cooking

Oodles of Noodles

Posted by tricia on 03.15.10 | 5 Comments Short Link: http://onceamonthmom.com/?p=6069  Print This Post

My husband requested that I make a family favorite that included making your own noodles. I had never, ever considered making my own noodles. He simply replied, “Oh it is so easy!” Funny how when I inquired how many times he had done it the answer was zero. Hmm. Turns out his mom did it and apparently she made it look easy. So off to research the options for me!

I have a great Italian cookbook I love that I went too first. I used most of their directions except instead of cutting it I decided to use my handy dandy Kitchen Aid Mixer Pasta Attachment instead of rolling it out and cutting it myself. Well, that is until it was taking a million years and not working very well. At this point I left the Kitchen Aid pasta making to my mother, who was around helping, who proceeded to make fun little macaroni shapes.

I took all of the dough that we had created that wasn’t in the mixer and started rolling it out in preparation for cutting. We joked that we should see who would get done first. You would think using a modern machine would still mean that she was done first. You would be WRONG! It took her twice as long with a fraction of the dough to work with.

In the end, regardless of whose dough, I liked it and it really was easy as my husband had suggested. I will definitely do it again and am looking forward to experimenting with other “types” or “flavors” of dough in the future.

Here is how we did it.

Author/Source:

Italian Cooking Encyclopedia: The definitive professional guide to Italian ingredients and cooking techniques, including 300 step-by-step recipes, pages 206-208.

Ingredients:

• As a general guide, use 1/2 cup of unbleached white flour to each egg. With one egg yielding approximately 2 servings.
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• salt
  

Directions:

Place the flour in the center of a clean smooth work surface. Make a well in the middle. Break the eggs into the well. Add a pinch of salt.

Start beating the eggs with a fork, gradually drawing the flour from the inside walls of the well. As the paste thickens, continue the mixing with your hands. Incorporate as much flour as possible until the mixture forms a mass. It will still be lumpy. If it still sticks to your hands, add a little more flour. Set the dough aside. Scrape off all traces of the dough from teh work surface until it is perfectly smooth. Wash and dry your hands.

Lightly flour the work surface. Knead the dough by pressing it away from you with the heel of your hands, and then folding it over towards you. Repeat this action over and over, turning the dough as you knead. Work for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Flour the rolling pin and work surface. Pat the dough into a disc and begin rolling it out into a flat circle, rotating it one quarter turn after each roll to keep its shape round. Roll until the disc is about 1/8 inch thick.

Using a pizza cutter cut the dough into useable strips.

To serve, boil salted water. The pasta can be done as quickly as 15 seconds AFTER the water has returned to a boil. Test it for doneness before draining the water and serving.

Freezing Directions:

Prior to cooking you can place noodles in a freezer bag and freeze until you are ready to use. I would suggest dividing it into usable portions for ease of use later.

Servings: 6-8

This Post is linked to:

• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam