Home-made Pasta Dough is a traditional Italian recipe for the classic method of preparing home-made egg pasta at home. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Italian version of: Home-made Pasta Dough.
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This home-made pasta dough is foolproof and easy to make by hand or with your stand mixer with just eggs, flour, olive oil, and salt. Italian through and through. Pasta counts amongst the national foods of Italy, so this recipe is one for preparing Italy's national foods.
As in the image accompanying this recipe you can add a range of colourings to the basic pasta in this recipe. These include green from puréed spinach or nettles, black from squid ink, purple from beetroot and yellow-orange from tomato purée. Pasta is one of the national dishes of Italy and by following this recipe you can create your own pasta from scratch.
Ingredients:
190g Italian "00" flour (or half Italian "00" flour and half farina di semola)
2 large eggs
1 tbsp olive oil, (optional)
Pinch sea salt
Method:
Make the homemade pasta dough
In a small bowl, beat the eggs well until combined.
Dump the flour in a pile on a work surface and form a well in the centre with your hand. Pour the eggs into the well. Add the salt and oil if using.
Using a fork, mix in the flour a bit at a time. Keep adding flour from the well wall and mixing until a firm, shaggy dough forms. If the dough feels dry, add a bit of water; if it feels too wet, sprinkle with a bit of the flour.
Knead the pasta dough until it’s smooth and homogenous 95 to 10 minutes). Roll the dough into a ball, wrap it with plastic, and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes so it can relax and hydrate.
Cut the pasta ball in half. Wrap one half in plastic and set aside. Flatten the other half into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle and carefully feed the dough through a pasta machine set on the widest setting. Once the pasta dough runs through the machine, fold it in thirds and feed it through once more, still on the widest setting.
Repeat this process of passing the dough through the machine and folding it in thirds 4 more times. This conditions the dough, removes air bubbles, and makes it satiny smooth.
Continue passing the sheet of pasta dough through the machine, gradually narrowing the setting, one notch for each pass, until the pasta achieves the desired thickness.
Sprinkle a rimmed baking sheet liberally with cornmeal, lay the pasta sheet on top, and sprinkle with more meal. Let the dough air dry for about 5 minutes while repeating with the remaining pasta half.
If you want to prepare pasta by hand: On a lightly-floured cutting board, fold over the pasta in 5cm sections to create a roll.
With a sharp knife, cut the pasta crosswise into your preferred width:
Pappardelle about 2.5cm wide
Tagliatelle about 1cm wide
Fettuccine about 5mm wide
Linguine about 3mm wide
Immediately shake loose each bundle and toss it with cornmeal. Place the bundles on the rimmed baking sheet while you boil the water.
To cook the fresh pasta:
Bring 3 to 4 litres of well-salted water to a boil. Toss in the pasta bundles, stirring to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other. Cook until al dente, (2 to 3 minutes, depending on the width and thickness of the pasta).
Reserve 4 tbsp of the pasta water (it helps to emulsify the sauce you use) and drain the pasta.
Return the pasta to the pan, then stir in your sauce of choice. Dribble in a little of the pasta water–only if needed.
