Friday was World Pasta Day, an event that provided inspiration for some homemade pasta. Although I own a pasta machine, it’s heavy and clunky and I haven’t dug it out of the cupboard in ages. But homemade pasta is soooo much better than the dried kind, or even the fresh pasta at the grocery store, that I decided to persevere and make some just so I could share it with you! It’s so easy – guess I had forgotten that. No pasta machine used here, not even a pasta roller machine, just a bowl, a spoon, and a rolling pin – ok, I cheated a little and used my stand mixer.

Recipe:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup semolina flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs (I used a combination of fresh chives and mint from my herb garden.)

Mix: Stir flour together to mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Knead for about 5 minutes or until pasta dough is smooth. Form into a ball, place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour.

Cut: Divide dough in half and roll out each half to desired thickness. Dust dough with additional semolina flour to prevent sticking, and cut into desired shape. I used a pizza cutter to cut about 1/2 inch ribbons. The dough can be any thickness and any width. The important thing is consistency, make sure that each half is equal in thickness and that your shapes are basically equal.

Cook: Cook pasta in boiling water until pasta is al dente. This process will take anywhere from 2 – 7 minutes, according to pasta thickness. Or, cover with a clean towel for up to a few hours before cooking. Pasta may also be dried for later use by hanging ribbons over a clean dowel.

Serve: Toss freshly cooked pasta with desired sauce and serve! Makes about 4 hearty servings.

Note: This particular recipe goes well with almost any delicate sauce; marinara, oil – based, or even a light cream sauce. I used a Greek theme. Find my recipe for Herb Pasta with Myzithra Cheese here.