Printer-friendly versionThese are the basic ingredients for making pasta by hand. Although most egg pasta recipes use this formula, the secrets to success are not in the ingredients but in the techniques. This method uses a hand-cranked pasta machine.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup unbleached flour, or 1/2 cup unbleached flour and 1/2 cup Antimo Molino OO Flour [2]
Chef Raymond suggests mixing the ingredients in a large bowl, not on a wooden board as is sometimes suggested. Form the flour into a well, put the eggs in the center, mixing in the flour with hands or a wooden spoon. Then, starting out in the bowl and moving to a wooden board, knead vigorously, pushing the dough against the heel of the hand and folding over for about 8-10 minutes. In "Classic Italian Cooking," Marcella Hazan warns not to skimp on kneading the dough, cautioning that most problems working with pasta dough stem from insufficient kneading
When the dough is smooth and silky, wrap it in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. This step is also very important since the gluten must rest so that the dough can be stretched. Unwrap, dust your hands with flour (don’t add more flour to the dough although it will seem moist), and knead for one minute more.
Cut the pasta into 4 pieces, flatten each. Cover three loosely with plastic wrap on a board (don’t refrigerate). Set up machine, open to widest plain setting and lightly flour. Run dough through 2-3 times until flattened and smooth. Then reduce width, and run through again. Repeat until very thin, usually about setting 3 or less. You can cut the pasta into strips by hand or using the settings on the other rollers. Lightly flour and run through. Repeat with remaining dough.
Dry pasta by laying it flat on wooden board, lightly floured, or hanging it over a dowel stick or on a pasta drying rack. It should dry at least 10 minutes, but can be kept longer. Do not refrigerate. If you want to hold it longer, carefully place in a container lined in waxed paper, and separated in layers with waxed paper, tightly seal and freeze. The pasta does not need to be defrosted; just put in boiling water.
When cooking pasta, bring a large amount of salted water to rolling boil, and drop in pasta. Stir lightly. Cook only for about 1 minutes until al dente. Fresh pasta such as tagliatelle, linguine, even wider pappardelle cooks incredibly quickly.