Pantry Friendly Fresh Pasta

 

2 C. flour (see note below)

1/2 tsp. sea salt

3 large eggs

 

Combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour, and add the eggs. Gently begin to mix the eggs, gradually drawing in flour with each stroke. Eventually a stiff dough will form. Knead the pasta dough for 8-10 minutes. If the dough is too dry and won’t stick together, add a 1/2 tsp. of water. If it is too sticky, sprinkle in a bit more flour. Keep in mind this dough will be much stiffer than traditional bread dough. However, the longer you work it, the smoother and more pliable it will become. Cover the well-kneaded dough tightly with plastic wrap, and allow it to rest for around 45 minutes. (This resting phase is super important, as it gives the dough time to relax. Otherwise, you’ll fight it the whole time you are rolling it out.) After the resting period, divide the dough into four portions and roll into a small, flat circle. Use pasta machine or rolling pin to roll out into 1/8” thickness. Rolling the dough is a process– you need to make several passes, throughout each thickness setting for the best resu. I start with the biggest setting (usually 5 or 6), run it through once or twice there, and then start gradually adjust the settings to be thinner and thinner until I have the perfect sheet of golden pasta. Between each pass, I like to fold the strip into thirds. This helps square up the edges and keeps things even. Then simply roll it through the cutting side of the machine to slice into spaghetti or fettucine. If you don’t have a pasta machine, you can simply use a rolling pin and knife (or pizza cutter). Keep in mind you’ll want to roll it out as thin as humanly possible, as it will plump up considerably once you cook it. Roll each portion of dough out on a well-flour surface and then cut into thin strips. Your noodles will be more rustic, but they’ll still taste amazing. From here, you can either cook your pasta right away or dry it. To cook fresh pasta, bring 3 qt. salted water to a boil. Add 1 T. oil. Add pasta a little at a time so the water doesn’t stop boiling. Reduce heat slightly and cook until pasta is tender but still slightly firm, typically this takes only 3-4 minutes.

There are a variety of opinions when it comes to flour for making homemade pasta, and some people get all fancy with specialty flours (traditionally, pasta is made with semolina flour). However, I’ve had wonderful resu just using regular unbleached all-purpose flour. If you like, you can use a mix of whole wheat flour, combined with the all-purpose. Keep in mind the more whole wheat you use, the more the consistency of the finished noodles will change.

If at any point, your fresh pasta is wanting to stick to the surface, the machine, your rolling pin, or other pieces of pasta, add more flour. I’m usually very generous with my flour-sprinkling. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a sticky blob.

You can shape the dough into any shape you choose. This works for everything from spaghetti to ravioli, lasagna to bowties and everything in between.

You can easily make flavored fresh pastas by adding fresh or dried herbs to the dough, or spice it up with garlic or onion powder, or try tomato powder or spinach/kale powder for colored pasta.