Homemade Semolina Pasta

As I mentioned before, I love to use my bread machine for cutting time on preparing doughs from scratch. My bread machine has a pasta dough kneading function and I used it for the first time today to make some Semolina pasta. It only takes 14 minutes for my bread machine to mix the dough and then it needs to rest for a half hour (44 minutes that you don't even have to touch the dough. So, in this time you can make a sauce, watch an episode of your favorite show, or catch up on facebook.) In 5 minutes, I can roll and cut it with my pasta machine. Home made fresh pasta cooks in under two minutes so really making pasta from scratch isn't that much more time consuming than cooking commercial pasta, and I promise you, the work put into this is worth it! The taste of fresh pasta is not replicable! Note: You don't need to have a pasta roller/cutter rolling and cutting by hand can be done. Though it will take longer.

Semolina Pasta

(From The bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger)

7/8 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups unbleached all purpose or bread flour

1 cup semolina pasta flour

1 teaspoon salt

Place all the ingredients in the bread pan according to the order in the manufacturer's instructions (I just put them in according to whatever mood I am in. I am not sure it makes a difference maybe it does... but I couldn't tell you) Program for the Dough or the Pasta Dough Cycle; Press Start. Set a kitchen timer for 7 minutes. When the timer rings, check the dough ball that has collected on the blade. It should be firm but pliable. If it is too dry, add a couple drops of water while the machine is kneading. if it is too moist, sprinkle in some all -purpose flour, a teaspoon at a time. Reset the time for 3 more minutes. When the timer rings, press stop to cancel the cycle. (I have actually just left it to go the full 14 minutes and haven't had any problems). Remove the dough from the machine, wrap in plastic wrap, and let sit for 30 minutes.

Click here to watch how to roll pasta by machine This guy uses a mixer attatchment roller, I have a hand crank. To roll by hand, you need a lightly floured surface and rolling pin. Basically you mimic the steps as done with a machine but with your rolling pin. Roll out to the desired thickness... Here is an interesting site that shows how to cut various pasta shapes by hand.

You can use homemade pasta in place of commercial pasta in any recipe.