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Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta

After a long hot day yesterday, it poured all night long. Pre-monsoon showers at its best! Weather changed from hot and humid to cool and breezy in hours. The change was enough to make me want to cook some nice hearty meal instead of fruit smoothies and salads!

I suddenly wanted to cook some pasta for lunch! As I mentioned earlier I am right now in a small town and there are no supermarkets to run to. So I thought of making my own pasta at home!

The last time I tried making pasta from scratch was a decade ago! I was still a student in a tiny house with a tinier kitchen. But that didn’t stop me from experimenting! I tried making pasta with refined white flour and egg and I remember it being one big mess! The dough turned out sticky and the whole kitchen smelt of egg the whole day! Though the end result was mouth watering soft pasta, I swore never to do it again!

Me being at my mom’s place means that daughter is taken care of! which in turn means that I have lots of time for myself to cook!! I wanted to take advantage of the situation and attempt making fresh pasta again. But this time I wanted to do it a little differently. Instead of refined white flour I used whole wheat flour and made it eggless.

Surprise!! Making pasta from scratch is not that hard! It is time consuming for sure. Will I make it often? Probably not, but when I have lots of time on my hand I will defiantly try it again. If you want to spend your time meaningfully (:P) this Sunday definitely try making your own pasta! You will not regret!

I think fresh homemade pasta tastes far more superior than store bought. It is softer and more flavorful. Pasta looks more rustic and absorbs the flavors a lot better. The process itself is not so difficult. I wouldn’t really say it requires a LOT of skill. Making the dough was like making any other dough, like chapatti, bread or pizza dough. No special ingredients or gadgets required (you are right! no pasta making machine used here) just 2 ingredients used – whole wheat flour and water.

Whole wheat flour

Pour water in the center

Mix till the dough comes together

and knead

Knead a little more

Roll out on a well-floured surface

get it as thin as you can

Thinner the better

Cut into strips

Like this

Beauty!

Place it in boiling water and cook

Whole wheat flour on the kitchen counter

Alaru enjoying the fresh pasta!

[typography font="Cantarell" size="24" size_format="px" color="#b36f98"]Ingredients:[/typography]

• Whole wheat flour
• Water

Make soft dough out of whole wheat flour adding the required amount of water. Roll it into thin sheets. (thinner the better as it thickens when you cook) Cut the sheet into thin strips. I make it slightly thin as I like the rustic look of slightly thick pasta.

Boil water in a big vessel. Add a pinch of salt and a drop of olive oil. Bring the water to a boil and add the cut strips of pasta to it. Boil for a minute or two. When the pasta floats on the surface it’s cooked. Keep your sauce ready before you make the pasta as it tastes best when served hot and fresh. If it’s kept for too long it might get sticky. To prevent it from getting sticky run it under cold water and toss it with a bit of olive oil.