| My children and I have recently discovered the | | | | One good way to dry the noodles is to set a |
| satisfaction of making noodles at home using our | | | | broomstick between two chair backs and hang |
| hand crank pasta maker. One child feeds the | | | | the noodles over the broomstick. Another simple |
| dough while another turns the crank, and then | | | | method is to lay them out on a counter, making |
| both work together to carry the four-foot | | | | sure the noodles don't touch each other too much |
| noodles to the counter to dry. Making noodles is | | | | or they'll stick together. Once they're dry, you can |
| just as much fun as eating them, even for adults. | | | | keep them in an airtight container at cool room |
| We use an Atlas pasta maker, but it is totally | | | | temperature for up to a week. If you plan to |
| possible, perhaps even preferable, to make | | | | store your noodles longer, it's best to put them in |
| noodles by hand. Hand rolled noodles will be a little | | | | the refrigerator or freezer. |
| thicker, but they are easy to make, and the | | | | If you're making noodles in a pasta maker like |
| result is deliciously chewy noodles. | | | | mine: |
| Our family prefers to use a mixture of half wheat | | | | Flatten the dough with your hands and lightly flour |
| flour and half unbleached, but feel free to adjust | | | | it on both sides. Set the machine to the widest |
| these proportions to your taste. | | | | (or first) setting and feed the dough through. The |
| First, mix the dough: | | | | dough often rips quite a bit the first time. Just |
| Ingredients | | | | patch it back together and put it through the first |
| 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour | | | | setting again. It's okay if it has a few holes and |
| 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour | | | | tears in it. Flour it on both sides again if it has |
| 1 teaspoon salt | | | | gotten a bit sticky, fold it, and put it through the |
| 1 cup eggs (about 4), lightly beaten | | | | first setting again. Repeat this step until you have |
| 1 tablespoon olive oil | | | | a nice smooth sheet of dough. |
| Combine the flours and salt in a mixing bowl. In a | | | | Next, set the pasta maker to the second setting; |
| separate bowl, mix the eggs and olive oil. Make a | | | | roll the dough through. It is important to flour both |
| well in the center of the flour mixture and add | | | | sides of the dough whenever necessary to keep |
| the egg mixture all at once. Stir in a little flour at a | | | | it from sticking to the rollers - they're tricky to |
| time to combine as much as you can, then knead | | | | clean. |
| the rest in with your hands - it should be a pretty | | | | Crank the dough through the third, fourth, and |
| stiff dough, but still soft enough to squeeze | | | | fifth settings. Using my machine, we like to stop |
| without straining. | | | | after the fifth setting. This is as thin as we like to |
| At this point, it's best to divide the dough ball into | | | | make our noodles. Keep narrowing the width |
| halves and work with one at a time. Place a damp | | | | between the rollers until the dough is as thin as |
| towel or an inverted bowl over the second half of | | | | you like it. |
| dough so that it doesn't dry out. | | | | Attach the hand crank to the noodle cutter, and |
| Making noodles without a pasta maker: | | | | pass the dough through. If you plan to dry your |
| Generously flour your counter top. | | | | noodles, it's easiest to make them long so they |
| Using a rolling pin, roll the noodle dough into as thin | | | | can hang over a broom handle. If you're going to |
| a rectangle as possible. Then, beginning from one | | | | use them right away, cut them about 10 inches |
| long end, roll the dough up like a jelly-roll. Carefully | | | | long. |
| cut the dough into 1/4 inch slices and unroll each | | | | Carefully place your noodles directly into boiling |
| noodle. You can toss them into a pot of boiling | | | | water or soup, stirring gently to keep them from |
| water or soup right away or dry them to use | | | | sticking together. |
| later. | | | | This recipe serves about 6 people. |