How to Make Fresh Pasta

Making homemade Fresh Pasta is such an easy task that a child could do it. The rule of thumb is to count 1 whole egg to 3½ ounces flour. The rest is a little salt, olive oil and water as necessary. You could knead and roll the pasta dough with a rolling pin or use a pasta machine. 

This weekend we used the pasta attachments of the Kitchenaid and played around with different shapes and finally agreed on making spaghetti. It turned out beautifully and we let the pasta air dry. Boiled in salted water, it tasted wonderful with pesto.

Ingredients

Yields: 1 pound (4 servings)

½ cup semolina flour
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
3 whole eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional)
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup pesto sauce (click on the link for the recipe)

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Directions

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with sugar (if used) until they're pale; the texture of the eggs will be thicker. Add cayenne pepper (if used).Note: You could also just lightly beat the eggs with a fork.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the semolina and 1½ cups all-purpose flour (the remaining flour is for dusting the pasta so it doesn't stick). Add salt. Form a well and place the egg mixture into the indentation. Form a dough ball and knead the dough until combined. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover with a damp towel, place the bowl in a warm spot and let rest for about 1 hour. 

Divide the dough into 3 portions. The dough should be neither too sticky nor too dry.  Dust a flat work space (or a board) with a generous amount of flour. Roll out each ball with a rolling pin, then pass through a pasta roller machine, using the thickest setting. Dust the pasta sheet with a little flour on both sides to prevent them from sticking to the machine. Repeat 2-3 times. For the last time through, use setting "3" of the Kitchenaid flat roller pasta attachment. Lastly, pass through the spaghetti cutter.

Keep the spaghetti strands separated and dusted with flour; let them air dry for at least 30 minutes before boiling them, hanging the pasta on long chopsticks over large, deep mixing bowls. Note: You could skip this step and let the spaghetti dry on a large tray dusted with flour.

Boil the pasta for 10-15 minutes. Drain, transfer to a mixing bowl, cover with pesto sauce and toss well.