How To Make Homemade Pasta
How To Make Homemade Pasta
There is no need to be intimidated by making your own homemade pasta. While it requires a little extra time and effort in the kitchen, making fresh pasta isn’t as hard as you think …and it’s certainly worth it. We promise!
Ingredients:
- 4 cups flour*
- 8-10 jumbo eggs
Rule of thumb: Estimate 1 egg per person for a main course
Approximately 2 eggs to 1 cup of flour (2 eggs : 1 cup flour)
Mound the flour in the middle of a wooden board. Make a well in the center of the flour. Break the eggs right into the center of the well. Beat the eggs with a fork until they are completely incorporated.
Using the fork gradually start to pull in flour from the sides of the well, slowly incorporating the flour with the eggs. Mix in only as much flour as the eggs can absorb. You may not need all the flour.
Once the dough starts to come together, begin kneading continuously to form a loose ball. Place the dough ball on a lightly floured surface and flatten slightly. Fold the dough in half, toward you, and then press the dough away from you with the heels of your hands. Give the dough a quarter of a turn and repeat the process (fold, push and turn). Your hands should glide through the dough while you gently push down and in. (See video for kneading action.) Continue to knead, adding more flour to prevent sticking, if necessary.
Work the dough for about 8 minutes. If it gets too tense and elastic (begins to pull back into itself) while kneading, set it aside and allow it to relax a bit until it’s easier to work with. Let it rest under a dry dishcloth for about 5 minutes.
Divide the rested dough into 6 equal parts. With the palm of your hand, press the dough as thin as you can get it. Beginning with the largest opening on the pasta machine (typically the lowest number on the dial), feed the dough through the machine, one piece at a time.
Fold each piece into 3 parts like a letter. Lightly flour each side and repeat. Feeding the dough through the machine 4 to 5 times until the dough becomes smooth and no longer sticky. Flour the outside of the folded dough each time before it goes back through the machine to prevent sticking. Be sure to repeat the same number of times with each sheet, so that pasta thickness will be uniform.
Turn the dial on the machine to the next number, making your opening one notch smaller. Feed each piece of dough through the machine one time only, and do not fold it this time. Continue this process of narrowing the machine opening until you reach the thinness you want. Sprinkle with flour when necessary. It’s important to put each piece through the same number of times so each sheet of dough is a consistent thickness and texture.
Be sure to keep the finished pasta sheets lightly floured while working. Cover the sheets with a kitchen towel as you go along.
Roll the dough into a spiral.
Cut into ½ inch sections.
Unroll and separate the cut pasta… and look, YOU’VE GOT NOODLES! Keep pasta on a floured baking sheet until ready to cook.