Now isn’t this the most scrumptious skillet of homemade pasta you’ve ever seen? Well, it was to us! My first attempt at homemade pasta – I believe I would consider a success! Nothing like the pasta from those who have done this for years, but for a first try I was pleased! I used John’s recipe at from the Bartolini kitchens. It was so easy! Ritchey bought a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid mixer – it was a birthday present a year and a half ago! Daunting is not even the word to use when I thought about making pasta! But after last night’s homemade pizza I thought why not give it a try?
The dough came together beautifully – making it in the food processor was so easy! The hardest part was kneading for 5 minutes!
The first time I put the dough through the rollers I danced! I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread! You’ll have to forgive me, but I do get excited about the simplest things! Ritchey was snapping pictures and I was making pasta!
Look at these beautiful thin pieces of pasta!
Then it was time to turn those beautiful pieces of pasta into spaghetti! What can I say? It was so much fun!
Now, what sauce or dressing for the lovely spaghetti? I turned to another of John’s recipes – a simple but lovely Spaghetti Aglio e Olio – spaghetti with garlic and oil – with a touch of red pepper flakes, topped with a bit of parsley and pecorino romano cheese.
With the spaghetti boiling away in a large pot it wasn’t long before we sat down to a lovely bowl of fresh spaghetti and a good chianti. Thank you, John! I raise my glass to you! Salute!
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Phyllis, I can’t tell you how happy I am that you posted this! I, too, purchased the pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer (two years ago!) and have been afraid to try using it! Your photos are so helpful and I love John’s site and recipes… now I have the confidence to try!!
That’s great! It was quite daunting at first, but once I started it was just a lot of fun! Let me know how your pasta turns out!
Homemade pizza last night and homemade pasta today! How much better can it get! (I actually helped a little with the pasta. I ran one ball of dough through it.)
Thanks, Sweetie! It was fun making it together!
Beautiful! I’ve wanted to make pasta for years but somehow have never gotten around to it. Your first try looks perfect!
Thanks, Donna! It was much easier than I thought – you should try it!
Another convert! YAY!!! So glad to hear that things went so well for you, Phyllis. Now that you’ve made the 1st batch and know what to expect, it gets easier and easier. Before long, you’ll be hand cutting pappardelle, tagliatelle, and quadretti. And I’ll let you in on a secret. Take those dough sheets, par-boil them, and use them with your favorite lasagna recipe. You will be amazed! Thank you for the your gracious shout outs but, really, this was all you. Congratulations!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t wait to make ravioli! To be honest, I’m not sure what the three things are you said I would be making! I need to brush up on my Italian! And the best news is using the dough sheets for lasagna! I’ve never been happy with lasagna noodles from the store! Now I have another option!
No need to brush up on your Italian. You made fettuccine. Tagliatelle are just a bit wider than fettuccine and pappardelle are about twice as wide as tagliatelle. Quadretti are a small pasta (pastina) that Mom used in soup. You can learn how to make them here: http://chgojohn.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/quadretti-pasta-and-the-fairy-hobmothers-gift/
Thank you! Which pasta do you prefer for ‘everyday’ eating? Or does it really matter?
I tend to go for linguine, which is a little more narrow than the fettuccine. Although I bought a special roller to cut them, I’ll often cut them by hand. They are by no means all identically cut but that’s part of the charm. Still, so long as the pasta is homemade, it really doesn’t matter that much. It’s all good!
Phylis, I got so excited for you as you danced around making pasta!! You went to the best to get your recipe as John has handed down, tried and true Italian family recipes. Now that you’ve made pasta from scratch I’m feeling like I need to give it a try! I’m going to add that pasta attachment to my wish list!!
Yes, John is definitely the master pasta maker! You should get that attachment – it worked great! And I know you’ll love how good the pasta tastes!
Phyllis, it looks great! I am sure you wil make homemade pasta the next time your favorite sister (me) comes up.
You know I will! I can’t wait for you to try it!
Ok, now my only excuse is TIME…I got a hand-crank pasta machine for Christmas (Shhh! I haven’t told Mr. Bartolini yet!) and have been waiting for a chance to use it.
You’ve inspired me – it’s great to see a first-time success!
You must give it a try – don’t wait as long as I!
It is the most scrumptious skillet of homemade pasta I’ve ever seen indeed.
Making pasta is something worth dancing around for indeed 🙂
Thank you! It was great fun!
Wow, you hit it right out of the park on the first at bat. Looks just wonderful.
Thanks, Greg! Now I ask, Why did I ever wait so long?
I am not a good pasta dough maker, but you make it seem so uncomplicated.. so I think I will definitely try it out again. It just looks amazing
It was much easier than I thought it would be! That’s why I waited so long to try it! I think you will do wonderfully!
I feel so bad…Liz and I have all the pasta making attachments, but rarely think we have the time to make homemade pasts. Just another thing to change this year.
It honestly didn’t take that much time! Ritchey and I had a free Saturday afternoon and we just enjoyed making it together. I would say within an hour – perhaps an hour and half we were eating pasta!
I haven’t made homemade pasta in ages and both you and John are definitely giving me a hankering for some. What a fabulous first try! It looks like pasta perfection.
Thank you! Try it – we enjoyed it so much! I can’t wait to make it again!
I’d say this was definitely a success!! That pan of pasta looks seriously incredible. Though it’s a bit of work, making homemade pasta is such a fun process. My mom and I make it often when I visit home. What an amazing first attempt for you! 🙂
Thank you, Caroline! I’ll make it homemade from now on! It just seems like a daunting task if you’ve not tried it!