Pasta Dough

A staple for any aspiring chef who likes to make, or try making, everything at least once. I've only made a few batches so far, but this is the recipe i think works the best for me.

275g pasta flour
3 medium eggs

Step 1
Place the pasta flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre for the eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing them into the flour with a fork. Stir the well with the fork until all the dough is smooth and shiny, adding more flour from the sides if needed.

Step 2
Using your hands, incorperate the rest of the flour until it becomes solid enough to turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic adding more flour if needed, especially f the dough becomes sticky or too pliable. Cover the dough with cling film, and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Step 3
Make 4 portions of the dough and then use the following method if you have no pasta roller. On a lightly floured surface roll out the portions of pasta until you get to your desired thickness, usually around 1mm, and cut into the desired shape.



I have used this method to make tagniatelli by cutting the rolled dough into thin strips, Ravioli by cutting into squares (though you can have them round) and filling them, and small pasta shapes for minestrone soup. This recipe can be used for ANY pasta you like, so long as you can make the shape for it. One thing you an do to add a little variety to it would be coloured pasta, which can be achieved with different foods. Drained, boiled spinach is generally used for green pasta, red pasta can be made with tomato puree, black with squid ink, or you can make a more yellow pasta with more egg yolks. All of these coloured pastas will need more flour, so be sure to adjust accordingly. Adding more egg yolks doesn't just make the flour more yellow, it enriches the pasta, and makes it richer, ideal for impressing someone.