Egg pasta at its best; this Emilia-Romagna-style pasta is
rich and golden in color from the egg yolks. Because this
recipe contains a good amount of egg, the dough is moist
and forgiving—a benefit if you’re a beginner.
About 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
1 teaspoon salt
2 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
How to make
Great Fresh Egg Pasta
1.With a food processor: Combine the flour and salt
in the container and pulse once or twice. Add the eggs and
yolks all at once and turn the machine on. Process just
until a ball begins to form, about 30 seconds. Add a few
drops of water if the dough is dry and grainy; add a tablespoon
of flour if the dough sticks to the side of the bowl.
By hand: Combine 11/2 cups of the flour and the salt
on a counter or large board. Make a well in the middle.
Put the eggs and yolks into this well. Beat the eggs with a
fork, slowly and gradually incorporating the flour, a little
at a time. When it becomes too hard to stir with the fork,
use your hands. When all the flour on the surface has
been mixed in, knead the dough, pushing it against the
board and folding it repeatedly, until it is not at all sticky
and has become quite stiff. Add only small amounts of
flour during kneading if you absolutely need it.
Sprinkle the dough with a little of the reserved flour
and cover with plastic or a cloth; let it rest for about
30 minutes. (At this point, you may refrigerate the
dough, wrapped in plastic, until you’re ready to roll it
out, for up to 24 hours.)
2. Clean your hands and clamp a pasta machine to the
counter; sprinkle your work surface lightly with flour. Cut
off about one-third of the dough; wrap the rest in plastic
or cloth while you work. Roll the dough lightly in the
flour and use your hands to flatten it into a rectangle
about the width of the machine. Set the machine to its
highest (that is, thickest) setting and crank the dough
through. If it sticks, dust it with a little more flour.
Repeat. Set the machine to its next-thinnest setting and
repeat. Each time, if the pasta sticks, sprinkle it with a little
more flour, and each time put the dough through the
machine twice.
3.Continue to work your way down (or up, as the
case may be—each machine is numbered differently)
through the numbers. If at any point the dough tears
badly, bunch it together and start again (you will quickly
get the hang of it). Use as much flour as you need to, but
in small amounts each time.
4. Pass the dough through the machine’s thinnest setting;
(if this fails, pass it through the next-thinnest once).
Repeat two more times (by this time it will be going
quickly), then flour the dough lightly, cover it, and set it
aside. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
5.Cut each sheet into rectangles roughly 16 inches
long; trim the ends to make it neat. At this point the
dough is ready to be used. You can leave it as sheets to
make lasagne or stuffed pasta or cut the sheets to make
noodles. Cut by hand or pass the dough through the
machine once more, this time using the broadest (tagliatelle)
cutter. Or cut by hand into broad strips (pappardelle).
Cook right away or hang the strands to dry for
up to a couple of hours.
6.To cook the noodles, drop them into boiling salted
water; they’ll be done when tender, in less than 3 (and
probably less than 2) minutes. Sauce them immediately
and serve.
Pizzocheri.
The robust buckwheat pasta of northeastern
Italy: Use 11/2 cups fine buckwheat flour and 1/2 cup
all-purpose flour.
Chinese-Style Egg Noodles.
The recipe remains the
same, but roll the dough as thin as possible. Then cut
the noodles up to an inch wide or very narrow, in
shorter strands than you would Italian pasta.