Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 4 extra-large eggs
Directions
Mound the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the eggs. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and begin to incorporate the flour starting with the inner rim of the well. As you incorporate the eggs, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape (do not worry if it looks messy). The dough will come together in a shaggy mass when about half of the flour is incorporated.
Start kneading the dough with both hands, primarily using the palms of your hands. Add more flour, in 1/2-cup increments, if the dough is too sticky. Once the dough is a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board and scrape up any left over dry bits. Lightly flour the board and continue kneading for 3 more minutes. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Continue to knead for another 3 minutes, remembering to dust your board with flour when necessary. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes at room temperature. Roll and form as desired.
Note: Do not skip the kneading or resting portion of this recipe, they are essential for a light pasta
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By jw23
on February 19, 2012
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Good recipe. I do agree with the last two posters that it's more of a feel thing and depending on external factors it could take less or more eggs or flour. I do have a question for gainiac.. Do you not knead the dough at all? I have been taught that you need to knead to develop the gluten or else it will just fall apart and be mushy. I just made the dough and made great spaghetti 'al dente'
I take it and knead it until it becomes soft and elastic but firm. It takes 6-10 minutes I find to reach that stage.
By gainiac
on February 14, 2012
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Some misinformation in this thread. Durum semolina is primarily used in the fabrication of machine made dried pastas. Fresh pastas are typically made with a fino type flour. Use the recipe as a ballpark guide. Like many have mentioned previously, there are many environmental factors which impact the quantities. You need to know dry/wet and adjust accordingly.
Knead the pasta minimally; just to get it together. This results in a delicate, wonderful pasta. Oil is completely unnecessary and will toughen the dough. For some that is desirable. I rated this a 3 simply because the recipe is unimportant. The technique is important. I was lucky enough to learn from three generations of Italian matriarchs.
One more point...error on the side of damp to get the dough together with a minimum of fuss and dry it as desired by adding bits of flour. That way the kneading required is minimal. Like my Nonna used to say, "Tender like an Angel's skin."
Enjoy
By ScratchAndSniff
Boise
on December 29, 2011
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Lighten up, people - try to think of a pasta dough recipe as a "place to start." Not even the most seasoned chef/cook can rely on a recipe to produce a pasta dough that isn't too wet or isn't too dry. The type/brand of the flour, the relative humidity, the size and temperature of the eggs, whether or not the dough has oil in it, if you use any or all semolina flour. . .all these variables effect the dough. If you aren't prepared to "tweak" a pasta dough recipe to get the right consistency, you should not attempt to make it at all. I took a cooking class from an Italian chef/restaurateur in Rome, and Mario's "recipe" is IDENTICAL to the one we used in the class. . .identical. We learned about the above-mentioned variables, and how to add small amounts of water or flour to correct a dough that was either too dry or too wet. One has to get the "feel" for making pasta. . .practice and I promise you will.
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