Day 6: Making homemade "macaroni"

It was rainy today and we had nothing to do, so we did what any self-respecting Italian does: we made homemade pasta.

Max, Vito and I packed up the car and headed over to macaroni headquarters: my in-laws' house. We were going to spend the day with Max's grandfather, also known as 'the Big Guy'!

There is some good boxed macaroni you can buy (we're a Barilla family), however, there's nothing better than the taste of homemade. And it's easy!

Here's the recipe we used:

Fresh Pasta

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
4 large eggs
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until dough starts to come together. If dough is too dry, add a SMALL amount of water (we used egg whites because we had them on hand). Dough will start to resemble pellets and then start to come together in a large ball. At that point, dump the dough onto a mat with flour and smooth into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit at least 30 minutes (we let it sit for an hour).

Run dough through pasta maker and cut to desired shape.

We used 3 eggs (instead of 4) because we were using duck eggs which are larger. 

We got them from my neighbor (who owns 8 ducks)…you know, totally normal.

Pulse all the ingredients together until they come together.

Form together and smooth into a ball

Wrap in plastic and let rest at least 30 minutes (we waiting a little over an hour).

The peanut gallery: Max,

Vito 

and Dino.

Once dough has rested, cut into small pieces and shape into discs. 

Run discs through the pasta attachment and start to flatten and thin.

We start on number 1 and run it through up to number 6. 

Place the pasta on a covered, flat surface to dry. We used a table, but my great 

grandmother used her bed, and my mother has used her clothes drying rack. 

While pasta dries, take a break to snuggle Max. 

Mr. Macaroni himself! The Big Guy in action!

Today we did the wide noodle, which is a little thinner 

than traditional pappardelle. 

The pasta now needs to dry for a few days (which I'm sure made using the bed as a drying space rather difficult!).

We'll be having ours Saturday night for dinner for date night.