Whole Wheat Pasta

At first, one might ask why would anyone bother to make their own pasta.  After all, it's easy to find 100% whole wheat decently tasting pasta in any grocery store.  However, once you make and eat your own pasta just once, you'll see what's so great about it.  Traditional pasta making requires carefully crafted flour wells, quite a few eggs, and special pasta rollers.  Here we are presenting a method that is far simpler and produces great results.  From this recipe, we've made fettucini, linguini, and ravioli.  The heartiness of the whole wheat gives a wonderful nutty flavor that stands up well to many sauces.  So far we've tried pesto, brown butter and sage, tomato, butternut squash, goat cheese, and beets (recipes to come).  

This dough freezes very well, either as a ball or in cut form, so make extra to store away for a busy evening.  We hope that you will try this delicious and easy recipe and learn to love making and enjoying fresh, homemade pasta just like we have.




Whole Wheat Pasta
3 cups whole wheat flour (white whole wheat or regular)
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup water

Combine flour and 1/2 of water in food processor and pulse until dough ball starts to form.  Slowly add more water until a cohesive ball forms that is moist but not sticky.  Turn onto floured surface and kneed for 10 minutes.  Add a little more flour or water if necessary to keep consistency.  Cover and let rest for 30 minutes in refrigerator.  Roll dough (either using rolling pin or pasta roller) to 1/16 - 1/8 inch thick (it is a tough dough so be patient rolling it out).  Cut into desired shape (if you have a cheap pasta cutter it will make this part much easier).  Place is boiling water for 2-4 minutes until pasta begins to float and desired doneness is reached.  Strain and toss with sauce.  Makes 4-5 servings.