Homemade Fresh Pasta

Homemade Fresh Pasta

This recipe will make enough pasta to serve four but can be doubled. You will need a manual pasta maker to make spaghetti and linguine. I use an Atlas. Many pasta makers are sold online. Attachments are also available.

You need:

• 1 ½ cups of all purpose flour

• 1 ½ cups of semolina or 00 flour, in a pinch all purpose flour may be used

•  3 large eggs

•  1 ½ teaspoons olive oil

• Pinch of salt

• 1/3 cup water, or more if needed

Pasta may be prepared by hand or in an electric mixer with a dough hook. Traditionally, the dry ingredients are combined and mounded onto a clean surface. Then you make a center well and the eggs and oil are mixed by hand into the flour and salt until the dough is formed.

Using an electric mixer with a dough hook, beat the eggs, olive oil, salt and water on low speed, then add flours and mix until a dough is formed. This should take about 5 minutes. If the dough is too dry, add more water as needed. The dough should feel elastic and slightly tacky to the touch.

Working on a lightly floured surface, knead dough briefly until it is smooth. Form into a ball and flatten slightly. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperatures at least one hour, or in the refrigerator overnight.
Let come to room temperature prior to using.

Divide dough into four equal pieces. Work with one piece at a time, keeping remaining pieces covered.

To make orecchiette (little ears)- Roll a piece of dough to the thickness of a Sharpie pen, about ½ inch in diameter. Cut off a small piece about ½ an inch long. With the tip of a butter knife, press down on one edge, moving the knife toward you. The dough will thin out and curl. Try to make the pieces consistent in size. Reshape the dough like an ear and set on a baking sheet to dry. Drying time will vary depending on the environment.

To make spaghetti or fettuccine: Flatten dough slightly by hand or with a rolling pen. Using the pasta maker, set the thickness with the side wheel to number 1. Flour a piece of dough prior to feeding it through the rollers. It should feel dry, never tacky. Repeat these step for settings 2-6 or to desired thickness. The higher the number, the thinner the dough.

Flour rolled dough again and feed into cutting rollers to make fettuccine or spaghetti. Catch pasta as it
emerges and spread on clean counter to dry for several hours or overnight. Store pasta in a closed container in the refrigerator for 48 hours or freeze up to 2 weeks. Pasta noodles can also be twisted into portions, arranged in a mound, and frozen on a baking sheet. If doing this, skip the drying phase.

Cook fettuccine or spaghetti in boiling salted water for 4-5 minutes or less. Do not overcook. Serve with your favorite sauce and/or top with ricotta and parmesan cheese.