Making Fresh Pasta: Spicy Tagliatelle with Thyme

I am new to this whole homemade pasta thing. My sweet husband gave me the kitchen aid pasta maker attachments for Christmas. What I've learned? Making homemade pasta takes time and practice. It is most definitely a labor of love. Thus I consider homemade pasta a weekend or special occasion meal.

The first time I tried to make to make homemade pasta it went horribly wrong. First of all, I was cooking for friends. It was Sunday brunch after church (a little tradition we've started in the Guillory house). And we were all starving. The recipe said it would take 40 minutes. And I believed it. Whoops! Oh, and did I mention I decided to make spinach pasta on my first try? Yeah. Because I am me. The pasta was the wrong consistency (which I only know in hindsight). It stuck in the pasta rollers, clumped together, and ended up very thick & chewy. Mmmmm.

At this point I was thinking homemade pasta was totally not worth the effort. Until my sweet husband made a sad face, and I gave it a second try. And it was so much better. Since then I have made this recipe a couple of times, and filled pasta once. It's a really fun project, but still one that takes time. And while the pasta roller is definitely a handy accessory, it's totally possible to make without one (come on Emily...you know you want to give it a try!)

This recipe of spicy tagliatelle goes very well with the creamy eggplant sauce, but the pasta recipe can be adapted very simply by switching out the chilies & thyme for your favorite herb/seasoning, or can be topped with pretty much any type of pasta sauce. The possibilities are endless! 

Spicy Tagliatelle

 

Ingredients

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 2 dried chilies, crumbled
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme

Making the Pasta Dough

• Whisk eggs, chilies & thyme in a small bowl.  
• Sift flour into a medium bowl & make a well in the middle. 
  
  
  

• Pour egg mixture into flour. 
• Use a fork to gradually incorporate egg into flour to make a crumbly dough. (I have tried skipping this step...I do not recommend this ;) It will look something like this...

• Knead the dough for a few minutes . It will be a very thick dough, and should not be sticky!  
• Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes or store it in the fridge (wrapped in plastic wrap) until you are ready to roll it out.

Rolling the Pasta Dough

(This is where a pasta roller comes in handy!)

If using a pasta machine:

• Cut the ball of dough into about 6 smaller pieces. 
• Taking one piece at a time, brush the dough with flour.
•  Roll each piece of dough through on widest setting. Fold in half. Run through a second time. Brush with flour & set aside until you've completed rolling all six.
• Switch to next narrower setting - run dough through 1 sheet at a time. Brush with Flour. At this point the pieces maybe getting quite long. If so, you may want to cut each in half.
• Repeat making sheets of dough thinner until you reach the desired thickness. (I rolled through 3 settings.)

OR

If rolling by hand:

• Cut the ball of dough into several smaller pieces. 
• On a floured surface, roll out each piece of dough to desired thickness, brushing with flour along the way.

*Tip: Keep dough generously floured throughout the rolling & cutting process. This keeps the sheets of pasta from sticking to one another.

Allow sheets of pasta to rest for about 15 minutes before cutting.

Cutting the Pasta Dough

This particulate recipe calls for the pasta to be cut as tagliatelle - but feel free together creative with your pasta shapes!

If using a pasta machine:

• Switch to the desired cutting roller.
• Be sure that pasta sheets are floured & not sticking together. 
• Run pasta sheets through cutter one at a time.
• As pasta is extruded, gather noodles gently in your hand. 
• Place pasta on cookie sheet, separating strands as you go.

If cutting by hand:

• On a floured surface, place a sheet of pasta dough.
• Cut using a sharp knife into desired shape.

Cooking Fresh Pasta

Fresh pasta cooks very quickly. Be sure not to overcook or it will get chewy!

• Boil in a large pot of boiling water for 3-4 minutes.
• Drain. 
• Top with Creamy Eggplant Sauce or other pasta sauce as desired.
• Serve & enjoy!

 

Storing Fresh Pasta

Unless you're cooking for a crowd, this recipe will make enough pasta for at least 2 meals. It says it serves 4, but in my experience it is 4 large very filling servings. I like to freeze half of the pasta and half of the sauce for a quick & easy weeknight meal. 

• Gather strands of pasta into several small "nests" and place on a cookie sheet.
• Cover & place in freezer.
• In about an hour, remove from freezer, place pasta nests in a ziplock baggie, and toss back into the freezer. 
• When you are ready to cook your frozen pasta, boil in salted water for 4 minutes.  

Enjoy!