Fresh Pasta

Recipe from Lidia's Family Table by Lidia Bastianich

There's nothing more delicious and inviting to me than an overflowing bowl of fresh, warm pasta.  When taking the time to prepare fresh pasta (or spending the extra money on it at the grocery store), you want to be sure you pair it with a light sauce.  The pasta should be the star of the show and shouldn't be smothered under a heavy blanket of a strong, overpowering sauce.

2 cups flour

1/4 cup olive oil

2 large eggs

cold water

1. In a food processor, pulse the flour a few times to aerate it.
2. Mix the olive oil and eggs in a liquid measuring cup.  Add enough water to make 7 ounces of liquid and mix.
3. Slowly pour the liquid into the food processor as it's running.  The pasta dough will form a ball within a few seconds.
4. Plop your pasta ball onto a well floured work surface and knead the dough about 6 times.  Wrap tightly in Saran Wrap.
5. Cut dough into 4 pieces.  Begin with the first chunk, leaving the rest wrapped tightly.
6. Roll out the first piece with a rolling pin.  Don't be afraid to work it!  You don't need to be gentle with pasta dough!
7. Roll through the largest setting on your pasta machine, then making the settings thinner as you go along.  Once it reaches the thinnest setting (roll at least 7 times), you are ready to roll it through the pasta cutters.
8. Lay out pasta to dry (as pictured above) on floured kitchen towels and sprinkle the pasta with flour.  Keep the strands separated, otherwise they will stick together.
9. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.  Add a generous amount of salt.  Depending on how long you let it dry, fresh pasta will only take approximately 1 to 5 minutes to cook.  Keep a close eye on it!  When it begins to float to the top, it's most likely finished.