Basic Pasta Dough
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— This is my basic homemade pasta dough recipe. It requires 4 simple ingredients. Flour, eggs, water and a little olive oil. I always prefer 00 flour, which is traditionally used in Italy because it renders a smooth, silky and tender dough. 00 flour is lower in gluten than an All Purpose American flour and it is grounded finer, hence it has a more powdery consistency and the pasta gets a nice tender bite and not as much chew. The eggs need to be fresh and with a bright yellow or orange yolk to achieve the characteristic warm and inviting color of homemade pasta. I use as little water as I can, just enough to get the right wet texture and a little olive oil to help with the consistency. I really don’t like to use salt in the dough because I think pasta should be a blank canvas to which the flavors are added and layered later on when cooking. Finally, I suggest you always finish your dough by hand and not in a mixer to make sure you attained the right texture. Making the dough is easy, it just takes a little practice and the proportion are more or less 3/4 of a cup of 00 flour to one large egg per portion or even better, if you own a scale, 100g of flours to one egg.
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Basic Pasta Dough
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— This is my basic homemade pasta dough recipe. It requires 4 simple ingredients. Flour, eggs, water and a little olive oil. I always prefer 00 flour, which is traditionally used in Italy because it renders a smooth, silky and tender dough. 00 flour is lower in gluten than an All Purpose American flour and it is grounded finer, hence it has a more powdery consistency and the pasta gets a nice tender bite and not as much chew. The eggs need to be fresh and with a bright yellow or orange yolk to achieve the characteristic warm and inviting color of homemade pasta. I use as little water as I can, just enough to get the right wet texture and a little olive oil to help with the consistency. I really don’t like to use salt in the dough because I think pasta should be a blank canvas to which the flavors are added and layered later on when cooking. Finally, I suggest you always finish your dough by hand and not in a mixer to make sure you attained the right texture. Making the dough is easy, it just takes a little practice and the proportion are more or less 3/4 of a cup of 00 flour to one large egg per portion or even better, if you own a scale, 100g of flours to one egg.
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| Servings | Prep Time |
| 4people | 1hours |
| Passive Time |
| 30 minutes minimum resting time |
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Ingredients
- 3cups 00 flour400g
- 4large eggs
- 2 to 3teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- water
Instructions
Dough
- Place the sifted 00 flour onto a clean work surface, preferably a large wood board and make a well in the center.
- Break the eggs into the well and gradually mix the egg mixture into the flour using your fingers or a fork, add the oil then combine the ingredients together into a firm dough. If the dough feels too dry, add a few drops of water at time until the dough feels smooth and silky, I like to wet my fingers with the water so I can control the moisture; if the dough feels too wet, add a little more flour. After you’ve made the dough a few times, you will get the hang of it and understand the consistency. You can you use a stand in mixer fitted with a hook, but I highly recommend you finish the dough by hand.
- Knead the pasta dough until it’s smooth, 5 to 10 minutes. Lightly coat it with a little amount of olive oil, wrap the dough in Saran wrap, and let it rest at room temperature in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. The pasta will become much more relaxed and elastic after resting. I like to make my dough the day before and rest it in the fridge till I need it.
Pasta Rolling and Shaping
- Cut small section— about 2 to 3 inches thick— of the rested pasta and feed them one at time through a pasta machine set on the widest setting. As the sheet of pasta dough comes out of the machine, fold it into thirds and then feed it through the rollers again, still on the widest setting. Pass the pasta through this same setting a total of 4 or 5 times. This kneads the pasta dough and ensures the resulting pasta is silky smooth.
- Pass the sheet of pasta dough through the machine again, gradually reducing the settings, one pass at a time, until the pasta achieves the desired thickness. The sheet of pasta dough will become quite long— cut the sheet of dough in half and feed each half through separately. I suggest you use the second-from-last setting for tagliatelle, pappardelle and tagliolini and the last setting for other shapes that are to be filled.
- After the sheet of pasta dough has reached the liked thickness, hang it over a drying rack or do like I used to do at home and hang it over a broom handle or the large handle of your oven door. Dust with flour to prevent sticking.
- Shape the pasta through the chosen cutters of your machine and then drape the cut pasta again to dry just a little, until ready to cook. You can also shape the pasta by hand with a cutter. I like to lightly dust the finished pasta with fine semolina flour.
- Cook the pasta in plenty salted boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes or freeze for up to six months.
Recipe Notes
You can color your pasta by adding tomato paste, cooked spinach, squid ink, beet juice or saffron threads. I like to add my coloring ingredients at the beginning of the process with the fresh eggs.
Gluten Free Fresh Pasta:
1 1/4 Gluten Free Flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
4 large egg yolks
1 large egg
2 to 4 tablespoons water