What makes this homemade pasta "most excellent" (in the words of Bill and Ted)? Using farm fresh eggs is the key. Not supermarket eggs that say "farm fresh", but eggs direct from a farm or homestead. Surprisingly enough, outside of downtown/suburban urban jungles (where small lots and pesky zoning codes get in the way), a surprising number of folks keep chickens and "fresh egg" signs are not just for decoration. In addition to fresh eggs, using '00' flour (double-zero Italian-style) is important as well-- easily available from the online retail-industrial complex. Likewise, making pasta requires some kind of paster roller (manual or powered) as it is too difficult to get the uniform thickness/width required using a rolling pin (even with spacers).
2wholeEggs (fresher is better)
1tspOlive Oil
Prepare a clean work surface for blending the pasta. Granite or marble work well. Avoid wood as it pulls moisture out of the pasta. (A plastic cutting board might work in a pinch, though we have never tried.)
- Crack the egg into something small you can pour from (i.e., small bowl, measuring cup, etc.) Wisk the egg until the yoke and white are fully combined.
- Create a "well" with half the flour by arranging into a small circle with an area to hold the egg mixture and pour in half the egg.
- Start kneading by hand and add additional flour and egg mixture as you go until you form a pasta ball with a nice skin.
- Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Cut the pasta ball into 4 chunks and keep covered.
- Take one chunk (keeping the others covered) and form into a long strip with a pasta roller, working from the thickest setting to your target thinness.
- For the first half of your thickness settings, fold the left-third/right-third of the pasta onto itself (forming a rough square/rectangle) and rotate 90 degress. This kneads and thins the pasta at the same time.
- For the second half of your thickness settings, fold half the pasta back onto itself but don't rotate (as is too long at this point). After the final pass, the pasta will likely be 2-3 feet long.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the long pasta strip into 2-3 sections (depending on the length of pasta you like). Flour both sides of the pasta dough so they do not stick and fold the left-third/right-third of each section onto the center and then cut individual pasta noodles using a long knife. (The folding ensures that the pasta is shorter than your knife). Unfold each noodle and place on pasta drying rack or wire rack.
- Let pasta dry for at least 30 minutes.
To cook:
- In a large pot filled with one gallon of water and 1T kosher salt to a full boil.
- Add pasta to pot and boil for 2-4 minutes depending on the thickness of your pasta.
- If making a sauce to go on the pasta, a few tablespoons of the pasta water can be used to thin a sauce.
To store:
- Portion pasta into approximately 8 oz portions and store fresh fully dried pasta in a plastic bag. I do not seal the bag closed as I do not want any leftover moisture to stay in the bag (the pasta can get moldy with the bag closed).
- You can freeze the pasta in a lidded plastic container, but cook directly from the freezer. Do not thaw!