Fresh Egg Pasta Dough
Once you make pasta from scratch, and you realize just how easy it is, it’ll be your go-to recipe. There is definitely a place for the boxed variety, and there are plenty of good ones on the market but making pasta with beautiful pasture-raised organic eggs with dark golden yolks is beyond anything you can get mass-produced. Once you make fresh pasta a couple of times, it becomes super easy and the recipe will go more smoothly and fast.
Roll out to desired thickness.t
For noodles, trim the ends.
For pappardelle, cut 1/2” thick
Toss in rice flour to prevent sticking. If you don’t have rice flour, use a little all-purpose flour.
Try this dough with my Fresh Pappardelle with Ramps and Maitake Mushrooms recipe.
The Recipe
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
2 extra-large eggs
200 grams all-purpose flour
Rice flour – to prevent sticking
Kosher salt – for cooking water
Directions:
1. In a food processor place the all-purpose flour (AP flour), then the egg. Process until it looks like course breadcrumbs. I do this in two batches (100 g AP flour with 1 egg), since my food processor is on the small side.
2. Carefully tip dough out onto your dry worksurface. Bring it together and knead a few times to make a 1 ½” thick round disk. If you find the dough to be too wet (it will feel sticky), sprinkle with an additional tablespoon of AP flour while kneading.
3. Wrap the disk in plastic and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, or so. If you need to let it rest for a few hours, you can place it in the fridge. This allows the flour to fully absorb the egg. I wouldn’t do it the day before, because the dough may turn a bit gray if it sits for that long.
4. Once it has rested, the consistency should be smoother. Remove the plastic and cut the dough into quarters. Work with one piece at a time while keeping the remaining pieces under the plastic to keep from drying out.
5. I like to use rice flour when rolling out the dough to stop it from sticking to my work surface, but if you don’t have rice flour, use more AP flour. I also sprinkle it over the raw pasta shapes/noodles to keep them from clumping together. Rice flour doesn’t get absorbed like AP flour, so it won’t dry out your dough. It also doesn’t cloud up the cooking water as much.
6. I use a Kitchen Aid standing mixer pasta attachment to roll out the dough, which frees up both hands to work the dough, but feel free to use a hand-crank machine that attaches to your counter or table. You can also do it by hand with a rolling pin, but that’s too much work for this lazy cook. If I’m shaped or stuffed pasta, I like to roll it out to a 7 or 8 on the machine. The thinner it is, the more finicky it is to work with, but the better the finished product. I like to roll noodles out to a 6 or 7.
7. To cook the pasta, fill a large stockpot two-thirds of the way with water. Bring to a boil and add a handful or two of kosher salt to flavor the water. It should taste like the sea, so taste the water. Once it’s boiling, turn down the heat slightly so it doesn’t boil over. Carefully add the pasta in batches, so you don’t crowd the pot, and cook for a few minutes until it bounces to the surface. Boil for an additional minute or two and then remove using a slotted spoon or tongs. Transfer directly to your sauce and gently toss to combine, or transfer to your plate and top with chosen sauce.
8. If you want to freeze the dough, roll it out and stuff it, if applicable. Toss with the rice flour and place on a parchment-lined sheet tray and freeze until solid. Transfer to a plastic zip-top bag, label and date the bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. If it’s frozen it won’t discolor. You can cook it straight from the freezer by dropping it into the salted boiling water and following step #7.
