Pasta

Homemade pasta is easy - and you will never go back.  Our recipe comes from a cooking class taken at Sur la Table.

Ingredients:

12 and 1/2 ounces of flour  (Pro Tip: use half "type 00" flour and half regular old all-purpose.)
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 T extra virgin olive oil

Procedure:

• Combine flours and salt in a large kitchen bowl.  
• Create a well in the flour mixture; place 4 eggs and olive oil in the well.
• Using two fingers, swirl the eggs into the flour slowly until dough begins to form.  Stir from the center and work outward toward the sides. 
• When the dough is mixed, turn it out onto a floured surface.  Knead until flexible and smooth, but not sticky.  This should take about 5 minutes and you will need to add some small amounts of flour.  
• Shape the dough into a ball and flatten into a disk.
• Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 20 minutes (up to an hour) at room temperature.

To shape:

• Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 4 pieces.  
• With a rolling pin, roll the quarter of dough out thinly enough to fit into a pasta machine's widest setting.  
• Roll dough through machine.  Then fold it trifold, like a letter.
• Turn the dough so the open end faces the machine, and roll it through on the widest setting again.  
• Continue rolling through the machine, adjusting the roller to a smaller setting one notch at a time, until the dough is your desired thickness.
• Cut either by hand or using a pasta cutter and toss with flour.
• You can either cook it immediately or store it for 24 hours before use!

When we make pasta, we make several batches of dough at once and freeze them, wrapped in plastic wrap, in a bag in the freezer.  Dough will keep for 6 months.  You can then take a ball down the morning you want to have fresh pasta for dinner.