A Simple Recipe: Basic Noodle Dough

The gas oven in my parents’ home stopped working the other day. It was likely due to an old igniter, the part that helps to heat the food, finally giving out after many years of faithful service. However, the nearest shop with a replacement part was more than half an hour away, and already closed when we discovered the problem. Right as we were getting ready to prepare dinner.

Despite the setback, at least the burners on the stove were still fine–and an idea came to mind, of taking this opportunity to make homemade spaghetti, by creating our own pasta dough and noodles, using a recipe from The New World Encyclopedia of Cooking.

Here is how to make the dough:

1) Sift together into a large bowl:

– 4 cups of sifted all-purpose flour

-1/2 teaspoon salt

2) Make a well in the center of the flour. Add, once at a time, mixing slightly after each addition:

– Eggs

3) Gradually add about:

-6 tablespoons of cold water

4) Mix well to make a stiff dough.

5) Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead.

As for creating the noodles, we rolled out the dough as long and thin as possible, and then ran it through a pasta maker–following its directions for creating the particular type of spaghetti noodles we wanted. Even without looking at written directions, however, it was easy to figure out.

After the noodles came out of the maker, we hung them up on a rack to stiffen slightly before cooking them in a pan filled with water and some oil on the stove. We heated up some sauce and meatballs to put on top, and we had a wonderful spaghetti meal that tasted even better since we had largely made it ourselves.

We also made a happy memory, since it was a project that all of us had a hand in doing.

In any case, I hope you enjoy and can make use of this noodle dough recipe!

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