DIY: Fresh pasta

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. I know it’s not a good way to preface my sophomore installment to the DIY series. On the other hand, I wanted to give the pasta maker a fair shot — it had been acquiring dust and rust for far too long; who knew what a vigorous rubdown (and a few cranks) might coax out of it? Short of a genie, homemade fresh pasta sounded good.

Making pasta from scratch is actually very simple. The devil is in the rolling technique and grunt work. The dough has to be rolled to uniform thinness, which is not as easy as it sounds. If you do not have specialized equipment, a rolling pin works just as well for this endeavor, although I’m only saying that because I have seen it done. The Italians have been hand-rolling pasta dough for ages, so obviously can anybody. Like I said, you don’t have to (it’s not like there’s a shortage of dried pasta). If you do, and are any good at it, then you have my eternal — if grudging — admiration. Plus, you save: fresh pasta costs much less than store-bought, and cooks in just a fraction of the time.

Some notes: I used half all-purpose and half semolina flour on my first try, then 100% AP on the second — the main difference being that the former seemed drier. They were both good (or maybe I’m just not sophisticated enough to tell). My equipment was a Marcato Atlas, with regulator knob settings up to 8 (the narrowest). For the pasta shown here, I stopped at 6, but if you want them thicker or thinner, adjust accordingly.

Equipment:

Pasta maker

Ingredients:

1 cup AP flour
1 large egg
2 egg yolks
pinch of fine salt

Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the center and pour egg and egg yolks into it (eggs should be at room temperature).

Beat eggs with a fork, gradually incorporating into the flour until you get lumpy bits, then work with your fingers to bring together into a ball. If your dough is too wet, add a little flour.

Transfer ball onto a flour-dusted work surface and knead until you get a smooth, firm, but pliable dough. It takes time so be patient. This process is necessary to develop the gluten in the flour, or your pasta will be tacky instead of springy.

Wrap dough in cling film and let rest for at least 30 minutes. Make sure the film completely/snugly covers the dough or it will dry out and develop a skin/crust.

Prepare your rolling/cutting area. It should be clean and long enough to accommodate at least 15 to 20 inches of flattened dough. Take a quarter of the rested dough (wrap the rest back up), dust with flour, flatten, and feed into the roller at the widest setting. Take the flattened dough, fold in half, then run through the roller a few more times until smooth.