Pasta Party!

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Hey there! Abbie here, G&G's marketing manager. One of my favorite ways to enjoy the weekend is to cook meals with friends and family, and my absolute favorite is hosting what I like to call a pasta party! There's nothing quite like drinking wine and making handmade pasta from scratch together–and it's way easier than you'd think! No pasta machine? No problem. You can have a pasta party at home without one–it's as simple as rolling out your dough with a rolling pin and cutting it into strips. Here's how I do it!

It's crucial to start with good-quality ingredients. There's not many ingredients involved in fresh pasta, so you'll taste the quality you put into it. You'll need:

2 cups Dayspring Farms AP Flour
3 local farm eggs
1 tsp Bulls Bay sea salt
1 Tbsp GA Olive Farms olive oil

You can start out on a countertop surface if you're brave, or you can begin in a bowl in case big messes happen–I switch between the two, depending on how adventurous I'm feeling that day.

Arrange the flour into a mound if on the counter, or simply place into your bowl. Create a large divot in the center and crack the eggs into it.

Add olive oil & salt to eggs, then, using a fork, whisk the eggs vigorously, containing them in the divot as best you can. Incorporate the surrounding flour a little bit at a time, then start using your hands to fold the dough. If your dough is dry, add water 1 tsp at a time. Knead until fully combined. (If I'm using a bowl, I like to move the dough to the countertop at this point.)

Once your dough is consistent, wrap it in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

This is when I usually start working on my sauce. One of my favorites is Bon Appetit's very easy vodka sauce recipe (linked here), and during the summer I really like the fresh red sauce recipe that our friends at Pasta Mami shared with us a while back (linked here).

When you're ready, remove dough from the fridge and from plastic wrap. Flatten into a disc with your hands, then, on a floured surface, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough further. Roll out until your dough is thin and even, about 1/16 of an inch thick. You may need to sprinkle flour on your dough from time to time as you're rolling it out if it feels sticky.

Here's the fun part! Using a sharp knife, cut dough into even strips to make pasta. Try something thin like linguine, or something thick like pappardelle, as I did here. Get creative!

Once cut, lightly dust with flour and hang to dry. I've used the backs of wooden chairs, dish-drying racks... anything will do as a drying surface! Boil fresh pasta 2–3 minutes in salty water.

Any pasta that you don't cook that day should be rolled into nests with extra flour and stored in a sealed bag or container in the fridge or freezer. It will last about 2 days in the fridge and 6 weeks in the freezer. Happy pasta-making!