Fresh Pasta Making 101

Our Pasta !

I got the idea to make fresh pasta from a class I went to with Jen and Darci at Trio Restaurant in Narragansett,RI. We made butternut ravioli and they were amazing. This class totally inspired me and made it look easy to do( or easier than I thought it would be anyway.) So this weekend Toby and I embarked on a new era in our cooking. Fresh Pasta. The dough was the part I was most worried about. The chef at our class made it clear if it was too wet it would not bind and too dry it would taste good, but would be hard to handle. Geez- Dammed if you do,dammed if you don't.


So we watched a few videos to brush up on the dough making. We decided on starting the dough in a large bowl ( after trying it out on the counter first.) It keeps the mess minimal and makes it easier to keep the well. I used the advice the chef gave us which was always feel the pasta dough for the right consistency. It should feel fairly hard, not wet.

Here is the dough making recipe:

Pasta Dough

2 Eggs
2 cups of Durum Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Water as needed

Pour out flour into a pile and make a well in the middle large enough to fit the eggs. Crack the eggs into the middle of the flour along with the salt and olive oil. With a fork start to slowly incorporate the eggs into the flour until you can form a ball( Be patient- this took about 10 mins). Place the ball on another lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. When the dough has the right consistency place under a towel and make it rest for 10 minutes. Then roll out the dough and sheet it so it is thin enough to fit into the pasta maker. And voila! Use your pasta maker to make whatever kind of pasta you want. Please remember to keep the dough floured at all stages so it does not stick.

Here are some of the steps we documented!

Ingredients and our new awesome pasta maker( Thanks Auntie Joanne)

Toby starting the dough

Our Dough Ball - Ready to Roll Out!

Feeding the Dough  Through our Pasta Machine

Fresh Fettuccini

Our masterpiece! Fettucine with pancetta and peas in a cream sauce

Incase anyone was thinking how I whipped this up it was super easy. I sauteed the the pancetta and then took it out once it was browned. I kept the oil in the pan and added some flour to make a roux. I added whole milk,salt,pepper and whisked together. When the sauce was reduced I mixed in the fresh pasta and frozen peas. FYI the fresh pasta boils in 2-3 minutes! When we sat down to eat this fresh pasta Toby tried it and exclaimed," I don't think I have ever had fresh pasta before." This tastes so much better than boxed pasta. 

And there you have it. Fresh pasta and it took less than an hour. We now have a ton of frozen pasta in our fridge to use whenever we want! Now that we have the dough down, raviolis are next!