Making Basic Egg Pasta

Making your own fresh pasta is quite easy, requires only a few ingredients already in your kitchen, and makes for a delicious classic Italian meal. You can even dry your pasta after you make it to significantly add time to the shelf life. There are many variations to this basic recipe, so there is probably no harm done if you don’t stick to these steps precisely. Find the steps that work best for you and what you have to work with in your kitchen!

Basic Egg Pasta

4 cups of flour

6 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

This will make two pounds of pasta, which is appropriate for a meal serving four to six people. Start with only your flour in a bowl or on a work surface. Make a well or large pit in the center of the mound of flour and put your eggs and salt in the well. Then, use a fork to mix the eggs together, without disturbing the flour at first. Once the eggs are mixed well, start adding the flour to the eggs a little bit at a time. Use your hands to really mix all the ingredients together well, and then form a dough ball with the mixture. Sometimes a special pasta knife is used for this mixing stage, but your hands will work just as well. If it seems a little dry, add a few drops of water, and if it seems a little sticky, add a bit of flour.

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Knead the dough, until the dough has a smooth consistency – typically this will take seven to ten minutes. Allow the dough to set for 20-30 minutes, or some people prefer to place the dough into the refrigerator overnight. Once the dough has set, slice the ball into three or four equal parts, which can be rolled onto a floured surface and cut.

Keep in mind that fresh pasta is cooked a little differently than dried pasta. Generally, it won’t take nearly as long to boil fresh pasta as it does dried pasta. Take care and check your pasta frequently to attain that “al dente” firmness!