First a friend in New Orleans texted me about learning to make fresh pasta, then my inbox got hit with other requests. It seems now that we have time and life has slowed down pasta making is making a comeback. I always have plenty of dried pasta in my house but there are times when the taste and texture of fresh pasta become my craving.
I will make this as simple as possible.
3/4 cup flour (any kind of white flour from 00 to all purpose)
1 egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
A sprinkle of salt.
Put it into your food processor and watch it go. Once formed you can remove to a floured board to knead a bit. The pasta should not be sticky, if it is knead in a bit more flour. You want a smooth dense ball.
If you do not have a food processor then simply put the flour on a board, make a well, salt the egg and blend with a fork, it will take more time but the result is worth it.
Once this step is done you let it rest, wrap in plastic and let sit for 30 minutes. The next step is either with a rolling pin, your fingers or your pasta machine, I picked one up on an after Christmas sale for 10 euro.
I like the manual machines rather than the electric with the plastic moulds. Whether with a machine or a rolling pin you want to work with 25% of the dough at a time and roll as thinly as possible. You will see videos of how to make sure you fold and re-fold until you get a perfect rectangle. I am here to tell you that it does not matter. So what if one portion of your fettucine is longer than another?
BEFORE cutting into noodles let the sheets rest and dry for about 30 minutes. hang them over the edges of a saucepan.
Then you can cut, either lay down on the cutting board and with a knife or scissors cut into strips, or fold to make multiple cuts at once or run through your machine to get the size noodle you like. It is that easy.
Fresh pasta cooks quickly, it will rise up in the water, take a strand and taste, mushy pasta makes Italians cry.
As for sauces, I love a simple tomato, or a garlic and oil, tomato, or a pesto and as this project continues I promise to share many more sauces.
Pasta is inexpensive, delicious and soul satisfying.
Whatever you do, never put a chicken alfredo sauce on homemade pasta. It is insulting to Italy and as disgusting as pineapple on pizza.
