Fresh Egg Pasta

Fresh pasta is light and delicate and gloriously better than anything you can buy in a box. Working the dough is therapeutic and running your own pasta sheets through a hand-cranked pasta roller makes anyone feel like an Italian nonna. This is the perfect ‘rainy day’, weekend, or in this case, quarantine project.

Fresh egg pasta really only uses flour, eggs, and salt. Upping the ratio of egg yolks creates a richer, golden hue. If you have access to it, OO flour, is a type of flour that is finely milled specifically for pasta making, and I think does produce a superior result. However, all-purpose flour is perfectly fine to use. This basic recipe is extremely versatile. Turn this into linguine, fettuccine, lasagna noodles or roll it out thin for ravioli and stuff it with your favourite fillings.

You can make homemade pasta without a pasta maker, but I don’t recommend it. Arguably you can roll out the sheets very thinly with a rolling pin and cut it out with a chef’s knife. I have not tried it as it sounds like a lot of work (ok more work than even I am willing to put in in the name of food) and I can’t imagine that the sheets would turn out as thin. Let me know if you’ve had success! While a pasta maker is most certainly a single use item, if you are buying the old-school counter machine it is very cost effective. There are also lots of various attachments that fit onto popular stand mixers. Make sure it includes a roller and a cutter.

When making pasta it is very important to let the dough rest. Ignore the temptation to roll it right away. The rest time allows the dough to relax and produces a far superior pasta. Use this time to get a well deserved glass of vino. Or do the dishes. You do you.

Fresh Egg Pasta

Loosely adapted from Serious Eats
Makes about 1 pound, 4 servings

2 cups all-purpose or OO flour (10 ounces or 280g)
2 whole large eggs
4 yolks from 4 large eggs
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more for salting water

Pour the flour in a mound on a large, clean work surface. Make a well in the center about 4 inches wide. Pour the eggs, egg yolks, and salt into the well. Using a fork, begin to beat the eggs into the flour, gradually working until a wet, sticky dough has formed. Using a bench scraper, scrape excess dough from the fork and your hands. Begin turning the dough with the scraper approximately 45 degrees each time, until the dough feels firm and dry and can form a craggy-looking ball, 2-5 minutes.

Press the heel of your hand into the ball of dough, pushing forward and down. Rotate the ball 45 degrees and repeat. Continue until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, like a firm ball of Play-Doh. If after a few minutes the dough feels too wet, add flour in 1 tsp increments. Similarly, if it feels too dry, add water slowly using a spray bottle.

Wrap the ball of dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours.

When you are ready to roll, let the dough rest on the counter for a few minutes while you assemble your pasta maker. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Set one quarter on the work surface and re-wrap the remaining dough.

With a rolling pin, flatten the quarter of dough into an oblong shape about 1/2 inch thick. Set your pasta maker to the widest setting and pass the dough 3 times through the machine at this setting.

Place the dough on lightly floured work surface. Fold both ends in so that they meet at the center of the dough, and then fold the dough in half where the end points meet, trying not to put too much air into the folds. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough to 1/2 inch thick. Pass through the rollers 3 additional times.

Narrow the setting by 2 notches and repeat the above process. Continue passing the dough through the rollers reducing the thickness by 2 settings each time until you reach the desired thickness [for fettuccine roll it at the 6 setting, for ravioli you will need to go slightly thinner]

Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel to prevent drying and repeat with the remaining quarters.

To cut the noodles: adjust the pasta machine to the noodle setting of your choice. Working one dough segment at a time, feed the dough through the pasta-cutter. Alternatively you can cut the folded dough by hand with a chef’s knife.

Divide the cut noodles into individual portions, dust lightly with flour and curl them into a nest. Cover with a kitchen towel until ready to cook.

To cook: bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta, stir gently with a wooden spoon and cook, tasting at regular intervals until noodles are just set, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Drain, toss with sauce, and serve.

Make ahead note: The dough can be refrigerated for up to a day or frozen for up to 1 month. When you are ready, thaw it in the refrigerator until it’s soft and pliant. The cut pasta can also be frozen on a baking sheet and transferred to a ziplock freezer bag for up to 1 month. Cook the frozen pasta directly from the freezer.