Homemade Pasta

Here are instructions for how to make pasta dough and shape it into noodles.

Directions:

To make pasta by hand:
Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a small well, piling the dry ingredients up the sides; or dump the mixture out onto a clean, flat work surface and make a well in the center of the pile.

Place the wet ingredients in the well. Using a fork, begin beating the wet ingredients, adding a little of the dry mixture from the well’s walls.

Whisking with the fork, incorporate more and more of the dry ingredients into the wet. Once the mixture in the center turns pasty, start collapsing the well’s walls into the wet ingredients, whisking in more and more of the fl  our mixture until a wet dough forms. If you’re working in a bowl, when the dry ingredients have been almost all incorporated into the wet, turn the contents of the bowl out onto a clean, dry work surface.

Knead the dough just until it holds its shape, incorporating as much of the dry ingredients into the wet as possible. Use the heel of one hand to press gently into the dough, twisting without tearing as you incorporate the dry ingredients. Add a few drops of water if the dough is brittle, a little more flour if it’s sticky. (On any given day, flour and eggs have varying moisture contents; pasta can end up slightly drier in one batch than another.)

Divide the dough into 4 lemon-sized balls. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest at room temperature for 10 or 15 minutes.


To make pasta in a food processor:
Place the dry ingredients in a food processor fitted with a chopping blade. Pulse a couple of times to combine.

Add the wet ingredients all at once. Process just until a dough begins to form.

Turn the barely cohering dough out onto a clean, dry, lightly floured work surface. Y ou will now undoubtedly need to add more fl  our than you would to the handmade pasta dough because of the way the food processor disassembles the proteins and glutens in the dough.


Seven Pasta Variations

No-Yolk Pasta
Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta
Dry Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose fl  our, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking
1⁄2 cup whole wheat flour
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
4 large egg whites, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1⁄2 tablespoon water


Note: Once it is formed in lemon-sized balls, let
this pasta rest 1 hour before rolling it out.

Whole Wheat Pasta
Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta
Dry Ingredients
1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose fl  our, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking
1 cup whole wheat flour
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Wet Ingredients
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1⁄4 cup olive oil

Chestnut Pasta
Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta
Dry Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose fl  our, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking
1 cup chestnut flour
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
3 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons walnut oil

Beet Pasta
Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta
Dry Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1⁄2 cup beet puree (see Note)
1 tablespoon olive oil


Note: To make beet puree, cook 2 peeled and halved medium beets in a large pot of boiling water set over high heat until tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving about 2 tablespoons of the cooking water. Cool, then cut into chunks and puree in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade with just as much cooking water as you need to make a puree. Or puree two medium canned beets in a food processor.

Butternut Squash Pasta
Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta
Dry Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose fl  our, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1⁄2 cup mashed cooked butternut squash puree (see Note)


Note: To make a butternut squash puree, cut a small 1-pound butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and roast it on a lipped baking sheet, cut side down, in a preheated 400°F oven until soft, about 30 minutes. Cool, then scoop out the soft, inner fl  esh; you’ll have more puree than you need, but what’s left over makes a great side dish, mashed like potatoes.

Red Pepper Pasta
Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta
Dry Ingredients
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten, at room temperature
1 cup red pepper puree (see Note)


Note: Four jarred pimientos, drained and rinsed, should yield about 1 cup puree when processed in a food processor or a large blender.

Spinach Pasta
Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta
Dry Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose fl  our, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
1 large egg plus 1 large egg white, at room temperature
1 tablespoon olive oil
One 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed of all excess moisture, and pureed in a food processor or large blender

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