Basic Recipe For Fresh Egg Pasta Dough

BASIC RECIPE FOR FRESH EGG PASTA DOUGH

Steps:

• Place the flour on a board or in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it.
• Using a fork, beat the eggs until smooth. Mix together with the flour as much as possible so it's not too sticky.
• Flour each hand and begin to knead. This is the bit where you can let all your emotions out, so go for it! What you want to end up with is a nice piece of smooth, silky, elastic dough.
• Cover it with clingfilm and leave it to rest for about half an hour in the fridge before rolling and shaping it.

BASIC DOUGH FOR FRESH EGG PASTA

Steps:

• Put flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add eggs and yolks, and mix with hands or wooden spoon for a minute or so, until dough comes together. (Alternatively, use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.) If dough seems dry or crumbly, add 1 or 2 tablespoons cold water, but only enough to keep the dough together.
• Turn dough out onto a board and knead to form a ball. Flatten dough ball to a 1-inch-thick disk, wrap in plastic, and let rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour (several hours is fine).
• Divide dough into 4 pieces. Knead each piece until smooth. Roll with a rolling pin or pasta machine as thinly as possible (but not quite paper-thin). Cut each sheet in half, making 8 smaller sheets. Dust dough sheets lightly with semolina to keep them from sticking. Stack 2 or 3 sheets, roll loosely, then cut into 1/2-inch-wide noodles or other desired shape. Continue until all dough is used. Gently fluff noodles and spread on a semolina-dusted baking sheet. Refrigerate, uncovered, until ready to cook.

FRESH EGG PASTA DOUGH

Steps:

• In a food processor combine the flour, salt, eggs, oil and 4 tablespoons water and process until the mixture begins to form a ball, adding more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if the dough is too dry. Process 30 seconds more to knead it. Remove the dough from the processor and let it rest, covered with an inverted bowl, at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Set the smooth rollers of a pasta machine at the highest number. (The rollers will be wide apart.) Divide the dough into 4 pieces, flatten 1 piece into a rectangle, and cover the remaining pieces with an inverted bowl. Dust the rectangle with flour and feed it through the rollers. Fold the rectangle in half and feed it through the rollers 6-8 more times, folding in half each time and dusting with flour if necessary to keep it from sticking. Turn the dial down one notch and feed the dough through the rollers without folding. Continue to feed the dough through the rollers without folding, turning the dial lower one notch each time, until the lowest notch is reached. Roll the remaining pieces of pasta dough in the same manner.
• Use the blades of a pasta machine that will cut 1/4-inch wide strips. Feed one end of a sheet of pasta dough through the blades, holding the other end straight up from the machine. Catch the strips from underneath the machine before the sheet goes completely through the rollers and put the cut strips lightly across floured jelly-roll pans or let them hang over the top of straight-backed chairs or on hangars. Let the pasta dry for 5 minutes, before cooking.

BASIC PASTA DOUGH (NO EGG)

Steps:

• Put flour in large mixing bowl, making a well in the center.
• Add wet ingredients to well and very slowly mix together with a fork, incorporating only a little flour at a time so it mixes smoothly and evenly. Trust me, the more patient you are with this the better it will turn out.
• Continue kneading by hand for about 10 minutes, let rest for a half hour covered with a towel. Repeat a couple times until dough is smooth and silky, and just slightly sticky.
• Shape by hand or with a machine.
• Note: Boiling fresh pasta takes significantly less time than dry pasta. Depending on the shape, cook for 30 seconds to 2 minutes.