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noodling
around
make your own fresh pasta noodles | 1
2 3 4
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Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly-floured surface to give you
more room to knead the dough. This is when you’ll really feel
your muscles getting a work out. Knead the dough by pushing and
stretching, pushing and stretching until the texture begins to
take on a nice elastic feel. If the dough seems too crumbly, add a
drop or two of water as needed; if too sticky, add more flour.
When the dough is smooth and just a little bit glossy, gather it
into a ball, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and let the dough sit
for at least a half hour, or up to a day. |
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rolling the dough
You can roll the dough by hand, of course, but it’s so much
easier with a hand-crank pasta machine. These useful little
devices are very affordable, and if you think you’ll be making
pasta with any regularity, it’s well worth investing in one.
1 Divide the dough into
6 sections of approximately equal size. Cover five of the dough
balls with plastic wrap while you begin working on your first
piece.
2
Give the dough a few quick kneads – if it seems too sticky,
sprinkle with a bit of flour. Flatten into a disk.
3
With the pasta machine on the 1 setting, feed the dough through
with one hand while you crank the handle with your
other hand. At this point, you’ll probably find your dough is
sort of holey and lumpy – fold it in half,
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then run it through again. Repeat until you have a nice, smooth,
slab of dough – I generally find this takes 3-4 passes through
the rollers.
4
At this point, increase the setting to 2. Pass the dough through
the rollers again, then change to the 3 setting and repeat.
Continue in this manner, increasing the setting incrementally,
until you get to the 5 setting (you can go to 6 if you want a very
thin pasta, but I generally find 5 to be sufficient). If at any
point, if your dough seems like it’s sticking to the rollers,
dust the dough with more flour.
5
If you have a drying rack (you can buy a clothes drying rack -- it works dandy for pasta), spread your rolled-out dough across the
dowels. Alternatively, place it flat on a tablecloth while you
roll out the remaining dough.
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