Here’s a brilliant idea for those who like to make their own pasta: a DIY pasta-drying system involving nothing more than a set of thin wooden dowels and an electric drill.
Such is the secret to Linda Scheibal’s production of pasta in her small Napa Valley kitchen. The Calistoga, California, resident is on a mission to bring back the traditional art of making real pasta; she hand-cuts her own and air dries it in her kitchen. It was her husband, Tom, who hit upon the genius idea of drilling holes into the kitchen shelves and fitting them with wooden dowels, which are easily removed when the pasta has dried. Linda has gained a local following, so much so that a while back she launched her own line of pasta called Pasta Poetry.
Photography by Mimi Giboin for Remodelista.
Above: Linda makes 18-inch strips of parsley-flecked pappardelle, fettuccine, and capellini, which she hangs to dry.
Above: The wooden dowels are stored in a jar when not in use.
Above: Freshly rolled, hand-cut pasta is hung on the dowels.
Above: Linda inserts the dowels in the cabinet holes.
Above: Sliding the air-dried pasta off onto a baker’s tray.
Above: The dowels are spaced far enough apart that the pasta doesn’t touch.
Ready to whip up a batch of pasta? Read Meredith’s chronicle about How to Make Tricolor Fresh Pasta and her 10-Minute Pasta Sauce with Radicchio and Gorgonzola–perfect with fresh pasta. Another easy kitchen DIY? How about an Herb-Drying Rack made from a metal hoop?
N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran June 27, 2012, as part of our Farmhouse Style issue.
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