Homemade Pasta / Paste facute in casa

Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour and salt.

2. In a small bowl, beat egg. Add water, and oil and beat again until well blended.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients.

4. Gently mix the wet and dry ingredients. If too stiff, add a bit more water, if too sticky, add a bit more flour.

5. When dough is proper consistency (it can be easily handled). Knead for 5 min on a floured surface. The dough should be smooth and elastic when finished.

6. Divide the dough into 2-4 pieces (4 if you don’t have a lot of counter space). Put the balls you’re not working with under a damp cloth, so they don’t dry out.

7. Roll out the first piece of dough on a generously floured surface. Roll it into a very thin rectangle (not quite paper thin, but very thin).

8. Carefully remove the rectangle from the counter, and drape it over something to dry. (If you have a wooden spoon or other long handled utensil, shut the stirring end in a drawer so the handle is suspended out over the floor. You can drape the pasta over the handle). Let the pasta dry for about 20 min (longer if it’s quite moist). If you don’t let it dry long enough, it will stick to itself when you roll and cut it. If you wait too long it will become brittle.

9. When pasta is dry to the touch but still malleable, fold it in thirds or quarters and slice it (like a jelly roll) into strips. Gently open the strips and you will have long noodles – cut thin for angel hair-style pasta, or thicker for linguine.

10. You can cook the pasta immediately, or let it dry (completely) and store it for future use.

 

Notes: This pasta recipe is quite easy, and can be used to make filled pastas or folded pasta as well as long noodles. For alternate pasta types, proceed through step number 7. Then follow your new recipe or intuition!

 

Variations: For herb pasta, add 1-2 tsp of fresh or dry herbs to the flour mixture and follow the rest of the recipe as written. Basil, thyme, black pepper, oregano, paprika, or crushed red pepper are all nice. For lemon pasta, add 1 Tbs finely grated lemon zest to the flour mixture. A combination of lemon and black pepper is very nice. You can also experiment with any powdered or finely-ground flavoring. 1 tsp of poppy seeds is another interesting choice.