The hardest part about making homemade pasta for the first time is the decision to try. Once you roll up your sleeves (and preferably have some liquid courage nearby), the rest is history. I will try almost anything once, except skydiving.
Being in the kitchen for me is the equivalent to an artist being in their studio. As I knead, roll, and cut the dough I channel all my creativity and love into the food. Instead of brush strokes, my tools are my measuring cup and rolling pin. My version of an easel are my dishes and pans.
If you're looking for encouragement to try something new, consider it this! I will be the first to admit that I'm not perfect and my pasta has a long way to go, but I never regret stretching my skills and attempting something new. Buona fortuna!
Basic Egg Pasta
Recipe from Mimi Thorrison
Ingredients:
3 1/3 cups "00" Flour
4 Large Eggs, at room temperature
Rice Flour, for dusting
*You will also require a pasta machine or Kitchen Aid attachment to be most successful!
Directions:
Pile the 3 1/3 cup of "00" flour on your counter and make a divet in the center.
Crack and add your 4 eggs into the well.
Using a fork for precision, beat the eggs.
Start pulling in small amounts of the flour from the inner sides and incorporate gently.
Once your dough comes together, start kneading it with the palms of your hands.
Pull off any parts that start to seperate from the majority of your dough.
Continue kneading until the dough is elastic-y and when you press the top of your dough it springs back to the original shape (instead of leaving an indent where your finger was). - This part should take anywhere between 15-30 minutes!
Put your dough into a seperate bowl and cover with a lid and set aside for 1 hour.
After this, "dust" your counter and rolling pin if using with the rice flour.
Cut off a handful of dough to work with and roll it out about 1/2 inch thick.
Use the thickest setting on your pasta tool and roll out the dough.
Then, switch to the thinnest setting and roll out the dough on this level. Repeat this stage, each time going thinner and thinner until you have smooth pasta dough.
From here, I chose to roll the dough into a long "snake" shape and then cut off small parts moving down the whole length of the dough to form tagliatelle!
Boil for 30-seconds to 1 minute...
Buon appetito!