Homemade Pasta

A few years ago, for Christmas, my parents received a Cucina Pro pasta machine as a present from my boyfriend. It was a great present and making your own pasta is a fun two-person activity. Finding the perfect recipe for pasta can be tricky. After experimenting and making adjustments, I decided to use this recipe as my official one.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
•  3 tablespoons of warm water

Steps:

1.  Combine the ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Using a mixer, mix the ingredients until they begin to form into a dough-like substance.
3. Knead the dough using your hands.
4. If there is too much dry flour, add a little more water (1 tablespoon at a time) until the dough becomes the right consistency.

Machine Preparation:

1. Set up pasta machine by clamping it down on the corner of a table.
2. Feed flour through the machine to absorb excess oils.
3. Set the knob to the preferred setting. The widest setting is easiest for beginners.

Making the Pasta:

1. Knead dough a second time and separate into fist-size balls.
2. Roll out each ball using a rolling pin.
3. Feed the oval-shaped dough into the pasta machine to flatten out the dough. Lay flat. 
4. Continue adding flour to coat both sides of the the rolled-out pieces of dough.
5. Use some extra hands to help feed the dough in the machine as you crank out the pasta.
6. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until al dente. 

drying linguine

You will find that as you crank out the pasta, the medium-sized oval you started with is now turning into long, long, long pieces of pasta. If this happens, you can cut the pieces in half and lay the pasta onto a floured sheet of parchment paper. Or, you can get creative and hang the pasta using skewers, a broom stick or walking stick propped between two chairs...obviously you should clean the broom or walking stick before you hang your delicate pasta over it. The best way to serve fresh pasta is with some good Parmesan cheese, top quality olive oil (or truffle oil), a little salt, and freshly cracked pepper.

A well-used pasta machine

CucinaPro