There was a reason I quit my keto diet after 4 months! Kudos to all of you who have stuck through it, but I CANNOT live without pasta. If it weren’t for my metabolism and cholesterol telling me not to, I would eat some form of pasta for every meal. Mac and cheese, alfredo, spaghetti with marinara, ravioli, you name it, I’ll eat it.
And while dried boxed pasta is ALWAYS in my pantry, nothing is better than fresh pasta. Luckily this recipe is a great canvas, and can be used for any shape of pasta you can think of. Today, we make fettuccine!
Pasta Dough
There are literally hundreds of recipes for fresh pasta! Different types of flour, all purpose, whole wheat, semolina, double zero. All kinds liquid: water, oil, egg whites, yolks. And depending on your altitude and humidity, any of these combos work best for you.
After playing with the recipe SOOOO many times, this one is the one that works best for me. It starts with 5 ingredients:
- 2 Cups All-purpose Flour
- 2 Whole Eggs (large)
- 4 Egg Yolks (from large eggs)
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Salt
On a clean counter, pour out the flour into a mound. In the center, make a deep wide well (a flour moat!). Add the rest of the ingredients into the center and use a fork to gently whisk them together. Be careful not to let the eggs run out of the flour order of you have a mess! If the dough is too sticky, add 2 tbsp of flour at a time.
Slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs until a dough forms, then work it all together with your hands. From here, knead the dough for 8 minutes until the ball is soft and smooth, slightly shiny, but not sticky. Or, once the dough comes together, transfer to a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment and turn the mixer on low for 5-6 minutes.
Wrap the dough ball in plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Sheeting the Dough
After the dough has rested, cut it into 4 equal pieces and take one piece and roll it flat, about a ⅓ inch thick.
Using the pasta sheeter attachment of a stand mixer (with the mixer set to low) or a hand crank pasta machine set to the lowest number (the widest setting), feed the sheet of dough through twice, folding in half between each feed. Turn the dial to the next number and repeat, folding and feeding until you reach the highest number setting.
Dust with flour and let the sheets rest while you repeat the process with the remaining 3 pieces of dough.
Pasta Time
Now that all 4 sheets of pasta are ready, you can make any kind of pasta you want! Craving ravioli? Take one sheet, and dot 1 tbsp of cheese (or meat or spinach) filling every two inches and cover it with another sheet. Seal with water and cut into squares. Want farfalle, cut the noodles about 1/2 inch thick with a knife!
If you are lucky enough to have a few stand mixer attachments or a pasta sheeter with cutting adjustments, you can make fettuccine in less than one minute. Feed one sheet of pasta through the pasta cutter attachment, dust with flour and twirl into a ball until ready to cook.. Repeat 3 more times and you have piles of fresh noodles.
Once the pasta is cut, separate and sprinkle the pasta into a large pot of salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes. I recommend doing this in two batches so the pasta does not clump together. Toss with your favorite warmed sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and serve.
It may seem like a daunting task to make pasta from scratch, but let the machine do the work! Nothing will wow a dinner guest or a date like fresh pasta. And they never have to know it only took 5 ingredients and a machine! Fuffy, golden, and perfectly al dente, your pasta game will never be the same!
Need More Italian Inspired Recipes?
- Sun Dried Tomato Salmon
- Pesto Chicken Pizza
- Tuscan Shrimp Pasta
- Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
- Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Bruschetta Chicken Panini
Fresh Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 ⅛ cup all purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 2 whole eggs
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Pour flour onto a clean dry surface. Pile it into a mound and make a deep well in the center
- Add salt, eggs, egg yolks, and olive oil to the well. With a fork, scrambled the eggs/olive oil inside the well, being careful not to break the flour border so the eggs do not spread all over the counter.
- Slowly begin to push the flour into the center of the egg mixture, still whisking. When the eggs become thicker and not as runny, use your hands to work the dough and incorporate the flour.
- Knead the dough for 8 minutes until the ball is soft and smooth, slightly shiny, but not sticky. Alternatively, once the dough comes together, transfer to a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment and turn the mixer on low for 5-6 minutes.
- Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
- Once rested, cut the dough into 4 equal sized pieces. Take one piece and roll it flat, about a ⅓ inch thick.
- Using the pasta sheeter attachment of a stand mixer (with the mixer set to low) or a hand crank pasta machine set to the lowest number (the widest setting), feed the sheet of dough through twice, folding in half between each feed. Turn the dial to the next number and repeat, folding and feeding until you reach the highest number setting.
- Dust with flour and lay flat on the counter while you repeat the process with the next 3 pieces of dough.
- Remove the sheeter attachment and attach the fettuccine or spaghetti cutter attachment. Take one sheet at a time and feed it through the pasta cutter (on a low speed if using a stand mixer). Dust the cut pasta with flour and twist into small balls while you cut the rest of the pasta.
- To cook, separate and sprinkle the pasta into a large pot of salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes. I recommend doing this in two batches so the pasta does not clump together.
- Toss in your favorite warmed sauce and serve.
