sprinkle salt over top. Create a well in the center of the flour, then add the eggs.
• Gently mix the eggs, then gradually add in flour. Knead the pasta dough for about 8-10 minutes or until a stiff, tacky dough forms.
• If the dough is too dry add a 1/2 tsp of water. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle in a little more flour.
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 50 minutes. Divide the dough into two.
• To roll the dough, start on the largest setting(crank or KitchenAid attachment), usually a 6. Carefully run one half of the dough through it, then again on the same setting. Fold the dough into thirds (a bookfold). Then start to adjust the machine to a thinner setting after each pass until you reach a 2 or 3. I find that in general, a 3 is the perfect thinness.
• Use a separate attachment/part of your machine to cut the pasta into desired shapes, or you can do this by hand. Simply use a pizza wheel or ravioli press.
• In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta for 3-4 minutes, remove and serve.

THE BEST RECIPE FOR MAKING HOMEMADE PASTA NOODLES (PLUS A LOOK AT THE KITCHENAID PASTA PRESS ATTACHMENT)

Steps:

• In your Kitchenaid mixer, combine the flour and 5 large eggs and mix. Add in olive oil to make the dough come together just a bit. The dough should be very dry-so dry that it won't even come together into a single mass.
• Pour the dough out onto the work surface and pinch off walnut-size pieces to feed into the extruder.
• Don't shove it down in there as that will cause a big clog and mess everything up. Larger amounts of dough tend to bind up in the extruder as they reach the auger.
• Using the cutter on your attachment, as the pasta comes out, cut it off and lay it in a single layer on a floured surface to dry.
• Cook the homemade extruded pasta as you would any other pasta, in a large pot of boiling, salted water until al dente. Cooking time will vary depending on how wet the dough was and how long the pasta was dried. Mine took about 4 minutes.
• Finally, disassemble the extruder, remove any large gobs of dough, and let the rest dry overnight before attempting to clean the parts. The dough will flick right off once it's completely dry.
• Remove using a slotted spoon and add to your sauce
• Toss to coat the pasta and serve

PERFECT HOMEMADE PASTA OR SPAGHETTI FOR KITCHENAID MIXERS

Steps:

• Combine the semolina flour, all purpose flour, and salt in a large bowl. Using a fork, mix these ingredients together, then using a sifter, sift into another bowl. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, combine the eggs & beat well with a fork.
• Add extra-virgin olive oil to the eggs and mix with a fork.
• Add the cold water to the egg & olive oil mixture, and mix with a fork.
• Pour the liquid ingredients into your mixer bowl and attach the flat beater.
• Add half of the sifted flour mixture, turn to speed 2 and mix 20 seconds. Add the rest of the sifted flour mixture and mix an additional 20 seconds.
• Exchange flat beater for the dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and knead for 2 to 3 minutes, until a dough ball is formed.
• Remove dough from bowl and hand-knead for 2 to 3 minutes. NOTE: Good pasta dough should be elastic and pliable, but FIRM (not soft like bread dough). It should not stick to your fingers or fall apart. To test for the correct consistency, pinch a small amount of dough together after kneading for 2 to 3 minutes -- if the dough stays together without sticking to your fingers or falling apart, it should work well. If too soft, add more flour by dusting the top of the dough and knead some more, continuing to dust the dough with flour until achieving the right consistency. If too dry, wet your hands and knead some more, continuing to wet your hands a little at a time & knead until the right consistency. (Achieving the right consistency isn't hard at all -- I got it just right the very first time I tried this recipe).
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour (this step is important).
• Remove dough from refrigerator and let it rest for 15 minutes. Using your hands, roll dough into a log, about 12 inches long.
• Cut log into 8 slices, then flatten each piece slightly. Spread slices out so they aren't touching and cover with plastic wrap.
• Using the widest setting (1 on the Kitchenaid), turn mixer to speed 2 and taking one piece of the flattened dough, feed through rollers. Fold dough in half & roll again. Repeat 3 more times, lightly dusting the sheet of pasta in between each rolling if it feels the slightest bit sticky.
• Move adjustment knob to setting 2 and feed the dough sheet through the rollers once.
• Move adjustment knob to setting 3 and feed the dough sheet through the rollers once.
• Continue to increase roller setting until desired dough thickness is reached: 3 for Thick "kluski" type egg noodles; 4 for standard egg noodles; 4 or 5 for lasagna noodles, fettuccine, spaghetti, and ravioli; 6 or 7 for tortellini, thin fettuccine, and linguine fini; 7 or 8 for VERY thin "angel-hair" type pasta/capellini or VERY fine linguine.
• Separate sheets once desired thickness is achieved with a thin towel or piece of plastic wrap dusted with flour, so the dough doesn't dry out too much.
• To cut the noodles, exchange the Pasta Roller Sheet attachment for the cutter attachment of choice, either the fettucine cutter for wider noodles or the spaghetti cutter for spaghetti or linguine. Run each sheet through the cutter. NOTE: Each sheet can be cut in half or thirds before putting through the cutter to prevent "too long" of strips. I prefer to use the longer sheets, rather than cutting them in half or thirds, as this reduces the time it takes to cut each sheet & hang to dry.
• After cutting each sheet, hang to dry on a pasta rack. Dry for a minimum of 10 minutes. If you don't have a pasta rack, plastic hangers work great! IMPORTANT: Flour the pasta rack or the plastic hangers before placing pasta on them. ALSO, separate the strips of pasta as best you can, so they aren't touching. This way they won't dry sticking together. If you want to dry the pasta for later use, dry for several hours and then store in airtight plastic bags (i.e. Ziploc Freezer or Storage Bags).
• When ready to cook, boil your water and add salt. For the 1.5 pounds of pasta, I use 2 teaspoons of salt. Oil in the water is not necessary.
• Fresh pasta will cook faster than commercially bought pasta -- about 4 to 5 minutes in vigorously boiling water for el dente.