Fresh pasta can be flavored with garlic or herbs. For garlic pasta, add one minced large garlic clove to the eggs and salt before incorporating with the flour. For thyme pasta, mix two heaping teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves into the flour before you make the well. This recipe for fresh pasta will make enough for 4 to 6 servings.

 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 large eggs

Generous pinch of sea salt

 

MAKING DOUGH: Sift flour onto large flat work surface. Form well in center of flour. Place eggs and salt in well; whisk lightly with fork to blend. Using fork, gradually mix flour from inside walls of well into egg mixture to form coarse dough. Knead until dough is satiny and surface is almost smooth, about 4 minutes. Form dough into ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rest at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours. KNEADING DOUGH: Set rollers for pasta machine, on widest setting. Using dough cutter, cut dough into eight equal pieces. Form each piece into ball; flatten into disks. Run one dough disk through rollers, dusting lightly with flour if dough sticks (keep remaining dough disks covered). Working on lightly floured surface, fold dough into thirds as for business letter. Pass dough, edges first, through rollers again. Repeat process six times, keeping rollers at widest setting and lightly dusting rollers with flour if dough sticks. FORMING PASTA SHEETS: Adjust width of rollers to next smaller setting, and pass dough through rollers. Continue adjusting roller width to smaller settings, running dough through each setting without folding, and dusting rollers very lightly with flour if necessary until long dough sheet forms, about 24 to 30 inches long. Hang strips over pasta drying rack, just until pasta is slightly dry, about 10 minutes (pasta should not be brittle or wet). Repeat kneading remaining dough disks and forming them into pasta sheets.