I have just recently discovered the joy of making my own pasta. It stems from the desire to eat healthier but I’m finding that it’s just plain fun. The dough is easy to make and after it’s made, you have an edible craft project just waiting to be made. I’m including a recipe for eggless pasta, just incase you don’t want your children handling raw egg or if you, like me, have a child with an egg sensitivity. You are more than welcome to use an egg pasta recipe if that works better for you.

Materials:
fresh pasta dough (recipe below)
plastic bag or plastic wrap
flour for dusting
rolling pin
items to cut the dough (small cookie cutters, sharp paring knife, cutting wheel… whatever you trust your children with)
water for boiling

So the basics are that you separate your dough into about 1/4c size pieces. Place whatever unused pieces you have into a plastic bag or plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.

dust everything lightly with flour and roll out the dough so it’s nice and thin. Flip it and dust again at least once while rolling to be sure that the dough won’t stick to the surface. The Oldest was able to roll her own dough. The Boy was not.

After it’s rolled nice and thin and you are sure that it is not stuck anywhere to the cutting board, allow your kids to cut up their own shapes out of the dough. I gave each child one 1/4c ball to work with and they both made free form designs. The Boy made standard shapes and the Oldest made more advanced objects (like a dog head). Once the kids got done cutting out their shapes, I cut the remaining dough into strips that resembled fettuccini but they were much shorter.

Boil the pasta (being sure that you boil each child’s separately so they can enjoy their own creation). When it floats to the top, boil for another min and then remove from the water. Show the kids what they made and then use your favorite pasta sauce, serve and enjoy.

**these were made by rolling pieces of dough into balls and then pressing them flat with my fingers before boiling**

Eggless Pasta Dough
1c Unbleached white flour
1c Whole wheat flour
1tsp salt
2tbs butter or oil
1/2c plus 2tbs of water

Place the flours, salt and butter in a food processor and process till the butter is just blended. Alternately, to hand make this, mix the flours and salt and then add the oil in a well made in the flour and blend.

With the food processor on, drizzle the water down the shoot. If the dough does not form a ball, drizzle a little more down. Or, make a well in the flour and add the water. Then mix and fold till the dough comes together. The dough should be firm and very easy to handle but it shouldn’t be crumbly or fall apart. With both the food processed and hand processed dough, turn them onto a work surface and knead for a minute or so once the dough is formed.

And there you have it, dough ready to be molded.

1. Laura Says:
   July 20th, 2010 at 7:33 am

   I’ve made my own (grown-up) pasta before with an attachment that goes on the stand mixer. It’s a little complicated and takes a really long time – though it makes the most amazing pasta I’ve ever tasted in my life – and the dry pasta doesn’t last but two or three days. This is an incredible solution for making it with your children (or even just with the grown-ups). And what a great way to get picky eaters to chow down! Little hands that help make their food are attached to little bodies much more inclined to eat stuff they’ve had a hand in making than whatever mom puts on the plate. Thanks for the amazing post!!

   ** http://www.blingoftheday.blogspot.com **