Pasta making

I finally have the opportunity to play with one of my Christmas toys.  My honey bought me this Kitchen-Aid Pasta press.  I have experience making pasta but thus far I have been limited to fettuccine and lasagna noodles.  This was surprisingly easy.

After making dough in my food processor and my mixer I have found that my bread machine works best.  It kneads the dough so well and I am extremely happy as I take no pleasure from tedious hand kneading.

I mix semolina flour, white flour, eggs, water and a small amount of olive oil to make a nice firm dough.  The dough must then rest for about half an hour.  (I will post the recipe on a separate page soon.)

I decided to start with rigatoni.  I fed walnut-sized pieces of dough into the machine and tada, I’ve made my first batch of tube pasta. 

Now I will dry it on a tablecloth and store it for later use.

My nonna would have loved this gadget.  That was so easy, I think I’ll make a batch of penne.