Ingredients:
3 1/2 c unbleached flour
4 large eggs
Pinch salt
First, crack eggs into bowl. Using the freshest possible eggs is important. Store bought will work, but the pasta is just not the same. Whisk eggs until mixed.
Fresh eggs have a much more orange yolk, which sits much higher. |
When the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl, remove to a lightly floured surface and knead, adding flour as necessary if it is still sticky, until you get a firm, yet not dry ball. (Add a drizzle of olive oil and knead a few times if it gets too dry.) One of the most important things I have learned is that there is no exact ratio of flour to eggs. Each batch is a little different, depending on humidity, consistency in egg size, etc. This batch only used 2 cups of flour out of the 3 1/2!
Tightly wrap dough in plastic wrap, and let it rest for at least 30 mins. Some say to rest in fridge, some say at room temperature. I've had best results with room temperature. The rest is critical! You start with a firm ball of dough and end up with a supple dough that is easy to roll.
After resting the dough, it is time to roll it out. You can use a rolling pin if you really want to. I much prefer a pasta roller. It is far easier and thickness is far more consistent. Rollers aren't terribly expensive. I have a really nice Italian model (not kidding, all the directions are in Italian!), that my wife found at a thrift shop for $15. Yes, my wife is amazing. Here is a decently priced model new from Wayfair. "Imperia Home Pasta Machine" (Google Affiliate Ad). If you have a Kitchenaid stand mixer, they make an excellent attachment for rolling/cutting pasta.
Say hello to my little friend |
Lightly flour the rollers and the surface the sheet will land on. Always start at the largest setting of the roller, feed the dough through the roller, fold the resulting sheet in half and run it through again on the same setting. Do this until the dough takes on a silky sheen, then start dropping the setting on the roller, one setting at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Today, we went to the 5th setting out of 6. Feel free to cut the sheet to manageable lengths, it does get very long.
Big brother skunk cranks the roller while the sunk in the middle watches on. |
Resulting sheet, this is about 1/12th of the dough. The top dough was cut off at setting 3, was getting too long to work with. |
Mine has two options, fettuccine and tagliolini (flat angel hair). |
My improvised temporary drying rack. |
Ready for the fridge! |
Hey, I like that bowl! You make pasta-making look easy but I bet it's not as easy as you make it look. Can't wait to try it sometime.
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