One of my goals for 2019 is to make fresh pasta every week for the entire year (weeks that I was in town). It’s super easy to make your own pasta dough with or without a food processor. To be honest, before I tried myself I had no idea that pasta was primarily 2 ingredients — egg and flour.
Homemade pasta can quickly up your hosting game, leaving your guests very impressed.
I also have learned that the type of flour is very important when making pasta. There are so many types. We are very lucky to live almost next door to a large Italian supermarket that has numerous varieties and brands (+ very patient and helpful staff). You want to use a very fine flour. This can be called also be called “00” flour, Semolina, or sometimes even just pasta flour (It depends on the brand).
In this photo recipe series, I will show you how I made the dough by hand (without a food processor).
Directions:
You will want to slowly mix together the flour + the eggs. I start by adding one egg and mixing until it’s fully incorporated before adding the second. I then add just 1 yolk—both for the extra moisture but also because the yolk will provide your pasta with a richer flavor. In this batch I needed to also incorporate the 3rd egg white as the dough was not fully coming together. The dough should stick together but not be too sticky when the correct amount of egg is added. If you find that you still need some moisture, try adding some warm water (1 tbsp at a time).
Once your dough has formed, cover it and leave it sit for 30 mins. This will allow the flour to fully absorb the eggs. You can tell if your dough is ready if you can push it with your finger and the dough rises back up, taking its original form quickly.
After your dough is ready, you want to start rolling it out and creating the actual pasta. There are hundreds of types of pasta. Each type requires a different thickness of dough, shape, and even purpose. Today, I just made my go-to fettuccine. A semi-wide flat noodle. I use a pasta machine but you can also roll out the dough by hand with a rolling pin and then cut the dough into strips.
Once you have your noodles cut, you will want to let them dry for a minimum of 30 mins. The drying of the noodles is very important as it allows the surface to become more textured. This texture allows for little (I mean very little) valleys in the dough to allow the sauce to sit in. I’ll be sharing the recipe for my easy fettuccine sauce to my e-mail list later this week — so be sure to subscribe!
Stay tuned for an in-depth post/s on the different types of pasta, pasta sauces, and my favorite tips + tricks. Now let’s get cooking, friends.
Leave a Reply