Week 23: Homemade Pasta

Well, last week you were introduced to my Italian Grandmother’s pasta sauce, so I decided I would try and make some homemade pasta. When I looked it up, there are only 3 ingredients! What?! I am always amazed at what you can make with eggs and flour. Millions of baked goods I think. I got a few attachments to my Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas a few years ago and have not really used them yet. So I decided to break out the pasta maker attachments and give it a go. I was a little afraid it would be a bit of clean up, but actually, it was really simple and surprisingly easy to clean up. Have fun with it! Make all kinds of shapes. I need to experiment a little more, but definitely worth just a little effort.

Homemade Egg Noodle Pasta

• 3 large eggs


• 2 tablespoons water


• 2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Special ingredients: Kitchen Aid Mixer and pasta maker attachment

Step 1: Break and beat eggs in a 2-cup measuring cup. Add water. Fill with extra water until the liquid amount is at 3/4 cup mark.

Step 2: Sift flour and add to Kitchen Aid bowl and attached flat beater.

Step 3: Turn to Speed 2 and gradually add egg/water mixture to the flour. Mix for 30 seconds.

Step 4: Stop mixer and switch to the dough hook and knead on Speed 2 for 2 minutes.

Step 5: Remove mixture from bowl. I needed to add a little more water since my flour is always dry. Hand knead for 30 seconds to 1 minute. I divided mine into two balls and just formed them so that they would stick together. Add a little water as needed. It should be a little sticky to the touch.

Step 6: Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

Step 7: Roll into small, walnut size balls.

Step 8: Assemble your pasta maker attachment to your Kitchen Aid mixer. Select the type of pasta you would like to make. I tried the thick spaghetti.

Step 9: Turn mixer to Speed 10 and slowly feed the dough into the hopper. You will need to add a few before it starts to come out of the pasta holes. When the pasta is the length you want, stop the mixer and cut with a knife.

Step 10: Lay pasta out on the counter or I put a little flour on a cookie sheet and just let them dry out a little while I was feeding the mixer with little pasta dough balls. Fun!

Step 11: Cook the pasta in 6 quarts of boiling water with a tablespoon of salt. I cooked my fresh pasta for about 5 minutes, I was not really sure when it was done, but fresh pasta does not need to cook for long.

Step 12: Enjoy with your favorite pasta sauce, like Grandma Jam’s.

Okay, I know this seems like a lot of steps, but I found that this was pretty easy to make! It is pretty hard to beat just 3 ingredients. If you don’t have a Kitchen Aid mix you could just combine and then roll out the dough and cut your pasta. Homemade pasta is really wonderful, easy and fast to make and just a little Italian hillbilly! Enjoy.

Yield: 1 pound of dough. About 184 calories per serving.

Recipe credit to: Kitchen Aid

Week 22: Grandma Jam’s Pasta Sauce

I have wanted to share my Italian Grandmother’s pasta sauce recipe for some time now, and I have been craving it lately so I think it’s time. Next week I plan to attempt some homemade pasta, which I have not really done before, so stay tuned, it should be interesting! Get ready for a little Italian cooking!

Well, a little history on my Grandma Jam. She was an Italian dynamo standing 4-foot, 11-inches tall! She always wore high heels, just to gain a few inches, wore beautiful jewelry to match every outfit, and had wonderful hip clothes. So cute! And she really loved to feed her family. Whenever we would visit her house, she always had steamed artichokes, roasted peppers, beets, and of course a big old pot of pasta sauce. There were always candy or treats hidden in the dinning room cabinet that we would always find and eat!. But, her pasta sauce is by far my favorite sauce I have ever had. I tend to like sweet flavors and Grandma’s sauce has a nice sweetness that makes pasta (rigatoni are my favorite) taste soooo good. This is certainly not a low-cal sauce with all the pepperoni, but boy is it tasty. Enjoy!

Grandma Jam’s Pasta Sauce

• 1 large can tomato sauce (use a good Italian brand of sauce, makes a difference!)


• 2 small cans tomato paste


• 1 small/medium onion (whole or cut in half)


• 1 garlic clove chopped


• 1 pepperoni stick (cut in 2" pieces) or just a bunch of sliced pieces


• 1 non-smoked ham hock (browned or meat with bone)


• 1 tomato sauce can filled with tomato juice or water


• 2 tomato paste cans filled with water


• 2 tsp kosher salt


• 1 tablespoon sugar


• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1 bay leaf


• 1 spring parsley fresh (dry = ½ tablespoon)


• 1 spring oregano fresh (dry = 1 teaspoon)


• 1 spring basil fresh (dry = 1 teaspoon)

Special ingredients: a big stock pot


Step 1: Mix all ingredients in a large stock pot or crock pot. I use the crock pot and just let it cook! For the stove top version, bring to a boil and simmer for 1 to 2 hours until thickened. For the crock pot, mix and put on low for 8 to 10 hours. Add additional spices to taste.

Step 2: Throw away onion, fresh herbs, bay leaf and I also throw away the sliced pepperoni pieces (they are pretty cooked out and tasteless)

Step 3: Serve with your favorite pasta.

Uh...that’s it! Yes, Grandma can cook! She used to add meatballs or browned ground beef it you want a meat sauce. This freezes really well and the sauce actually tastes better after it has been frozen since the flavors become enhanced. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Thanks Gram for being a little hillbilly!

Recipe credit to: Grandma Jam