Homemade Pasta

Though a lot of the processed pasta is made without preservatives or artificial ingredients, you will find that making homemade pasta is worth the effort.  The biggest reason for making homemade pasta is taste.  A lot of the time homemade pasta can be purchased at your local farmers market.  Start by buying several different flavors to see how you like it.  I'm confident you will be hooked.  The second biggest benefit to making homemade pasta is that homemade pasta only takes 2-4 minutes to cook compared to 15 minutes for store bought pasta.  Though I'm not quite sure how this happens, it definitely is nice to have the option of making a healthy and delicious meal on the fly.
The last benefit to making homemade pasta is that it is extremely economical when compared to the price of homemade pasta at your local farmers market.


Getting Started
Though there are benefits to making homemade pasta, you will most likely be encouraged to make it just for the challenge or for something fun to do with the family. To get started, you should have a pasta machine and a pasta drying rack.  Pasta machines roll the dough into a fine strip and also cut the dough into spaghetti or any type of pasta cut that comes with the machine.  Machines come with a crank for manually rolling and cutting the dough through the machine or a motor that does the work for you.  If you get a machine without a motor, be prepared to have a helper close by so one person can crank the dough through and the other can catch it.  Pasta drying racks come in all shapes and sizes and some people even make their own.

How to Make Homemade Pasta Easy
Though making pasta can be quite a chore, the process can be made easy.

1. The first step to making it easy is to get a good pasta machine which does most of the work for you.  Unfortunately, I started with a hand crank pasta machine.  Though it requires more work to crank the machine, I make it a family activity, which makes it easier and also fun.
2. The second way to make homemade pasta easier is to use a food processor to mix the dough.  Though I got this idea from an on-line recipe, I did not follow the recipe.  Simply use the recipe that comes with your pasta machine and add water little by little until the dough begins to stick and clump together in the food processor.  Then turn the dough out onto a floured cutting board and kneed until you achieve the right consistency.  Believe me when I say that your arm will thank you for this.  

Homemade Pasta #1
Homemade Pasta #2