I’ve been making a lot of fresh pasta the past couple of weeks, and our son, my official pasta taster, is loving it. Heavenly, thick-cut ribbons of pasta, dripping in olive oil. So much better than dried pasta. Fresh pasta is one of those things that seems difficult to make, but it’s not. It does take a little practice to figure out how thick to roll the dough and how long to cook the noodles. I searched for a recipe for pasta that didn’t involve eggs and found one on Vegan Dad. I’m reprinting his recipe, although he used a pasta machine and I rolled the dough with a rolling pin and cut the noodles with a knife. (If you’re making this with children, a pizza cutter works great.)
After cooking the first batch, I thought the noodles were a little too thick (they measured 1/4 inch thick), so I rolled the second batch thinner (less than 1/8 inch thick) and that was just right. (They will puff up when you cook them.) When cutting out your noodle shapes, you don’t have to worry about cutting them all uniformly – part of the charm is the homemade look to them. Just make sure the thickness is the same. I rolled the dough in one direction, then turned the cutting board and rolled in the other direction. Get a big bag of semolina flour (in most bulk food sections) and play around with it- it may take a few times to get it right, but you’ll enjoy the process. And you and all your pasta-tasters will love the results.
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup semolina flour (plus a bit more for dusting the cutting board)
- dash of salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- about ½ cup water (I used a tad more)
- Put flours and salt in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and process briefly to mix.
- With motor running, drizzle in oil and then slowly add the water. You will notice that the flour will resemble fine bread crumbs as the liquid is added, then coarse bread crumbs, then it will begin to bunch together. When the dough comes together in a ball, it’s ready.
- Remove dough from processor and knead briefly until smooth. Dust cutting board with semolina flour. Divide dough into two batches. Roll one batch out to desired thickness, making sure that all areas are the same thickness. I found just under ⅛ inch thick to be a good thickness. With a knife or a pizza cutter, cut dough into desired strips, making them as wide and as short/long as you like. Put the cut noodles on a plate or tray sprinkled with semolina flour (so they won’t stick) and let rest for 30 minutes before you cook them. Repeat with second half of dough.
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt and then noodles and cook for 3-4 minutes, depending on the thickness of your noodles. The only way to tell if they’re done is to fish one out and taste it. Drain and toss with olive oil and sea salt.
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