Fresh Egg Pasta
It’s a rainy Sunday, you are hungry and want to be creative…what to do? Make fresh pasta of course! All you need is flour, eggs, salt and a partner to help in and enjoy the process. For every person you will need 100 grams of flour and 1 egg. Although in typical Italian style I always make extra. Also try and use Tipo 00 flour as it is an extra fine grind and will behave itself when making pasta
You don’t have to use a pasta machine, but I do recommend it for ease. They are not expensive and can be found from delis to department stores.
A couple of tips:
Slowly roll the dough through the machine for a silky finish…too fast and it will tear.
If it does tear, don’t be discouraged, simply fold the sheet over and do it again
My technique is to start on the thickest setting, put a piece of dough through 3 times, fold it over then put through another 3 times, then move to the next tightest setting for 3 times and keep repeating, going finer until it becomes a silky translucent texture.
On my machine I start at the thickest setting of 6 and finish on the second finest setting of 2. I don’t go to 1 as I feel it is too fine – but you choose what suits you
Ingredients
500 grams of Tipo 00 flour
½ teaspoon of salt
5 eggs
Method
Mix the flour and salt and pour onto a clean surface, making a small hole in the centre
Crack the eggs into the centre and gently beat with a fork, then slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs
Gently mix until the dough forms a ball
Knead for a solid 10 minutes until the ball of dough become smooth and elastic
Cover in cling wrap and let it rest for 45 minutes on the kitchen benchtop
Cut off a small piece (around a fifth or sixth) and roll it out with a rolling pin just a little, then put it through the widest setting of the pasta machine 3 times
Fold the ends into the centre then fold in half
Put it through the widest setting another 3 times
Reduce the thickness setting by 1 and run the pasta through 3 times
Continue reducing the thickness setting until the pasta sheet is silky and translucent (roughly 1mm)
Lay out each sheet of pasta, then put it through the fettucine setting on the pasta machine. If not using a pasta machine, roll out the dough into a large thin sheet. Then roll by hand into a log and cut discs of your desired thickness (1cm for fettuccine)
Once all the pasta has been cut, lay each stand flat on the table – making sure they don’t stick together – until you are ready to cook
Cook the fresh pasta in salted water. They don’t need a lot of time as they are fresh – about 3 minutes
Serve with your favourite sauce and freshly grated parmigiano cheese.
O.M.G !