BeyondPasta

Yummy yummy yummy fresh pasta! And it is so easy to make!

Fresh pasta in italian is called pasta fresca, or more specifically, pasta fresca all’uovo, that is fresh egg pasta. I never made fresh pasta in Italy… why bother when you can find it ready made and very good? But in the US we couldn’t find it so at some point we bought a cheap pasta machine and made our first fresh pasta :) yummy!! Needless to say that the fresh pasta experiment was repeated several times! Now in Germany, just like in the US, I need to make fresh pasta on my own, but my beloved pasta machine was left behind, too heavy to be taken with us :'(

Some time ago browsing through the amazing book “The Silver Spoon” (a gift from the hubby) I read through pages and pages of fresh pasta recipes (drooling a little) and I just couldn’t resist! I don’t need a pasta machine, a rolling pin is enough! And there I was making pasta fresca all’uovo :)

Only three ingredients are needed for fresh pasta, and just like every recipe that has only few ingredients they need to be of excellent quality. Below I give you the dose for pasta fresca for a very abundant dish for two persons. In general per person you need 100 gr flour, 1 egg and pinch of salt, start from there and multiply by the number of persons you are hosting :)

To make fresh pasta more tasty and more rough, I substitute some of the all purpose flour for semolina flour, you may also find it labeled as “pasta flour”. I highly suggest you to do the same. Pasta with a rougher surface holds best the sauce and has a more home made feel especially importat if you use the pasta machine to roll it.

Ingredients

• 150 gr all purpose flour
• 50 gr semolina flour
• 2 eggs (very fresh, high quality)
• a pinch of salt

Directions

Sift together the all purpose flour and the semolina, make a well, crack the eggs in the center and add a pinch of salt (Picture 1).

With a fork start mixing the eggs with some flour slowly drawing additional flour for the sides (Picture 2, 3).

When everything is combined knead for few minutes than wrap in plastic and seal (Picture 4).

Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes (don’t skip this!!).

With a pasta machine

It’s easier to work with one portion of pasta at a time, so divide your dough in half if you made the doses specified above. Keep the dough you are not using wrapped.

Position the pasta machine on the largest setting, number 1, flatten the dough a little, flour lightly and run it through the machine. Fold it in half and run it through again. Do this step for 3 times.

Then move the wheel to the next number and run the dough through each level once. Flour if needed. A good thickness is reached at level 6.

Place the long tongue of pasta on a floured surface to dry slightly and proceed with the other portion.

Finally place the tagliatelle add-on on your pasta machine and run the tongue of pasta through it. Your tagliatelle are ready to be cooked.

With a rolling pin

It’s easier to work with one portion of pasta at a time, so divide your dough in half if you made the doses specified above. Keep the dough you are not using wrapped.

Place the dough on a well floured surface, sprinkle additional flour on top of the dough and start to roll. Always roll pushing away from you, after you push turn the dough of 1/4. Make sure the surface is always floured! If you feel the dough starts to stick, flour the top abundantly and then flip it upside down, also flour the top to prevent the rolling pin from sticking.

Continue until the dough is thin and you can see through it as you lift it. Note that there is no right or wrong thickness, it is a matter of taste :)

You are ready to make your tagliatelle! With a sharp knife or a pizza cutter cut parallel strips, again the thickness is a matter of taste. My tagliatelle were VERY uneven but you can certainly do a better job ;)

Suggested sauces

I highly recommend the creamy shrimp sauce that you can find here.

Or you can simply warm 200 ml (1 cup) of cream with 70 gr smoked salmon cut in pieces. Flavor with a pinch of salt, a pinch of nutmeg and black pepper and cook until it thickens.

Cooking

Prepare the sauce for the pasta.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add abundant salt, mind that the pasta has very little salt. Add the pasta and boil for 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness. Drain and toss in the sauce.

Mix well and serve.

Enjoy!