need help with pasta dough recipe

[isaac]

i am doing a research paper on home made pasta and i would like your fav. basic pasta dough recipe. thanks

[Kimmie]

Hi Isaac. Here's my basic fresh pasta recipe.
Yields about 1 pound (450 g)

2½ cups flour (use 1¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¾ cup pastry flour, or 2 cups all-purpose flour and ½ cup cake flour)
2 eggs
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (optionnal)

Variance:
Use 2 egg yolks and 1 egg white
+
A generous pinch of saffron steeped in hot water for 15 minutes and passed through a sieve
+
White wine

This recipe is the basis for all types of home-made pasta. The best flour to use is a mixture of all-purpose flour and pastry flour or cake flour made from very finely milled tender wheat. You may need to add a little durum wheat if you want to make special shapes like trofie. Standard tagliatelle are made with about 6 whole eggs per 2¼ pounds (1 kilo) of flour, plus a little water if required. Sometimes, for example, if you are making ravioli, pansotti or other filled pasta, you will want a softer, more workable pasta dough, and this can be achieved by using about 3 eggs and the necessary water to 2¼ pounds (1kg) flour.

The important thing to remember when making pasta is to work the dough well with a lot of elbow grease and then to rest it for an hour before using it. Then, once you have rolled and cut the dough to the required shape, leave it to dry for a half an hour or so on a clean cloth. Home-made pasta cannot be kept for long because of its egg content. You should not refrigerate it – the best thing is to freeze it, although this will of course have an adverse effect on the quality of the finished dish. Bought dried pasta is dried industrially for 12 hours in commerical machines.

Never add oil to the water when cooking pasta except for large squares of pasta like open ravioli. Never rinse pasta in cold water – if you want to cool it down and interrupt the cooking process, add a couple of glasses of cold water to the pot when you take it off the stove. Sift the flour onto a clean work surface (marble is ideal) forming it into a volcano-shaped mound with a well in the center. Break the eggs into the well and add the salt. Incorporate the eggs into the flour until it forms a coarse paste. Add a little more flour if the mixture is too soft or sticky, and scrape up any pieces of dough.

Before kneading the dough clearn your hands and the work surface. Lightly flour the work surface, and start to knead with the heal of one hand. Work the dough for 10-15 minutes until the consistency is smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or foil and let it rest for half an hour.

Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Gently roll the dough out, rotating it in quarter turns. Roll the dough to a sheet ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick.

If you are making filled pasta, go ahead and add the filling as directed in the recipe. If you are making flat pasta or shapes, leave the pasta on a clean dish towel to dry for about half an hour.

[Svadhisthana]

Isaac,
I just made this pasta dough tonight:
1 cup semolina flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup all purpose
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup hot water

Mix the salt and flour in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add oil, pule a few times. Turn machine on and add hot water thru the feed tube. add more water as needed until it comes together in a ball. Knead 1-2 minutes on a floured surface. Cut into 6 peices, cover 5 with plastic wrap and roll out to desired thiness.

I hope this helps.