All my cooking class guests marvel at how easy is to make a fresh pasta dough. I use a food processor and few simple ingredients . The dough is ready in a few minutes.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 100 gr (4 oz) 00 Italian flour
plus additional for kneading - 1 large egg
00 flour makes delicate, silky pasta. To obtain a slightly more rustic texture, substitute half of the 00 flour with very finely ground semolina.
In a food processor blend the flour and eggs until the mixture just begins to form a ball. Depending on the size of the eggs, it might be necessary to add more or less flour in order to obtain a soft but not sticky dough.
Alternatively, mix the ingredients on a lightly floured surface, then knead the dough, incorporating additional flour as necessary, until smooth and flexible, minimum 20 minutes. The dough can be used immediately but may be made 1 hour in advance and covered with a cotton tea towel. This resting period relaxes the gluten in the dough and makes it much easier to roll it.
a quick an easy pasta dough made in the food processorTo roll the pasta dough:
Set the smooth rollers of a pasta machine on widest setting. Cut the dough into several pieces. Flatten one piece of dough into a rectangle and feed through the rollers. Fold the rectangle in three and feed through the rollers. Then fold again in half, roll and repeat 3 or 4 more times. Fold each time and dust with flour but only if necessary to prevent sticking.
Turn dial down to next (narrower) setting and feed the dough through rollers without folding. Continue to feed the dough through, without folding, making the space between the rollers narrower each time, until the narrowest setting is reached.
how to fold and feed pasta dough through a pasta machineArrange the sheet of pasta on a dry kitchen towel or large wooden board. Roll out the remaining dough in the same manner. The pasta should dry a few minutes and up to 30 min. before cutting. You should however prevent it from becoming brittle.
rolling the pasta sheet to narrowest setting and cutting the thin pasta sheets into pappardelleFeed the sheets through the cutter and return the pasta to the kitchen towels. It should dry. at least 10 min. before cooking.
Serves 1 for noodles, 2 for ravioli if you are making a small entrée.
PS. Fat changes the texture of the pasta dough by preventing the formation of a strong gluten network. Should you like softer pasta, add a teaspoon of olive oil to the basic recipe. For a richer, eggier flavor but less flexible dough add one more egg yolk and a little flour.
Your top photo of the finished pasta looks so beautiful…….
I still can’t get over how often one has to pass the dough through the machine’s rollers, thinning it just a bit with each pass.
Being an impatient North American, I want to squash the dough through really hard, just one or twice, and have it come out thin. (poor dough!)
Hi Sandra, Ruurd is getting really good at food pictures isnt’it? How clever of myself to have given him a good camera as a birthday gift.
But yes, the pasta sheets should be very thin. As you surely remember from the cooking class though, it’s not really a lot of work. With a bit of practice you can make noodles in 30 min.
I think it is as therapeutic as a treatment at the wellness centre but much cheaper!
Hello,
I’m looking to buy a food processor to make my dough, and to grind/mash herbs/spices. What processor do you use? I don’t want to burn out the motor the second time I use it.
thanks
ken
Hi Ken
thank you for your comment. I use a Rowenta food processor but I am planning to buy a Magimix as soon as possible. Of course I have no idea what brands are available in your country but I always check reviews on Amazon, that’s a good starting point to know what’s good. If you make the pasta dough following my instructions you can actually use an reasonable machine.
I love to know I can click on your link in my bookmarks anytime and find something fresh and appealing to fire up my passion and give me a reason to do something I so dearly love…to cook and eat really really good food. This is what you give us…Thank you.
thank you Chris for this wonderful comment!
I totally agree Chris! It’s also infectious 😀
you are my lovely people!
Your pasta dough is perfect! Thank you!
thank you!
I’m having withdrawals now that I’ve gone 10 days without fresh Italian pasta. So yesterday for Michael’s birthday, I gave him an Imperia Pasta maker. That, the sack of “00 Flour” I brought back from Umbria, & the great instructions & photos from this blog, assures me of yummy goodness in the near future.
Tal
can’t wait to try pasta with the food processor! I grew up rolling sheets of dough on kitchen table @ my gram’s, and welcome having a processor as my ‘assist’!
lovely! let me know if you like the “modern” way!
Hi Letizia, we did your cooking class last July whilst we were staying in Asissi. We have now bought a pasta maker and will attempt our first batch of home made pasta – Australian style! I have told Frank this time though he must stay away from the wine! Jan
Thank you Jan, a little wine is allowed, but not while rolling the pasta!
When you say “Alternatively, mix the ingredients on a lightly floured surface, then knead the dough, ” does that mean that when you use the food processor, you do NOT kneed the dough?
Hi Bobo, yes, the food processor does the job so you don’t need to knead it additionally
Have only just discovered your lovely site. What joy. My food processor has a plastic blade and also a metal one for chopping. Which should I use?
Hi Erika and thank you so much for visiting. I only have a metal blade in my food processor and that works very well. Enjoy pasta making is one of the most relaxing ways of cooking I know!
Took a couple of tries for me to get the flour to egg proportions right but then it worked out well. It seemed to take a lot longer to cook that normal though. I made ravioli and the edges seemed tough at first where it was double thickness but once I cooked it for a lot longer it was great. Is it normal for fresh homemade pasta to take longer to cook than fresh supermarket pasta? I’m thinking maybe the manufacturers pre-cook it some?
Hi Erika, did you use the pastry or Italian 00 flour? Did you roll it thin, until the last setting of the machine? My ravioli cook in 3 to 3 and half minutes while those I buy fresh at the pasta shop take almost 5 minutes. I actually have not bought them for years but they definitely cook longer than the handmade ones!
I used Italian 00 flour but maybe didn’t roll it thin enough as I did it by hand. Made fettucine last night which cooked really quickly so I’m going to buy a machine this weekend and will try the ravioli again. Thank you so much for your advice. I’m really looking forward to trying some of your gorgeous recipes.
Thank you Erika. Rolling pasta by hand requires some experience. May be you know this, but the dough should be rolled around the pin, stretched by hand, unrolled and re-rolled several times to make it so thin that you can see the pattern on a tablecloth if you put it on it. I love my pasta machine as I can do the same work in 1/4 of the time. If you are on FB please post pictures and tag me so I can advice further if you wish. 🙂
Super easy, fun & yummy! Fettuccine w garlic lemon sauce!
[…] virgin olive oil. Last but not least, cook the pasta separately so it’s al dente. I use fresh egg pasta which is miles away from the overcooked broken spaghetti of old-time school cafeteria. Try it and […]
[…] is a delightful recipe which is impossibly simple. All you need is fresh homemade fettuccine or other egg noodles (no spaghetti) a lemon, a knob of butter, a drizzle of heavy cream and a […]
[…] the dough in a food processor as explained for fresh pasta. Alternatively mix ingredients by hand in a large bowl, then turn the dough out onto a lightly […]