But you don’t have a pasta maker at home right now. What a big deal! Here we are going to share with you how to make homemade pasta without a machine. Though making pasta at home without a machine is time-consuming, but it would be nutritious and fun.
How to make homemade pasta without a machine
So, let me share a secret tip behind making tasty and fancy pasta without a pasta maker. And, that is nothing but the magic of kneading and resting the dough for the acute period. So, let’s explore out the full process of the homemade pasta recipe.
Homemade Pasta Recipe: Two Ingredients!
Freshly made pasta takes less time than dried pasta. For a springy plate of yummy pasta, all you need is to cook it in salted water for 3-4 minutes. The refrigerated homemade pasta takes 3-5 minutes. You’ll have to give 4-7 minutes to cook dried homemade pasta.
However, homemade pasta is very delicious; just a bit of butter, garlic, and sage with added olive oil will increase the taste.
Ingredients
Generally, eggs, flours, water, olive oil, and salt –are essential ingredients of the pasta recipe. Maximum pasta is prepared of wheat flour (durum or semolina). From the organoleptic, nutritional, and technical point of view, the egg is another essential ingredient of a homemade pasta recipe. It makes the pasta dough soft, resistant, and elastic.
And, you would need water to create different shapes of the pasta dough. And salt enhances the flavor.
Here I’m showing you the easiest way of making 2-ingredient homemade pasta without a machine-
- 2-cups of flour with ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs with
- 1-tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Step 1
Take a large bowl and pour 2-cups (7.50 ounces) of flour with ½ teaspoon salt in it. Start whisking it. Add 3 large eggs with 1-tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in the center of the flour. Before you add the eggs with flour, you can mix extra ingredients of your choice to bring more flavor. For example, dried herbs, wet elements such as tomato paste, squid ink, pesto- are other elements.
Step 2
Take a fork and start blending eggs and oil while at the same time assimilating the flour from the bowl’s edges. Now turn out the dough onto a clean surface when it becomes thicker to mix with a fork. Until the mixer turns out to be a smooth and inelastic dough ball, keep kneading it.
Step 3
With a plastic sheet, wrap the pasta dough and keep it in usual room heat for 30-minutes. You can store it in your fridge for a day-long or more.
Step 4
Now make 4-small portions of the dough. While working with one divided piece, keep the others covered to avoid getting dried out.
Step 5
Now use your hands to flatten it into a rectangular shape; sprinkle flour on it bountifully. After razing the pasta dough out, roll the dough into a thin, long sheet. Continue to sprinkle flour on both sides of the dough sheet amply.
Step 6
No matter how thin you make the pasta dough, it’ll become roly-poly at the time of cooking. So, make a thinner sheet out of the pasta dough that you can see your hand through it if held up on light.
Step 7
Again spread flour amply on the pasta dough sheet and fold it like a flat, wide roll; instead of a simple one. Otherwise, it can get squashed at the time of cutting. Now you have to cut the wide roll into strips like slice noodles. A sharp knife will do the job fine.
Step 8
It is the last step of making homemade pasta. Tremble out the pasta strands into a loose bundle. Sprinkle some flour on it. Your pasta is ready to cook instantly on a large pan in salted boiling water for at least 3 minutes. Or, you can preserve it in single portions on a baking sheet in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
If you want to dry the homemade pasta, place it distributed on a flour-dusted baking tray or plate and spread flour over it again. At least for 24 hours or until you can split it, dry it in a non-humid environment. You can store it for a maximum of one month in an airtight container after well dried.
Advantages of homemade pasta
At first, you might find it domineering to make pasta at home without the help of a pasta maker. But, gradually, with practice, it will become less difficult for you. With enough effort and time, you also can be a master of making delicious, silky-textured, rich-flavored pasta. This is an everyday favorite of millions of people worldwide for the simplicity and easiness of pasta recipes. While dried pasta takes 10 to 11 minutes, fresh pasta gets ready in just half of the assumed time.
Moreover, now because of this pandemic, we are all spending much time at home. Why not try to make something delicious, nutritious, and beautiful. While learning how to make pasta without a machine, you will be busy with physical activity and enjoying fun hours.
Homemade pasta always allows you to use healthier, fresh ingredients that are beneficial for your body. Like, if you are about to make vegan pasta, flours, eggs, and water are the only ingredients to add. But, you have the option to choose the kind of flour- gluten-free or organic. The more enriched with minerals, vitamins, and fiber the flour is, the more nutritious your homemade pasta is.
Regardless of the ingredients, you use in your pasta recipe, it’ll surely turn out far more flavorsome in comparison with the ready-made variety available in the store.
Related Questions Answered
a) Which flour is best to use in a homemade pasta recipe?
Answer: Usually, we use protein enriched ’00’ or Pasta flour for chewier and smoother pasta. You can replace it with all-purpose or plain flour. If you want to make rough pasta, semolina flour would be great for it. It also makes the sauce cling to the pasta better.
b) How can I store homemade pasta for several months?
Answer: After making the pasta, place it on a flour-sprinkled tray. Spread semolina flour over it to prevent them from sticking together at the time of cooking. After completely dried out, cut into small portions and store it in a sealed container or freezer bags. In this way, you can stock homemade pasta for up to 2-3 months.
c) Is homemade pasta cost-effective?
Answer: As the main ingredients of homemade pasta are flour and eggs, making your pasta is comparably cheaper. But, it takes your effort and time to make homemade pasta without a machine at home.
d) What to do to avoid chewiness in homemade pasta?
Answer: One of the common mistakes we all make is not to roll out the dough enough thinner. Take your time to roll out the pasta dough as fine as possible to cook properly inside-out. Otherwise, you’ll end up with chewy pasta.
Final Words
Well, now you have all the information about preparing homemade pasta without a machine. Homemade pasta from scratch is an exciting experiment for those who love to cook. It is healthier, fun and widens the passage for adding ingredients of your choice. You can show your creativity in making different shapes of pasta. So, let’s try it out today and make your near and dear one’s surprise with your homemade pasta recipe.
