Over the years, my family has adopted a bit of a tradition. On Christmas Eve, we sit down to an Italian style dinner. It has always been a meal we’ve looked forward to.
…and then, the pasta attachment for the KitchenAid stand mixer came into our lives three years ago. It seems like a bit of an investment upfront, but it has certainly been worth the price tag over time. The pasta roller/cutters have quickly become a huge part of our holiday tradition for our meal (not just Christmas; at other big holidays or celebrations as well). The process can take a bit of time, but we always have fun standing around the island in the kitchen, rolling dough, cutting, and maybe sipping a bit of wine in the process.
The first year, we made spaghetti. Last year, we made ravioli. This year, we made linguine with turkey meatballs (our recipe is here) and marinara. I love to see how the whole process has evolved over time to become quite the family affair.
This year, it started with me, my mom, and Justin.
My grandmother joined in shortly after the process began.
My grandfather and my dad could also not resist joining in after a while. Pretty soon, all six of us were crowded around the KitchenAid, laughing while helping to make dinner.
We happened to make a double batch of pasta dough this year, but forgot to account for the extra time it would take for rolling and cutting. Oops. We may or may not have started eating Christmas Eve dinner at 9pm. Thankfully, fresh pasta only takes a minute or two to boil to perfection!
We have always used Giada De Laurentiis’ fresh pasta dough recipe – it involves using cake flour instead of all purpose, which makes the pasta extremely fluffy and light. So so so good. If you are making fresh pasta any time soon, give it a whirl!
Do you have any family food traditions for the holidays?
That looks like so much fun! I may need to register for that 🙂
We have lasagna every Christmas Eve! It’s a great tradition, and memory for sure. Though we take the easy way out and buy lasagna noodles from the grocery. Your way looks fun!
I so have the pasta attachment on our wedding registry 🙂 we do have a Christmas Eve tradition. My moms side of the family gets together. For nearly 30 years it was at my grandmas house until she passed. Now all of my Moms siblings take turns hosting. It’s insanity since most of my 13 cousins have their own young kids!!