First Homemade Pasta

I was not a huge fan of "red sauce" when I was younger and my Mom would make me my favorite pasta from time to time, linguini with clams.  Of course, when Mom made it, that meant opening a box of linguini and a can of sauce.  But this is The Lederman's Kitchen, so our first attempt at one of my all time favorite dishes was also the first pass at making homemade pasta from scratch.

There really is no substitute for fresh pasta, it definitely takes more time than opening a box, but is worth it if you are not in a rush.  Our pasta maker attachment attaches to the end of our Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.  If you have a Kitchenaid and don't have the pasta attachment, get it.  

The recipe itself is really straight forward.  The recipe makes  a lot though, so if it's dinner for 2, you can halve the recipe, eat your dinner, and still have enough for 2 lunches leftover.  For the pasta you will need: 

4 large eggs

1 tbs water

3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

Place eggs, water, flour, and salt in mixer bowl.  Use the flat beater on speed 2 and mix for 30 seconds. Switch to the dough hook, turn mixer on to speed 2 and knead for 2 minutes.  Take the dough fromt he bowl and hand knead for 1-2 minutes.  Let the dough rest for 20 minutes before moving to the next steps.  This is a good time to start on the sauce (recipe below).  

Once you have the dough made you just divide into a few portions, roll out to about 1cm thick and then run the dough through the press.  The instructions come with the machine and it's really easy.  The key is to move quickly since the dough can dry out, and to constantly flour everything.  

The pasta roller has 7 settings, you simply start on the biggest setting and work your way down to the desired thickness.

I cut the dough into 4 sections.  Make sure to roll all 4 sections on the same setting before moving down to the lower levels.  This is a huge time saver (something I didn't do the first time around).

Once you get the pasta rolled, it's time to switch out the roller for the cutter.   The kit that we got came with a fettucini and a spaghetti cutter.  This really is the fun part, just roll the sheets through and there you have it.

You're going to want to have the sauce just about ready before you boil the pasta.  Fresh pasta only takes about 3 minutes at the most to cook.

The sauce itself is on the easier side to make.  We used fresh manila clams, but I think that the recipe would have been just as tasty and a lot less expensive if you were to use canned clams.  I bought a can to try next time we make this so we'll reveal the taste test later on.  For the sauce you will need:

1/2 cup olive oil

5 large cloves of garlic

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3.5 lb clams (small such as Manila or littleneck, make sure to scrub them)

1/2 cup dry white wine

salt

1/3 cup flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped

Parmesan cheese for garnish to taste

In a large frying pan over medium-low heat, warm the oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes until the garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes.Add the clams along with the wine and 1 teaspoon of slat.  Cover and raise the heat to medium.  Shake the pan from time to time to make sure everything is cooking evenly.  It should take about 10 minutes for the clames to open.  

About 5-7 minutes after you put the clams in the pan, toss the pasta into a pot of boiling water.

Make sure to discard any clams that don't open.  Cook the pasta to al dente, and then toss the pasta into the pan with the clam sauce.  Finish cooking another minute or 2 to let the sauce and the pasta get to know each other.

Finally, transfer to a serving dish and top with parsley and cheese.  

I know it seems like a lot of work, but the taste is amazing.  So much different than the stuff from a box.  I'm not saying that we'll never use dried pasta again, but when you have the time it is worth it.

- Brian