What’s slim, elastic, tasty as hell, and served al dente? Pasta. This pasta recipe has brought me so much happiness, and many great memories. I once came over to Bob’s place, and he made dinner while I napped. (I can’t remember why I could be so tired!) Waking up to fresh pasta topped with zucchini, beet greens, tomato, herbs, and salmon probably made me love this guy. I can see myself making pasta last fall, alongside my best friend. We downed moscato, and danced while rolling out some beautiful pasta. We enjoyed the wine so much Bob might have had to supervise us. He finished that dish with mushrooms, herbs, and a light cream sauce. Then I can see myself driving over to my mother’s house a few months ago, with fresh pasta and a slowly simmered tomato sauce ready to top with basil. It was penance for moving out and making her miss me.
Making pasta for the first time, with Olya.
The elements we added on were delicious. What really matters though, is the pasta itself. My first try working with pasta dough went well, because Bob coached me along. Honestly, it’s something you get a feel for. We played around a little bit with a dab of oil and a sprinkle of flour. It came together beautifully when we topped that off with some muscle. (Kneading is hard work, okay?) I love dough, the smell, the process, how bonds form and break and re-form. Bread dough, pasta dough, I don’t discriminate. Give me all the gluten.
From there, there’s a patient process of rolling the dough through a pasta maker. I love this part. It makes me think of Italian families and traditional meals. Tireless preparation for a meal so well worth it when you enjoy with a bottle of wine.
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 185 g egg
- 125 g egg yolk
- *Alternatively, you can just use about 310 grams of egg, if you don't have enough eggs for the separate 125 grams of yolk, the pasta will still turn out great.
- 25 g olive oil
- Salt to taste
- On a clean workspace (countertop), create a large mound with your flour, give a generous pinch of salt.
- Hollow out the center and add the eggs into the middle.
- Using a fork, slowly whisk the flour into the egg, pulling flour from the sides of the mound as you whisk.
- Once the egg has been mixed into the flour, add olive oil and begin kneading with your hands, about 5-10 minutes, until the ball of dough becomes smooth.
- During this process, if you find your pasta dough seems too dry, wet your hands, sprinkle a bit of water on the dough, and continue kneading. If the pasta dough seems too wet, sprinkle with some more flour while kneading.
- Once your ball of dough is smooth, massage a drizzle of olive oil around the dough and cover with plastic wrap.
- Allow the dough to rest at least 30 minutes before running through your pasta machine.
- Cutting the dough into manageable pieces for your pasta machine, start on the thickest setting, run the dough through the pasta machine, move to a thinner setting, run the dough through again, repeating until you have reached the thinnest setting.
- Once rolled, dust the dough with flour, then cut your pasta into the desired style.
- If not using immediately, toss with more flour so it doesn't stick together, and dry about 30-60 minutes. Refrigerate in a plastic container or ziploc bag, using within a few days, or freeze up to a month.
- When cooking, the fresh pasta should only take about 2 minutes.
I’m sure you’ll love it too.
Shan
