Is anybody else making their own pasta?

I don’t recall seeing any discussion about this, and was wondering if anyone else likes to make home made pasta as much as we do.

It it very tasty, especially when made with eggs from one’s own backyard, and flour that was freshly milled.

Most if the time we use chicken eggs, but use duck or geese eggs when we have them.

I do make my own pasta from time to time, but being diabetic, it isn't the best for me. Some of my favorite ways to eat homemade pasta are noodles in homemade chicken noodle soup and tagliatelle with bolognese sauce.

I've made pasta with both a classic hand-cranked roller set-up and a Philips extruder.  The Philips (which I got second-hand) is easy and quick, and quite versatile with different dies for a variety of shapes, but is a bit of work to clean after use.  They are apparently quite popular in Asia.  I'm looking forward to incorporating vegetable purees into my mixes for taste and color and also would be glad to hear about things folks have tried.

Pasta made with duck eggs sounds great!

Not familiar with Phillips extruder. Judging by the name, you can make different shapes of pasta with it? I’m gonna have to look it up.

I have not made pastas with anything else besides classic flour and eggs. I’m pretty boring that way.

Maybe one of these days I’ll try it with some nettles, like instead of spinach.

I have an Imperia Model 150 for making pasta. My youngest (3 years) loves turning the handle although it really slows the process down!

I'm hoping this year to start drying big batches of pasta for quick dinners.

Enjoying this thread!

I'd like to try making noodles with buckwheat this summer, which I've heard is very popular in Japan.

I've never done anything like this before though, so it should be interesting!

I don't have a machine anymore but still make fresh noodles. Dough is rolled out & then sliced into long strips with a knife. They are slightly thicker & wider than machine made. They do dehydrate & store fairly well but I prefer them fresh.

Going to try buckwheat noodles this year. That sounds excellent. It makes great bread & pancakes.

I thought this video was mesmerizing!

300 years of Noodlemaking Tradition

Phil Gardener wrote:I thought this video was mesmerizing!

300 years of Noodlemaking Tradition

Hmm, mesmerizing indeed.

Things I loved in the little video is how you don’t see plastic or latex gloves on their hands, and all their tools are wooded and it seems there is no waste from the process. And the noodles getting dried outside, in the air!

Very cool, thanks for posting that.

I love making pasta. No machine though. Then i discovered how fast and easy it is to make gnocci, so I've been doing that since. I'll add my overcooked veggies and herbs from the soup base and anything else laying around, puree it and add to the mix.

Phil Gardener wrote:I thought this video was mesmerizing!

300 years of Noodlemaking Tradition

Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to make noodles like that!

I got a hand-crank a couple of years ago but before that I rolled them out and cut them with a pizza cutter.  Grandkids loved to help with that!

Yes, when I want my two young kids to help. They’re 9 and 11. Make the dough, roll it through the machine to get it down to thin, cut it and dry it. Homemade sauce, fresh pasta.

The important lesson here is about confidence. I reckon if you took some zero level home cooks and took them into pasta making, they could handle it. In that very moment you get to see a spark, then the magic happens. The same is true of bread making, sausage making and if you have the patience, brewing and cheesemaking.

I have made it, generally if I want to make tortellini or ravioli, But all the recipes I had read needed semolina and I can't get that here, looking again now I can see that one can just use normal flour. I don't have any form of roller so it was all rolled by hand, which means that when we used to have a ton of eggs left over I would make spatzel instead as it doesn't require any rolling!

I sometimes make pasta with the kids. It's a bit of an operation to herd a bunch of under-5's, but so rewarding, and everyone I know likes pasta. It's a great tactile experience and training in patience for those homeschoolers who feel like they need a lesson or two for the downtime in summer. (wink!) I don't have rollers or extruders, I just roll out by hand with a pastry rolling pin and cut into strips.

I use fresh chicken eggs 95% of the time, but my neighbor lady sometimes drops off eggs from her ducks, and those usually end up in pasta. I really should take her a bundle of freshly made tagliatelle or something, but she's the pickiest eater I've ever met, and I thought I've seen them all! The ratio I usually use is 1 part semolina to 3 parts all-purpose flour by weight. (Edited to add that I forgot the amounts for the base recipe! 150g all-purpose flour, 50g semolina). Two large eggs (my Buckeyes make sort of smallish medium eggs, so I sometimes use two plus one yolk), and usually a little itty bit of olive oil.

I also tend to make gnocchi from potatoes or yams in batches, and freeze them for later, because they're easy, and quick, even out of the freezer (wonderful with pan-roasted winter squash and a little pat of butter). Gnocchi is a kind of a gateway drug into the world of homemade pasta, because although they might not be the prettiest you've ever seen on the first try, they're nearly impossible to mess up.

Penny Oakenleaf wrote:

I also tend to make gnocchi from potatoes or yams in batches, and freeze them for later, because they're easy, and quick, even out of the freezer (wonderful with pan-roasted winter squash and a little pat of butter). Gnocchi is a kind of a gateway drug into the world of homemade pasta, because although they might not be the prettiest you've ever seen on the first try, they're nearly impossible to mess up.

Gnocchi is something I wanted to try to make for a loong time now. I sure like the idea of freezing them for later. Definitely gotta try it soon.

Stacy Witscher wrote:I do make my own pasta from time to time, but being diabetic, it isn't the best for me.

I am in exactly the same boat (except its the spouse who's avoiding the carbs).
We do more asian noodles, and when I can I sub out part of the white flour for buckwheat (soba) or even corn, recently I've been following recipes from chinese youtubers. (they also integrate pumpkin, cucumber, spinach, etc).

We love to make pasta too! It's DELISH! It's also the one thing both of our kids totally want to help with. Which means it takes 2x longer to make than anything else. lol

Penny Oakenleaf wrote:

I use fresh chicken eggs 95% of the time, but my neighbor lady sometimes drops off eggs from her ducks, and those usually end up in pasta. I really should take her a bundle of freshly made tagliatelle or something, but she's the pickiest eater I've ever met, and I thought I've seen them all! The ratio I usually use is 1 part semolina to 3 parts all-purpose flour by weight. (Edited to add that I forgot the amounts for the base recipe! 150g all-purpose flour, 50g semolina). Two large eggs (my Buckeyes make sort of smallish medium eggs, so I sometimes use two plus one yolk), and usually a little itty bit of olive oil.

I use a ratio of 1:1 for semolina and regular flour.

I haven't convinced my hubs to use duck eggs. He's leary of using them on something that takes so much effort to make. I'll point to this reply as proof duck eggs are great in pasta.

Things duck eggs aren't great in: Brownies (makes it the worst texture ever and anything that requires whipped egg whites. lol)

For those who want to be either egg-free or gluten-free...

Here is a simple way to make egg-free buckwheat soba, at home with no special tools.  I used to make these noodles and they are very tasty.

Simple Buckwheat Noodles at Home


Traditional soba noodles are 100% buckwheat.  I've done them that way, too, but it's a lot harder.  It is a sort of skill like making flour tortillas, except maybe trickier.  Here is a website that TELLS about making 100% buckwheat noodles, but gives a recipe for Ni-Hatchi soba noodles, which are made with about 80% buckwheat and 20% wheat flour.  That's what is most commonly found in stores.  It's way easier to make them this way because the dough holds together better than pure buckwheat.

Ni-Hatchi Soba (Buckwheat and wheat flour combo) noodles recipe and technique


Here is a different version that is both gluten and egg-free, and is strong enough to go through a pasta machine:

Gluten and egg-free buckwheat noodle recipe for pasta machines or hand-cutting


Hope that helps!  I had bad food intolerances some years ago, and only ate "alternative noodles" for awhile.  But all good now...  I also found it much less expensive to make my own organic noodles than to buy them, especially when I had special dietary needs.  

besides buckwheat, is anyone using anything else "interesting"?
I'm reading about chickpea pasta up north, it hasn't made it down here yet so I haven't tried. Is that workable? Or other bean flours?

I find bean pasta made from whole bean flour to be awful.  Better to just eat beans.  Otherwise, the Asian bean flour ones are made with bean "starch" - a refined product that isolates the starch over the hull and protein.

A friend of mine makes tapioca flour tortillas with just water and tapioca starch, and I bet that would translate into noodles...

Also worth trying with sweet potato starch. I ate a lot of those while I was food intolerant...

Liv Smith wrote:

Penny Oakenleaf wrote:

I also tend to make gnocchi from potatoes or yams in batches, and freeze them for later, because they're easy, and quick, even out of the freezer (wonderful with pan-roasted winter squash and a little pat of butter). Gnocchi is a kind of a gateway drug into the world of homemade pasta, because although they might not be the prettiest you've ever seen on the first try, they're nearly impossible to mess up.

Gnocchi is something I wanted to try to make for a loong time now. I sure like the idea of freezing them for later. Definitely gotta try it soon.

Making my own pasta is way further up the "fancy cooking" scale than I usually go, but I have been feeling a definite need to set aside a few hours and figure out how to make gnocchi for a little while now.  Reason being, having pre-made gnocchi that I can just cook up with some sauce and vegetables fits very well with my dietary and cooking habits and is quick, filling, and satisfying. But the commercial ones (shelf stable at room temp in plastic pouches, eww) are full of ugly preservatives I can't pronounce and the ones I really like (the ones made with whole wheat flour, potatoes, salt, and ugly preservatives) are ludicrously expensive -- close to three bucks for a twelve ounce package, which is a lot to pay for processed wheat and potatoes.  Both of which being ingredients I have on hand, in surplus, probably better quality than whatever they are using at the gnocchi factory.  

The truly weird thing?  The whole wheat ones and the "regular" white flour ones are the same brand, same packaging -- but I can routinely find the "regular" ones for a dollar a package on sale.  They are charging basically almost three times as much for not putting white flour in their gnocchi mixer.

I think it's because I was looking for the video I use for reference for my pasta recipe, that YouTube's algorithm spat out a video that just shows you how to make 29 handmade pasta shapes. Considering I don't own a pasta roller, it's definitely useful to me and my ilk. I think I'll want to play around with these next time I'm making pasta.

Hand rolled pasta shapes!

I can't  wait to have a kitchen so I can use my pasta machine.  Well done to so many of you having a go. These skills may become very necessary in the future. There are a couple of youtube channels featuring Italian Grannies making pasta. Worth checking out.
https://www.youtube.com/user/SuperWarp3
https://www.youtube.com/user/pastagrannies
When Antonio Carluchio was alive he was concerned that these skills would be gone with his generation. How great that someone is filming these lovely ladies for posterity!

Dan Boone wrote:

Liv Smith wrote:
Gnocchi is something I wanted to try to make for a loong time now. I sure like the idea of freezing them for later. Definitely gotta try it soon.

Making my own pasta is way further up the "fancy cooking" scale than I usually go, but I have been feeling a definite need to set aside a few hours and figure out how to make gnocchi for a little while now.  Reason being, having pre-made gnocchi that I can just cook up with some sauce and vegetables fits very well with my dietary and cooking habits and is quick, filling, and satisfying. But the commercial ones (shelf stable at room temp in plastic pouches, eww) are full of ugly preservatives I can't pronounce and the ones I really like (the ones made with whole wheat flour, potatoes, salt, and ugly preservatives) are ludicrously expensive -- close to three bucks for a twelve ounce package, which is a lot to pay for processed wheat and potatoes.  Both of which being ingredients I have on hand, in surplus, probably better quality than whatever they are using at the gnocchi factory.  

The truly weird thing?  The whole wheat ones and the "regular" white flour ones are the same brand, same packaging -- but I can routinely find the "regular" ones for a dollar a package on sale.  They are charging basically almost three times as much for not putting white flour in their gnocchi mixer.

I make gnocchi often and there really is nothing simpler! Take about 2lb of potatoes peel cook and mash add two eggs then add enough flour to make it into a dough that doesn't stick to everything, add any salt at this stage if you want. roll it out into sausages. now to make it easier I roll mine into fatter sausages than recipes say and then press it down so I have a squashed sausage, I then cut that into strips the perfect size I do not bother making little lines in them. The best thing is that this amount will make four portions and they freeze really well, lay them out on a chopping board in a single layer put in the freezer and transfer into bags when frozen.

Pasta is one of the ways I got my kid into chef'ing.  He loves to make noodles.
Over time I have found some inspirational videos, to keep us on our toes.
This one is fun:

Basil pasta for dinner tonight. Yum!

Love this thread!  We've made our own pasta for years, especially as we're gluten free and frugal and I find it's the best way to cook for a crowd and make it healthy and affordable.

Our most recent experiment was making ramp pasta with wild ramps.  My youngest daughter, Fiona, helped make it and had fun rolling and cutting it.  It was potent but delicious.  I have photos and the recipe in a slide show on our Instagram account here.  I imagine I'll put the recipe up on our family foraging/sustainable living blog when I get a free minute, too.  I had forgotten to do that.  :)

We made chocolate pasta last night. Kind of blah. The idea sounds so great but the taste was just, eh. Plus the dough is stickier so I have no idea how I will ever clean out my pasta roller. Don't do chocolate noodles ya'll!

As to the pic, chocolate noodles with homemade caramel sauce, pecans and peppermint leaves.

Yes from time to time.. I totally love home made pasta.. when the grand kids were little we made it daily.. but now its just us so we don't make it as often

elle sagenev wrote:We love to make pasta too! It's DELISH! It's also the one thing both of our kids totally want to help with. Which means it takes 2x longer to make than anything else. lol

I have 11 children, ages 27s, 24s, 22s, 20s, 18d, 16s, 13d, 10s, 8s, 5d, and 3d.  Trust me when I say, yes, it may take 2x longer now while they are learning, but when they get older, because they have been well trained and allowed to learn, you will get done with things 4 times faster.  Keep being an awesome mom and letting them learn how to do things! :)

On that note, I think I'll bust my KA and noodle attachment out tonight and make some yummy noodles. :)  (Editing to add a pic of the noodles that I made :) )

Finished product. :)

Making pasta is one of my favourite cooking pastimes.
I absolutely love making ravioli. Nettle and ricotta filling with a hint of cinnamon is to die for.

Also added a little picture of my make-shift pasta drying rack if you want to make extra long pasta!

You seemed to like my pasta pictures so here are some more to give you inspiration:
- chestnut flour tagliatelle with baked cantharel mushrooms. The subtle sweetness of the chestnut pairs wonderfully with the mushrooms, making it an exquisite fall dish.
- nettle pasta (eat it with a simple Parmesan butter sauce and lemon zest!)
- mezzelune (half moons) with poppy seed and red beet filling
- hand shaped tortellini with pumpkin and amarettini (almond based biscuits)

Well the last post here was 10 months ago. Guess I'm late to the party. But just saw the thread, so... I just (finally) started making my own pasta. Kinda struggled with the ravioli, making it all by hand, no machines or special forms / cutters. They definitely weren't pretty but sure were tasty! Family bought me a crank type machine for Xmas. New Year's Day ravioli were must nicer looking 😉

We have chickens so always plenty of fresh eggs. And I'm just using regular flour. But interested in trying out the recipes in this thread! 😁

And here's me on my first try, last Thanksgiving. Took me ALL day!

I love pasta but the wife is gluten intolerant so I make a lentil/chickpea pasta. This gf pasta holds up well and has a nice texture unlike some. Gnocchi with potatoes and almond flour is pretty good too.

I love homemade pasta, but with a bad shoulder it's hard to make it.

At one point I had a machine that was supposed to knead the dough in one compartment, and extrude the noodles through another. The dough always gummed up in the extruder plate, but looking at some of those videos I think maybe the dough was too moist. If I ever find my machine again, I'll have to test that.