Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta....Yummmmm!

Now that summer is officially here:-), I am doing some things that have been put off for far too long.  I still have to run my kids to things almost every day, but since we are down to just a little Geometry and History for school (have to finish some things that we got behind on), I have several hours of time that I am not used to having each day.  So one of the things that I really wanted to do for a long time is to make pasta.

Several years ago, I bought an Italian pasta machine (hand crank variety) with spaghetti and fettuccine cutters at a thrift store for about $4.  I have wanted to use it many times, but I have never had a large enough time slot to get it all done (takes 3-4 hours).  So today I pulled out my pasta machine and looked up a good whole wheat pasta recipe and began.  It took me a few tries to get the hang of the pasta machine, but I figured it out and made a huge batch of pasta!!  For lunch, I just boiled some of the noodles and tossed with some spaghetti sauce.  And for dinner, I cooked some more of the pasta and tossed with some Chipotle Chicken Sausage, broccoli, onions and olive oil.  It was very yummy - even my kiddos said it was awesome!

Here is the recipe that I used for the pasta:

3 cups whole wheat flour (freshly ground, of course)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
8 eggs
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of olive oil
water (I used about 1/2 cup)

Since I have an awesome Bosch mixer, I just threw all the ingredients (except water) into the mixer and turned it on.  Then I added water about a tablespoon at a time until it came together as a stiff dough.  I wrapped it in a damp towel and just took off about a fist full for each batch of pasta (more than that got too long to handle).

I ran the dough through my pasta machine once on each setting 1 through 6 and then sent it through the cutters.  Then I laid it all over my table to dry, turning it as the top got dry so that the other side would dry, too.  I need one of those clothes drying racks to set on my table to hang the pasta on.  Note to Self:  watch for one at yard sales and thrift stores:-)

I still have enough for about one more portion of pasta and it is thoroughly dried now, so I can just throw it in a ziploc and keep until ready to use.

All in all, I would say it was a great success!  I will definitely do it again sometime soon!  And I want to make gnocchi again soon, too.