A Holiday, Family Recipe: Homemade Pasta

 

A Holiday Recipe for a Festive Wordwalk

 

by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

 

 

For our Christmas dinner, always for Thanksgiving, frequently for Easter, and at other special occasions–my mother made her own pasta–“noodles.”  from a young age, I helped with some of the steps of her recipe.  In the earlier decades of my mother’s homemade pasta, she used only a roller-type dough cutter:  unlike a pizza cutter, this handheld device made eight or ten cuts into the dough at one time.  Much later, in December of 1977, I purchased as a gift for my mother a non-electric appliance for rolling out and then cutting into strips the pasta dough.  This well-used and much-appreciated appliance was in my mother’s Indiana kitchen until she moved to Colorado, early in 1998, after the passing of my dad on December 1, 1997.  Since that time, my sister and her younger son took over the pasta-making tradition.  Before moving away from his home state, my younger nephew made the noodles for holidays a number of times.  Additionally, my Aunt Lydia (one of my mother’s sisters) and my Aunt Kathy (my dad’s sister), as well as some cousins, made this pasta recipe over the years.

 

During this Thanksgiving of 2019, the tradition passed onto a fourth generation when my sister made the pasta recipe with her Colorado granddaughter (age nine).  Also, for Thanksgiving, in Michigan, my sister and her Midwest grandchildren (ages six and four) made the following noodle recipe with their daddy (my previously mentioned nephew) after each of the little ones made a tasty pumpkin pie with their “Mammar.”  The little chefs donned their gingerbread-boy aprons and enjoyed helping in the kitchen.

 

Purchased as a gift 42 years ago, the Ampia Pasta Maker (manufactured in Italy) remains an important part of my sister’s kitchen and our family’s holiday traditions.  During this Christmas season, I hope you are enjoying making and eating some of your family’s holiday traditions.

 

 

Mother’s Homemade Pasta Recipe

 

three eggs

one-half teaspoon salt

one tablespoon milk

one tablespoon soft butter

two cups flour

Extra flour (for handling dough balls)

chicken or beef broth

 

1. In a large bowl, with a wire whisk, beat the eggs until light and fluffy.
2. Add the salt, milk, and butter.
3. Beat well with whisk.
4. Gradually pour the flour around the edge of the bowl, on top of the egg mixture.
5. Mix the flour and egg with a fork.
6. When a ball starts to form, use your hands to further mix and knead the dough.
7. Divide the dough into four balls or patties.
8. Knead each part until well-blended and smooth; use extra flour as needed.
9. Spread a soft tablecloth or paper towels onto a table or countertop.
10. After setting up the pasta machine , dust one of the balls of dough with flour.
11. Using Setting number one, put the dough through the machine once.
12. Away from the machine, cut the piece of dough in half, lengthwise.
13. Using setting number four, put each piece of the dough through the machine two additional times.
14. Cut “rolled-out” dough into desired length (as dough becomes elongated with each pass through the machine); flour lightly, if needed.
15. Move handle to position for cutting the noodles; pass each of the pieces of dough through the machine for cutting (of the desired width).
16. Separate the cut noodles and lay them out on the table to dry.

** Follow this procedure with each of the remaining three balls of dough.

17. Allow the noodles to dry overnight; then, store in a plastic bag until ready to cook.

 

18. After chicken or beef broth comes to a boil in a large pot, add the dried noodles slowly.
19. Boil for 20 minutes or to desired tenderness.

Number of servings:  four to six

 

The holiday season is a wonderful time to copy and share family recipes.  One may even want to video-record an older relative’s making a favorite recipe.  As you preserve your family history, preserve and enjoy your family’s traditional and treasured recipes.

 

**WORDWALK NOTE:  If you were too busy last week to read my post, I hope you will continue reading along this HOLIDAY WORDWALK.  Last week’s post was a holiday short story entitled “The Christmas Poet”  (posted on December 5, 2019).

 

Enjoy the flavors and fragrances of this holiday season,

as well as treasured traditions,

with your family and friends!

Alice and Leader Dog Willow

 

December 11, 2019, Wednesday

 

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