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| My homemade pasta on a pasta drying rack |
Every two weeks or so I sit and brainstorm a bunch of menu ideas. I keep this list in the kitchen where I can glance at it daily to get an idea of what I feel like making for dinner. This week's list included "homemade pasta". Homemade noodles and dumplings are something I grew up with a child - with lots of butter, salt and pepper. To this day, this is my favorite way to eat homemade pasta of any sort, although I do sometimes add a bit of garlic. It's a comfort food for chilly days... which is probably why I've been craving it!
I posted this one in March of 2008 with photos - but am re-posting it so I can set my laptop up on the kitchen counter and make it again today or tomorrow (depending on how crazy my afternoon gets). If you are interested, you should try it too!
Homemade Spinach Pasta
Homemade Butternut Squash Pasta or Pumpkin Pasta
1 egg
1/2 t olive oil
4-5 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and briefly cooked
or 1/2 - 3/4 c butternut squash puree or pumpkin puree - already baked and scraped from the shell or canned pumpkin (pure pumpkin only!)
Place into the bowl of a food processor and whirl until smooth.
Add 1 1/2 c flour
1/2 t salt
Process just until it gathers to a ball. Let set 10 minutes before working with it.
Roll it out very thin on a lightly floured surface, or if you have an Italian pasta machine, roll it out in portions starting at 1 and thinning it down to a 3 or 4. If you have rolled it thin by hand, now use a pizza cutter to slice it into 1/2 inch strips, or even 1 inch if you like your noodles wide. With the pasta machine, make it into noodles if you have the attachment or lay it out and use the pizza cutter as well. This pasta is also perfect for making homemade ravioli with if you cut it into squares, fill and seal instead of slicing into pasta strips. Use right away by dropping in boiling water and boiling for about 8 minutes. Toss with butter, salt and pepper or your favorite sauce or use in a chicken noodle soup! If you want to let them dry, just let them dry on the counter overnight, flipping the next morning and continuing to dry or if you have a pasta drying rack, let hang over night or to the next day until dried. Store in a sealed ziplock in the freezer until use.
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| Stop processing when it forms a ball |
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| Roll thin with a pasta machine or with a rolling pin |
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| Butternut Squash pasta, Spinach Pasta and a blended squash/spinach pasta dough |
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| In order from the left; Squash/Spinach Pasta, Spinach Pasta and Butternut Squash Pasta If you enjoy visiting An American Housewife, please consider using this affiliate link if you are planning to shop for anything (seriously, anything!) at Amazon. - An American Housewife at Amazon    |
