Making fresh pasta dough is surprisingly simple, and you might wish you had tried it sooner. If you have Italian "00" flour, use it for delicate but chewy pasta. Otherwise, bread flour is a great alternative.
To make the dough, put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk them together. Make a well in the center and add the eggs and oil. Use your fingers to mix the eggs into the flour, pulling in flour from the sides as you go. Once the dough comes together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until it feels smooth and flexible but not sticky, adding a little more flour if needed. This should take about 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk, and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes, or up to an hour.
To roll dough: Secure a pasta machine to the edge of a long countertop. Using a bench scraper, cut the dough into three pieces. Keep the extra dough covered in plastic wrap while you work with one piece. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rough rectangle that fits inside the widest setting of the pasta machine. Roll the dough through the machine, catching it with one hand as you roll with the other. Take the dough and trifold it like a letter. Turn the dough so one open end faces the machine and roll it through on the widest setting again. Fold, turn, and roll once more on the widest setting.
Keep rolling the pasta through the machine, making the rollers a bit thinner each time, until you reach your desired thickness. If the sheet gets too long to handle, cut it into shorter pieces with a bench scraper and keep rolling.
Cut the pasta sheets into the shapes and sizes you like, then toss them with semolina flour. Set them aside and cover with a clean kitchen towel. You can cook the pasta right away or cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
To cook the pasta, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and add plenty of salt. Drop in the pasta and stir right away so it doesn’t stick. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, until al dente. Save about a cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta in a colander. Toss the hot pasta with your favorite sauce, adding some reserved pasta water if you need to thin it out and help coat the noodles. Add any garnish you like and serve right away.
Making fresh pasta dough is surprisingly simple, and you might wish you had tried it sooner. If you have Italian "00" flour, use it for delicate but chewy pasta. Otherwise, bread flour is a great alternative.
To make the dough, put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk them together. Make a well in the center and add the eggs and oil. Use your fingers to mix the eggs into the flour, pulling in flour from the sides as you go. Once the dough comes together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until it feels smooth and flexible but not sticky, adding a little more flour if needed. This should take about 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk, and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes, or up to an hour.
To roll dough: Secure a pasta machine to the edge of a long countertop. Using a bench scraper, cut the dough into three pieces. Keep the extra dough covered in plastic wrap while you work with one piece. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rough rectangle that fits inside the widest setting of the pasta machine. Roll the dough through the machine, catching it with one hand as you roll with the other. Take the dough and trifold it like a letter. Turn the dough so one open end faces the machine and roll it through on the widest setting again. Fold, turn, and roll once more on the widest setting.
Keep rolling the pasta through the machine, making the rollers a bit thinner each time, until you reach your desired thickness. If the sheet gets too long to handle, cut it into shorter pieces with a bench scraper and keep rolling.
Cut the pasta sheets into the shapes and sizes you like, then toss them with semolina flour. Set them aside and cover with a clean kitchen towel. You can cook the pasta right away or cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
To cook the pasta, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and add plenty of salt. Drop in the pasta and stir right away so it doesn’t stick. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, until al dente. Save about a cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta in a colander. Toss the hot pasta with your favorite sauce, adding some reserved pasta water if you need to thin it out and help coat the noodles. Add any garnish you like and serve right away.