Pasta with Pizzazz! How to Make Oodles of Homemade Noodles

There’s the old standards of spaghetti, macaroni, fettuccine and linguini. But then there’s the lesser-known bavettine, lasagnette, maltagliati and tortiglioni. Transport yourself back to the narrow streets of Lucca or the wide plazas of Rome by making your own delicious pasta, complete with homemade noodles. For those of you who’ve never tried homemade noodles, Carla Emery and I agree that you will never go back to those store-bought ones again! Plus, not only are they scrumptiously delicious in a multitude of fabulous recipes, they are also super easy to make. See if you can invent your own new and fantastical pasta shape with any of these easy recipes!

Basic Noodles This makes more than enough to thoroughly noodle up a stew: 2 eggs, a pinch of salt, and all the flour the eggs can absorb.

Delicious Eggy Noodles Combine 6 eggs, 6 T. light cream or canned milk, 1 t. salt, and about 41⁄2 c. flour. This dough can be kneaded. Divide into fourths. Roll out on lightly floured board till paper-thin. Dry 30 minutes. Cut into strips. Drop into boiling salted water and cook.

Leftover-Yolks Noodles This dangerously rich noodle is as delicious as most things that are bad for you. To 1⁄4 c. egg yolks, add 1 T. rich cream plus enough flour to make your stiff noodle dough.

Eggless Noodles Just an eggshell of water with a pinch of salt; then add flour. A teaspoon of butter and some special seasoning helps: a pinch of pepper, ginger, or nutmeg.

Green Noodles Cook a small batch of your garden spinach or other greens. Drain and put through a sieve. Drain again. Combine 3 eggs, 1⁄2 c. of the spinach, 2 t. butter, and enough flour to make the dough.

Potato Noodles Use the equivalent of about 4 large potatoes, cooked and mashed. Leftover mashed spuds are also fine to start with. Now mix in 1 egg and a pinch of salt, and maybe a little nutmeg. Add enough flour to get a good noodle-type dough. Roll out, etc.

Fettuccine Use one of these noodle recipes. Cut in strips 1⁄2 inch wide. They should be flat, long, and ribbonlike.

Ruth’s Vegan Noodles “I never have used eggs in pasta-making! Just water or rice milk and flour. Sometimes tamari or spinach or mashed potato, sweet potato or squash. Or even beet puree — for red noodles! Rye flour noodles in a cabbage-tomato stew are great!”