Home-Made Noodles

Making your own noodles at home is easy. It just takes a little time, but your efforts are so worth it.  These taste so much better than the ones you buy at the store.  You can roll the noodles out by hand with a rolling pin, or you can use a pasta maker machine.  

Ingredients

3 eggs
3 tablespoons milk or water

1 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups flour - approximately
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the milk and olive oil.  Beat until the mixture is thoroughly combined. 

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder onto a large cutting board. You can also use the top of your clean counter. With your hands, form a well in the center of the flour. It needs to be big enough so when you add the liquids in the center, it does not run over the top of the flour.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the well. Using your fingers or a fork, pull in some of the flour from the inside of the well and mix it with the liquid. You want to keep the outside of the flour ring intact until the egg mixture is thickened so it won't run away   Continue mixing in the flour until you have a stiff dough. It is important to dust your hands and work surface with flour to keep the dough from sticking.   

Tips:  The humidity in the air when you are making noodles can cause the dough to be too wet, or too dry.  If the dough is too sticky, knead in more flour. Sometimes the dough becomes too dry to knead properly.  When this happens, add water in 1-teaspoon increments until the dough holds together.

Continue to knead the dough for approximately 6 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Sprinkle the work surface with flour to keep the dough from sticking as you work. Don’t add too much flour that the dough is dry. You want it to be slightly sticky. How do you know when it has enough flour? By touching the dough with your fingers. You’ll want the dough to stick to your fingers, but release cleanly away when you pull away. 

If possible, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes. This relaxes the dough, making it easier to roll out.

Set up your pasta machine according to manufacture's directions.

Remove the plastic wrap and cut the dough in half. Place one of the doughs back in the plastic wrap while you roll out the other one.  

 

If rolling the dough out by hand. Lightly flour the surface you will be rolling the dough out on. Roll the dough into a narrow rectangle using a floured rolling pin. Place the dough into the pasta machine and run it through the rollers. Repeat this for five or six times at the lowest setting. 

Change the setting one number thinner. Run the dough through the pasta machine, one time. If the dough begins to stick in the machine, dust both sides of the dough with flour. Each time you put the dough through the rollers, change the setting to the next thinner number.  Continue doing this until you have the pasta dough as thin as you need for your recipe. 

Now it is time to put the dough through the cutting blades on your pasta machine.

Lay the cut pasta on a lightly floured pan or countertop. At this time, you can cook the noodles by dropping them into boiling salted water and cooking for about 20 minutes. Or you can leave the pasta out until thoroughly dry.  After the noodles are dry, place them in a plastic bag or large jar.  Seal tightly.