Homemade Fettucine
Is there a sight more beautiful than fresh egg pasta drying in the morning sun? Thanks to a few modern day kitchen gadgets, making pasta from scratch has never been easier. While it requires a little more effort than opening a store bought package, the difference is immeasurable! Cooked to a perfect al dente, it has a firm bite with a rich egg flavor. I like to pair it with delicate sauces, like a fragrant pesto, or pine nut margoram sauce, which allows the pasta to take center stage. Fresh pasta can be made immediately, just drop it into salted, boiling water for a minute or two, unitl it rises to the surface. If you want to save it for future use, leave it on the drying racks for 12-24 hours until it is dry. Once it is completely dry, store it in an air tight container at room temperature. To freeze the pasta, place it on a sheet pan and put the pan in the freezer for about fifeen minutes, or until the pasta is cold enough that it doesn't stick together. Then, transfer to freezer bags.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 scant tspn salt
- 1 tbspn olive oil
- 1/4-1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Add flour to the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs.
- Add salt.
- Add olive oil.
- Using a fork, break the egg yolks and begin to mix.
- Add water in small increments until the dough comes together. Depending on the size of your eggs, the dough may need more or less water, so start slow.
- Continue to add water until the dough is no longer shaggy. Use your hands to form it into a ball. It should look like this.
- Attach the dough hook to your stand mixer and knead on medium-low speed for five to six minutes.
- Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and let it rest for thirty minutes.
- While the dough rests, set up your drying racks and your pasta machine. Set the rollers of the pasta machine to its widest setting.
- Using a pastry cutter, or knife, cut off an egg sized chunk of dough and cover the remaining dough so it doesn't dry out.
- Dust the dough with flour so it doesn't stick to the pasta machine, flatten it with your hands and run it through the roller.
- Change the setting to the next widest setting and repeat.
- If the dough sticks to the rollers, or it looks pitted as it comes out the bottom or the roller, dust with flour.
- Continue this process until the dough is about 1/16" thick. On my kitchen aid attachment, it's number 4.
- Using the pastry cutter, trim the ends of the sheet so they are square. Cut the sheet so they are about 12" -16" long.
- Transfer the sheets to the drying racks until you have used up all the dough.
- Once you have flattened all the dough, replace the roller attachment with the cutting attachment. Take one sheet at a time and run the dough through the cutting attachment.
- Hang the cut pasta on the drying racks to dry.
- Fresh pasta can be eaten immediately or it can be stored for up to two weeks in an air tight container, just be sure it's completely dry before storing.
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