Making fresh pasta

I didn't know how easy it is to make fresh pasta!  Sure, like anything else, it takes a lifetime of practice to get it perfect, but the basics are really easy.  And your results will (almost certainly) be edible.  I found that without a pasta roller, the biggest challenge was getting the dough thin enough.  You'll need to roll it thinner than you think it needs to be.  A friend told me that you need to pick it up and look at a light through it to see if it's almost translucent.

All I really know is that it's fun to make and it gives your arms a good workout!


Fresh Pasta

2 c all-purpose flour
3 eggs 
Additional flour for dusting

Make a circle on your counter top with the flour and break the eggs into the middle.  Use a fork to start stirring the flour into the eggs, working outward until all is combined.  Add either teaspoons of water or flour if the dough is too dry or too wet.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest on the counter for at least 15 minutes.

Roll out, shape, cut, fill or let dry, and cook as desired.  My first adventure was with plain old fettucine, so I rolled out the pasta into sheets, rolled them up to cut them into strips, and hung the strips over a plastic-wrapped handle to dry.  The pasta only needed about 5 minutes in the well-salted boiling water later to be cooked perfectly. 

This is only one sheet worth of fettucine.  The recipe above makes 4 or 5 sheets.  These are a little too thick...I got better as I went along!