Making your own pasta may seem like one job too many – particularly if you don’t have a pasta maker – but there ARE a couple of good reasons for doing it!
- You may just get a kick out of discovering that you can produce in your kitchen just about ANYTHING you’ve hitherto bought at the store – and usually at a fraction of the price.
- Whole wheat pasta may be something that’s difficult for you to get hold of locally.
The latter reason might seem a bit unlikely, but there ARE parts of the world (such as our little corner of it) where it can still be hard to get what seem to be the most basic items!
Case in point – this week we’ve seem some high winds and the delivery boat didn’t make it to our islands – hence, not only no whole wheat pasta in the store, but no bread or milk either (time to invest in a cow, perhaps!).
So, whatever your reason, if you’d like to try your hand at making whole wheat pasta – WITHOUT the aid of a pasta machine – here’s how to do it.
For Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta You Will Need…
4 oz (1 cup) whole wheat flour
1 egg
1 tsp olive oil
seasoning*
water (as needed)
*Homemade pasta dough usually contains some salt – it’s terribly bland otherwise. But to avoid using it in pasta for your baby, try replacing it with a herb – we like to use a good pinch of dried oregano, which has its own kind of ‘saltiness’ and works perfectly.
Uncooked pasta
Lightly beat the egg with the oil.
Put the flour in a bowl and mix with the oregano.
Make a ‘well’ in the middle and add the egg/olive oil mixture.
Combine the ingredients with a wooden spoon.
Add water – 1 tablespoon at a time – until the mixture comes together as a dough, but is not sticky enough to stick to your hand (we used 2 tbsp in this recipe). We dispense with the wooden spoon at this point and bring the dough together with our hands.
Turn the dough on to a floured surface, sprinkle with flour and roll out into a rectangular shape (you can re-form the rectangle with your hands).
Roll as thinly as possible, then – when it seems you can’t roll it any more – allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes. (Yes, this recipe involves a bit of stopping and starting… but with 5 kids, most of our recipes tend to do that!).
Roll again – until as thin as possible – than leave to rest for another 15 minutes. This rolling/resting procedure allows you to get the dough as thin as you need.
Next, sprinkle the dough lightly with flour and roll it into a tube (as shown). Cut off the ragged ends.
Now comes the fun part! Take a VERY sharp knife and cut crosswise, all along the tube, as thinly as possible. These are your individual noodles, which you can then unroll.
And that’s it… your noodles are ready!
Just cook them in boiling water for about 5 mins, until they rise to the surface of the water (that’s the indication that they’re done).
If you want to save some to cook later, toss with a little flour to keep the strands separate. This recipe makes enough noodles from mom, dad and baby to share!
Making your own pasta for baby – tips for success
- Be sure to sprinkle the dough with flour before rolling it into a tube, or the layers will stick together and the nodles will be impossible to unroll.
- A sharp knife is ESSENTIAL. If you have to press hard on the rolled ‘tube’ to cut it, then – again – the layers will stick together.
- Make your noodles extra nutritious by adding cooked, well drained vegetables, either VERY finely chopped or pureed. Incorporate them into the dough BEFORE adding water, as the moisture content of the veggies often eliminates the need for much extra water.
If your baby is allergic to eggs, then you may like to try this Homemade Egg Free Pasta made with Butternut Squash