Make Your Own Old Bay Pasta

Pasta is dirt cheap to make yourself and tastes absolutely wonderful when it’s fresh. This particular recipe is excellent with any type of seafood, particularly shrimp or crab. The entire cost of making 1 lb of fresh pasta is .20 cents .

You’ll Need:

• 1 1/3 c. durum semolina flour (I didn’t have semolina, so I used all-purpose flour)
• 1 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs Vegetable Oil (optional)
• 1-2 Tbs Water (as needed)

Combine the flour, seasoning, egg, oil and 1 T of water in a mixing bowl, mixing well. Add additional water 1 tsp at a time as needed.

The dough should be smooth, turn it out onto a floured surface and lightly knead the dough. Pasta dough is generally heavier and drier than bread dough. Let the dough rest about 10-15 minutes before rolling out. (I usually use this time to make another batch of pasta in a different flavor)

When ready, divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.

Run the dough through an extruder (either electric or hand cranked) several times until it is quite smooth and holds together well. If you do not have an extruder, the dough can be rolled with a rolling pin. Be sure to roll it QUITE THIN as it plumps when it cooks and completely changes the texture of the pasta. Continue running the dough through the rolling extruder, folding it into 3rds each time until the dough is quite smooth and elastic”y” feeling.

Once you have a sheet of smooth dough, feed it through the die cutter attachment. Once again, this can be done by hand in a floured surface using a pizza cutter.

Carefully hang the pasta to dry (no more than 1 hour). It can also be cooked right away if you want fresh pasta.

if the pasta has “hairy” sides it means the dough was a bit too dry. Try adding a bit more liquid next time.

Generally I make several different types (flavors) of pasta and let it dry about an hour. Then carefully “nest” the pasta in bags, seal, label and freeze. Do not thaw before cooking, simply drop the frozen pasta into rapidly boiling water.

Additional Notes:

Durum Semolina flour is often found in specialty food shops. It can be rather expensive compared with all purpose flour, but has a considerably higher protein content than regular flour.