Ben's Kitchen Cameo

I have an amazing husband.

No really, I do.

I know everyone says that, but my husband truly is amazing.

I'll spare you all the mushy details about why I love him so, save for this one fact and the reason for this glorious post: he makes homemade pasta!!!

Have you ever had homemade pasta?

If you haven't, pleasepleasePALEASE do yourself a favor and make some right this very second. It will change your life I promise you.

Unless you don't like pasta which means we can no longer be friends.

But I know you love pasta just like me so let's carry on.

Making pasta is simple enough really. The basic recipe involves two ingredients: flour and eggs.

If you have a pasta maker you can make all sorts of varieties from angel hair to fettucini.

If you don't have a pasta maker, you can simply use a knife to cut slivers of dough into whatever size you desire. All the more homemade.

But as I already explained, my husband is amazing and he used a pasta maker.

Here is how it all went down.

Oh! And I should tell you, he made this pasta while I was out getting my hair done. Bonus! Which also means that he took all of his own pictures. See? Amazing.

Grab the only two ingredients you need: 3½ cups of all purpose flour and 4 extra large eggs.

Now, we have butcher block counter tops and tend to work directly on them most of the time whether we are cutting or kneading dough so Ben did just that and made the dough right on the counter top. You can use your best judgement here. If you don't feel comfortable making the dough directly on your counter, grab a cutting board and use that as your work surface.

At any rate, mound the flour up on your work surface and use your fingers to gently make a well in the center of the mound. Be careful to make sure there are no gaps in the walls of your well and that the flour is still covering the bottom of the well. If you don't, you will have a sorry, sticky mess on your hands.

Crack the eggs into the well.

Now grab a fork and start gently beating the eggs, gradually pulling in a bit of flour from the sides. Again, be careful not to break your well walls.

Keep going until your dough starts to come together.

Now ditch the fork and gather though dough pieces that have started to come together with your hands.

Knead to combine for about 3 minutes. If your dough is too sticky, add more flour a little bit at a time. Once you've got a not-too-sticky-to-handle ball of dough, continue to knead it for a few more minutes until it is smooth.

Now transfer your dough to a bag or wrap in plastic wrap and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes.

After your dough's power nap is over, grab a rolling pin. Cut your dough into smaller portions, four would probably be good and begin to roll out into thinner sheets.

At this point, if you are using a pasta maker, you will continue to roll out your dough to the desired thickness for the type of pasta you are making using the pasta rollers.

And finally, attach the pasta cutter and feed your dough sheets as needed.

Ben made angel hair and spaghetti.

Fabulous!

Once you've got all of your pasta cut, it's time to cook it!

Homemade pasta is cooked the same way as the boxed kind, that is, in salted, boiling water. However, since it is fresh and not dried, it cooks in about 3 to 5 minutes depending on the size. But as with all pasta, DO NOT OVER COOK IT! There is nothing worse than overcooked, flabby pasta. Alright, well there probably is but I don't want to experience it.

Toss the cooked pasta with your favorite sauce and serve.

With a big glass of red wine!

Ben chose to toss the angel hair with my homemade pesto.

Man, I love this guy.

And the spaghetti with a simple red sauce.

Did I mention how amazing he is???

Here's a tip for all men everywhere. Cook for your woman. It doesn't have to be homemade pasta and it certainly doesn't have to be complicated but you will be a hero every time. 

Enjoy!