Fresh Egg Pasta

Over Christmas (yes, I still have posts related to the holidays), my friend C generously invited me over for dinner. I was so excited to find out that she was making homemade fresh pasta. Due to her Italian background, C is quite serious about her pasta (she even treated us to homemade cannoli's). Her pasta and seafood was amazing; the egg noodles just melted in my mouth! Not only did I come home that night with a very full belly, but I also scored her pasta maker (since C got a pasta attachment for her Kitchen Aid for Christmas)! Sweet!

I was very excited to try my hand at making pasta. Since C's pasta recipe is to add flour to eggs until the texture is right, I used my Joy of Cooking: All about Pasta & Noodles cookbook as a reference. C did have a good tip for quantity: use 1 egg per person.



Fresh Egg Pasta - Serves 4
From Joy of Cooking: All about Pasta & Noodles.

3-½ all purpose flour
5 eggs
1 tsp salt (optional)
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

Pour flour onto a clean counter (or a big bowl), shaping into a mound and make a well in the center.
Add to the well, the eggs, salt and olive oil.
Beat the eggs lightly with a fork, drawing in some flour as you go, until the eggs are mixed and slightly thickened.
Using the fingertips of one hand, gradually incorporate the flour into the eggs and blend everything into a smooth, not too stiff dough.
If the dough feels too dry and crumbly, add water as needed.
Knead the dough until satiny and very elastic, about 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces and wrap the pieces loosely in plastic.
Follow directions of pasta maker to roll dough.
Cook pasta and serve with desired ingredients (this time, I used pesto, corn, snap peas, shrimps and scallops).
Tada!



Rolling pasta for the first time was tricky but fun!


I was feeling so proud to have actual fresh noodles!

I'm not sure how much a pasta maker costs but I think it's worth it if you'll use it often. Making the actual pasta dough wasn't hard. I actually tried making pasta without a pasta maker before Christmas with failed results. I cannot wait to put the pasta maker to use again! Thanks so much C!


Dig in to the fresh pasta!