Fresh homemade pasta. Need I say more? Nothing compares to it. The way a homemade pasta takes in the flavors and the nuances of any dish you you wave in front it is legendary. I’ve learned how to make my own pasta over a year ago, and I haven’t bought a store packed pasta since then. It’s a Sunday tradition to make the dough, let it rest, and then convert it to the week’s recipes.
There is a learning curve to making great pasta, and trust me, I’ll be a student for the next 30 years. But what I have learned is that it’s pretty simple to make good pasta. Just pay attention to every step and make sure that your are allowing for how pasta thickens while your boiling it. I personally, make my pasta by hand, with a hand-cranked pasta machine.
Orecchiette is the first, and my favorite, pasta choice. No machines needed for this one. All hands for orecchiette, or as my daughter calls them, “Sauce Catchers”.
Homemade Orecchiette
By
Published: May 16, 2012
Homemade Orecchiette
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour unbleached
- 4 eggs
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 small pinch nutmeg
Instructions
- Mound the flour, and make the center like a volcano.
- Break the eggs and place inside the flour hollow. Add the salt, olive oil, and nutmeg
- Using a fork, beat the egg mixture, then slowly incorporate the flour mixture, until the mixture becomes tacky.
- Grab a small glass of water. Then start kneading the dough. Don’t worry if it starts looking like it’s going to break apart. If it gets dry, just add a few drops of water to moisten.
- Start kneading! This gets this stress out. Knuckle, Knuckle, Knuckle, Roll with palms x 3, repeat. Add flour and water, until the dough is cohesive. Usually around 6- 8 minutes.
- Roll dough into a ball, tightly cover in saran wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
- Take dough ball out of fridge. Cut into 1/2″ strips. Roll by hand until you have a 1/8″ tube.
- Cut the tube into 1/4″ vertical pieces. Then using your thumb, press down and twist clockwise.
- Stretch the flattened dough over your thumb, then reverse it over the other thumb.
- You can throw the fresh pasta right into the boiling pot, or freeze up to a month.
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