I wanted to give homemade pasta a try so asked for some accessories for my birthday. Today was the day to give it a try. I searched some recipes online. Some I looked at said you should knead by hand for 8-10 minutes and didn't recommend using a stand mixer. I wanted a recipe that would allow me to let the stand mixer do the work. Why else would I have a stand mixer with a dough hook after all? I settled on this one from selfproclaimedfoodie.com.
I made up a sauce to put on it that was light and wouldn't overpower the noodles, since I was new to this whole noodle making thing. I've added it below the pasta recipe.
Conclusion: this will not be the only time I make pasta. It was a very good decision.
Pasta
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (192 grams)
1 1/2 c. semolina flour (270 grams)
4 eggs, room temperature and slightly beaten
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. water
1 t. salt
Throw everything in the stand mixer and knead on medium speed with the dough hook for 8-10 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle in a bit of semolina flour. If it is too dry, sprinkle in water until it is right. You want to knead it until it is elastic-like and forms a smooth ball. Test the dough by pressing your knuckle in the dough. if it starts to bounce back, it's ready.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
Attach the roller to your stand mixer.
Cut the dough into quarters and press each down to prep it for the roller. Flour it a bit so it doesn't stick in the roller and press it down and feed it through at the thickest setting. Fold the long sheet in thirds and feed it through again. Then, change the thickness to the next level down and send it through. Repeat until you get to to 4 or 5. (My roller started with 8 as a thickness and I stopped at 5, but think I'll try 4 next time)
Do this for each ball of dough.
Switch to the fettucine cutter or spaghetti cutter and run each pasta sheet through to cut. Dredge in flour to keep it from sticking together (it will float off when cooking).
Either set the pasta on a cookie sheet until ready to cook or hang it on a drying rack.
To cook, bring a large pot with salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until tender (3-5 minutes). If you are doing lasagna noodles, you don't need to cook the noodles first.
Drain the noodles and toss with the sauce.
Sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. olive oil
3-4 T. butter
Juice of 1 lemon
1-2 t. lemon zest
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
salt and freshly grated pepper
Freshly grated parmesan for garnish
Heat a bit of the oil in a small sauce pan and add the garlic. Saute for 30 seconds or so. Add the rest of the olive oil and butter, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and cook until butter is melted. Add the parsley, lemon zest.
Toss with the pasta and fresh parm. Garnish with more parm, chopped parsley and cracked pepper.
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c = cup
T = tablespoon
t = teaspoon
