The more correct way of making pasta!
Most pasta recipes use a whole number of eggs. Which always bothered me, because eggs come in various sizes.
Then some recipes say X amount of yolks and Y amount of whole eggs. But why?
A much more precise way of making pasta is to follow the guidance of soapmaking. It warns that liquids change volume at different temperatures and the solution is weighing the liquids. We’ll do this with the pasta ingredients too.
For a more yellow pasta, use as much egg yolk as possible. But don’t worry, it can even just be made with water, so using the same amount of egg whites as egg yolks is fine too. We’ll use as much egg as possible to reach the desired liquid weight and then add water for the rest.
As for flour, the finer the better. You should preferably use type-00 flour. It’s a finer flour that creates a silkier texture and requires less liquid. If you don’t have this flour, you’ll need to add a bit more water.
Fresh homemade pasta
Equipment
- 1 Pasta machine alternatively, you will have to roll it with a rolling pin but won't get it evenly rolled out.
- 1 Fork To mix the ingredients on the table
- 1 bench scraper alternatively a spatula, to gather the ingredients while you're kneading.
- 1 roll of plastic wrap to keep the dough humid while resting
- 1 Large pot
- 1 Pasta spoon or good tongs
Ingredients
- 150 g 00-flour
- 3 g salt 1 tsp kosher salt or half a teaspoon fine salt
- 93 g wet ingredients about 4 eggs, use as many to get as close as possible and then add water for the rest
- Semolina flour Used for keeping dough from sticking when working with it.
Instructions
Mixing the ingredients - traditional way
- Pour the flour into a mound
- Make a hole in the middle with the bowl of wet ingredients
- Pour the wet ingredients into the hole
- Mix with a fork, gently mixing in more and more flour
- Mix until you can start working with your hands. Now you need to knead it very well, don't underestimate this part! (scroll to that section)
Maxing the ingredients - the faster way
- Add all the ingredients to a mixer or a bowl and mix until it's a whole mass. Then follow the kneading instructions.
Kneading the dough
- Knead the dough for at least 8 minutes from when it's a homogenous mass. Definitely use a timer, as it will feel like for ever. You cannot overdo it, so if you feel like it, go more!Knead by pushing the dough out in front of you, fold it in half, turn it 90 degrees and repeat.
- When done after 8-10 minutes, wrap it in foil and rest for at least 30 minutes. If resting for longer or overnight, put it in the fridge and take it out 30 minutes before using.
Rolling out the dough
- Prepare the machine and spread out some semolina flour. It helps against the dough sticking and will fall off while cooking the pasta.
- Take half of one person's worth of dough out at a time. so if making for two people, take a quarter. Don't let the rest dry out.
- Press it flat with your fingers into a rectangle
- Use the thickest pasta setting on the machine first. For each setting, you should have the dough pass through twice.
- Between passes, consider adding more semolina to ensure it doesn't stick to the machine.
- Work through the thicknesses of the machine until the desired thickness.
- Cut into shapes or sizes that you want.
- Mix with some semolina so it don't stick together into a lump again.
Cooking the pasta
- Cook in plenty of boiling water. Use at least a liter of water per person and add a lot of salt, the pasta will not cook for long so it won't take a lot of salt in.
- Cook for 1-2 minutes, no more!
- Instead of straining the pasta, you should fish it out of the water with a pasta spoon of tongs. The semolina is in the bottom of the pot and you don't want to get it on the pasta by straining!
- Enjoy with a delicious sauce!
In this version i added pepper and chopped basil leaves, but it should give you a sense of what to go through:
Pasta ingredients in a dough well
Mixing the ingredients with a fork 
Dough after kneading well