Whole Wheat Pasta

When my husband used to make a lot of clay sculptures, he bought a pasta roller to roll out the clay. It came in handy when we decided to be adventurous tonight and make our own homemade pasta. We also went out on a limb by choosing to do whole wheat, which had the potential of turning us against all homemade pasta forever. Thankfully, it went very smoothly and we will definitely be making more in the future. As far as the whole wheat goes, I must warn you that it tastes "healthy" and is a little more dense than white flour pasta would be. This recipe comes from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

2 1/2 cups flour (either whole wheat or white)
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1/3 cup water
1 tsp cooking oil or olive oil

In a large mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups of the flour and salt. Make a well in the center of of the dry mixture. In a small mixing bowl combine eggs, water, and oil. Add to dry mixture. mix well. Sprinkle kneading surface with the remaining flour (I used much less because the wheat flour was very dense). Knead till dough is smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough into 4 equal portions. On lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 12-inch square about 1/16" thick (I used a pasta machine instead). Let stand, uncovered, 20 minutes.

I cut this into fettuccine by rolling up prepared dough and cutting into 1/4" wide strips. I then boiled it as I would with regular pasta - except that the boiling time was cut in half, or even less. The cookbook suggested 2 minutes. That was still a little too chewy for me so I left it in for about 4 minutes total. I think white pasta would cook faster, though.