House Works: Making Pasta

By: Taryn Vanderford - Email

Many of us buy our pasta at the store, but have you ever tried to make your own? In this House Works, Chef Judy joins us in the kitchen to show us how.

All-Purpose Pasta Recipe for Your Stand Mixer

This recipe calls for mixing and kneading the pasta dough with an electric stand mixer. Then the dough is rolled out and cut using attachments that are specially designed for the mixer.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs
2 Tbs. water, plus more as needed

Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the all-purpose flour and salt. Beat on low speed just until combined, about 30 seconds.

In a small pitcher or other pourable container, whisk together the eggs and water. With the mixer on low speed, slowly drizzle in the egg mixture and beat until the flour has been absorbed into the egg mixture, about 2 minutes.

Stop the mixer and, using your hands, squeeze a small amount of dough into a ball. It should be moist enough to hold together but not sticky; if it is too dry, add more water, 1 tsp. at a time.

Transfer the dough to a work surface and shape into 2 balls. Wrap separately with plastic wrap, then flatten each ball into a disk. Let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
Follow the directions for which attachment you want to use with your KitchenAid mixer.

Cooking the pasta
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop pasta into it in small bunches. When pasta comes to the top, take it out with a strainer and toss with your favorite sauce, or toss with butter, salt and pepper and maybe some Parmesan cheese.

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