HOMEMADE PASTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That looks like professional pasta doesn't it??? OH YEAH!  That's right folks, I, Paige Cashman made my very own homemade PASTA!  There have been a lot of cooking firsts for me lately, how exciting!  So about a month ago I received a package in the mail which contained my very own kitchen aid pasta making set.  This package was sent from my mom, but the gift was from my uncle Dug who had this in his kitchen but had never used it.  THANKS DUG!!!!  I finally got around to trying it out and OH MAN is it ever fun AND easy!   I would have never dreamed it would be so easy to make homemade pasta, thanks Kitchen aid!  So I will include the pasta dough recipe in here as well as the recipe for this amazing linguine and sausage pasta, which was seriously to die for. 

Ok so while pasta making with this tool is SUPER easy, I did make one mistake that I will warn you about.  The first time I made the linguine noodles I did not lay them out flat to dry and therefor they stuck together and then I made another mistake in putting them into hot water BEFORE it was boiling and they basically turned into one big mush.  So I then made a second batch, in less than 10 min, of white pasta, fixed the mistake and they were perfect!  

Here is the recipe and some pics of my first pasta making experience!

Wheat Pasta

21/2 cups wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

4 eggs

2 T water

1/2 tsp salt

White Pasta

2 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs

4 T water (more or less as needed)

Mix all ingredients together in kitchen aid mixer.  If too wet add flour, if too dry add water.  The dough should stick together when pinched between two fingers, but should not stick to your fingers.  Divide dough into 8 balls.  Flatten one ball to about 1/2 in thick and feed through your pasta roller (set on number 1).  The first time it will seem like its not working, thats because you are basically kneading the dough and the gluten needs to break down in order to become a smooth dough.  Run the dough through (folding in half after each time) at least 5 or 6 times.  After it looks like a smooth sheet of pasta, switch the setting on your roller to 3 and run dough through once.  Depending on what kind of pasta you are making will determine what thickness you want.  For linguine after number 3 you will change setting to 5 and run through once.  For lasagna you would go one more time through a 6 setting.  There are instructions regarding this that come with the set.  Now change out your pasta roller and put in the linguine cutter, feed each sheet of pasta through the cutter, TADAH PASTA!  Now MAKE SURE you catch the pasta as it comes out and lay it flat onto a baking sheet or dish towel to dry.  There are also really great youtube videos explaining this exact process so check those out if you are having trouble. 

Linguine with Sausage and Peppers

S&P

1 lb linguine

1 lb turkey sausage

6 garlic cloves

4 yellow peppers (I only used 2 and it was plenty)

4 tablespoons butter (I only used 2)

4 cups arugula (I used spinach)

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente.  Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta water.

Meanwhile, cook sausage and 2 T water in large covered skillet over medium for about 5 min.  Uncover; raise heat to med-high.  Brown the sausage breaking it up, about 7 min.  

Add garlic, bell peppers, and 1/4 cup pasta water; cook until peppers are soft about 6 min.  Add 3/4 cup pasta water and butter, swirl to combine.

Transfer to pot.  Add arugula; season with S&P.  Toss; add more pasta water as desired.

Serves 6.

Logan Rating: *****