inconvenience food: fresh pasta

i love that pasta is a year round food. hearty and heavy to warm a winter soul, or light and fresh to celebrate a summer day. if i had to consider one thing to eat the rest of my life, while chocolate, cereal and ice cream are serious contenders, pasta is right up there with them.

amidst everything else going on with this blog, i thought it would be nice to throw in a little pasta how-to narrative.

fresh pasta is something that can easily be tossed into the inconvenient category.  i’m not sure if the price difference between homemade and store bought really warrants the effort, but hands down the taste difference does. i think it’d be a shame to go your whole life without tasting fresh homemade pasta, so take advantage of it if the opportunity is offered to you. or, if you’ve got some eggs and flour (that’s it!) and a free afternoon, roll up your sleeves and make a mess!

**we have a pasta machine, and i am not sure how to make it without one. (obviously back in provincial italian times they had to have rolled it out by hand) the point of this post is more so to show you the ease of mixing and kneading it by hand. but i understand, if you own a pasta machine, you likely have a mixer in your kitchen as well and you’d use that instead. enjoy, no matter what tools you use!

fresh pasta

16 oz all purpose flour
10.7 oz eggs (about 6 eggs)
1 tbs olive oil

working on a clean, dry workspace, dump the flour into a mound and create a well in center.  pour the eggs and oil into the well; stirring with a fork, slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs a bit at a time.  bringing in the flour in small quantities keeps the pasta from having a lumpy texture.  once most of the flour has been incorporated, switch to your hands and knead the dough until firm (about 15 minutes).  wrap loosely in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes before rolling/pressing.