My children and I have recently discovered the satisfaction of making noodles at home using our hand crank pasta maker. One child feeds the dough while another turns the crank, and then both work together to carry the four-foot noodles to the counter to dry. Making noodles is just as much fun as eating them, even for adults.
We use an Atlas pasta maker, but it is totally possible, perhaps even preferable, to make noodles by hand. Hand rolled noodles will be a little thicker, but they are easy to make, and the result is deliciously chewy noodles.
Our family prefers to use a mixture of half wheat flour and half unbleached, but feel free to adjust these proportions to your taste.
First, mix the dough:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup eggs (about 4), lightly beaten
1 tablespoon olive oil
Combine the flours and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and olive oil. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg mixture all at once. Stir in a little flour at a time to combine as much as you can, then knead the rest in with your hands - it should be a pretty stiff dough, but still soft enough to squeeze without straining.
At this point, it's best to divide the dough ball into halves and work with one at a time. Place a damp towel or an inverted bowl over the second half of dough so that it doesn't dry out.
Making noodles without a pasta maker:
Generously flour your counter top.
Using a rolling pin, roll the noodle dough into as thin a rectangle as possible. Then, beginning from one long end, roll the dough up like a jelly-roll. Carefully cut the dough into 1/4 inch slices and unroll each noodle. You can toss them into a pot of boiling water or soup right away or dry them to use later.
One good way to dry the noodles is to set a broomstick between two chair backs and hang the noodles over the broomstick. Another simple method is to lay them out on a counter, making sure the noodles don't touch each other too much or they'll stick together. Once they're dry, you can keep them in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to a week. If you plan to store your noodles longer, it's best to put them in the refrigerator or freezer.
If you're making noodles in a pasta maker like mine:
Flatten the dough with your hands and lightly flour it on both sides. Set the machine to the widest (or first) setting and feed the dough through. The dough often rips quite a bit the first time. Just patch it back together and put it through the first setting again. It's okay if it has a few holes and tears in it. Flour it on both sides again if it has gotten a bit sticky, fold it, and put it through the first setting again. Repeat this step until you have a nice smooth sheet of dough.
Next, set the pasta maker to the second setting; roll the dough through. It is important to flour both sides of the dough whenever necessary to keep it from sticking to the rollers - they're tricky to clean.
Crank the dough through the third, fourth, and fifth settings. Using my machine, we like to stop after the fifth setting. This is as thin as we like to make our noodles. Keep narrowing the width between the rollers until the dough is as thin as you like it.
Attach the hand crank to the noodle cutter, and pass the dough through. If you plan to dry your noodles, it's easiest to make them long so they can hang over a broom handle. If you're going to use them right away, cut them about 10 inches long.
Carefully place your noodles directly into boiling water or soup, stirring gently to keep them from sticking together.
This recipe serves about 6 people.
For more info: Wai Wai Noodles Review
