This superbly flavorful pasta is perfect with any tomato based sauce. In all, 1 pound of fresh, healthy tomato basil pasta costs less than .23 to prepare!
You’ll Need:
- 1 1/4 c. durum semolina flour (I didn’t have semolina, so I used all-purpose flour)
- 1 tsp dried basil or 1T Fresh Basil, chopped
- 1 Tbs Vegetable Oil (optional)
- 1/4-1/3 Tomato Juice
Combine the flour, basil, oil and 1/4 c. tomato juice in a mixing bowl, mixing well.
Add additional tomato juice 1 tsp at a time as needed. (note, although an egg is pictured below, it is optional!)
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, but we generally purchase ours online. It can be rather expensive compared with all purpose flour, but has a considerably higher protein content than regular flour and results in a better quality pasta.
Philips now offers a pasta machine that literally does all the work for you, you simply measure your ingredients into the machine, press a button, wait a few minutes and fresh pasta comes out.
