Fresh Pasta Dough

If there was one thing I would urge any foodie to do, it would be making fresh pasta dough. That box of spaghetti from the market does not come close to what you can whip up at home. I understand it may not be your everyday solution to a carb craving evening, but it should be a staple to a serious pasta dinner once and a while.

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb AP flour (or half Ap and half 00)

4 eggs, 1 yolk

3 tablespoons olive oil

Few tablespoons water on hand

Pinch of salt

1. Sift your flour onto your working surface. Create a well in the center. (If you'd rather do this in a bowl, just use a big one and follow the same steps)

2. In the center of the deep well, add the eggs, olive oil and pinch of salt.

3. Whisk the wet ingredients and slowly add parts of the inner wall of flour to the center.

4. Keep adding until the dough begins to form.

5. If it looks a bit dry, add a few tablespoons of lukewarm water.

6. Once the dough has picked up most of the flour it's time to knead!

7. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until you see a nice smooth, shiny dough. When you press the dough with your pointer finger it should spring back into place.

8. Time to rest! Form the dough into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and keep in a cool place for at least 30 minutes.

9. Get ready to roll. Cut your dough into quarters for easy rolling. If you have a pasta machine, take a quarter of your dough and flatten a bit so that it fits inside your attachment. You want to fold this piece over 4 times before moving onto thinning the dough out. If doing this by hand, roll out your piece of dough until desired thickness.

10. If using a machine, continue thinning out your sheet of dough to your desired preference. The thicker, the more al dente so be sure to choose the right thickness depending on your shape. Most suggest going to the 7th setting.

11. Cut it by hand! For thicker pieces like papardelle, fold your thinned sheet onto itself a few times and slice vertically. You'll end up with beautiful thick ribbons of carb heaven. You can also do this to create linguine, fettuccine and other flat shapes including ravioli squares or lasagna sheets.

12. Cook it! For fresh pasta, it's best to let it sit for 10 minutes just to firm up a bit. Add it to some boiling salted water and cook for just about 30-60 seconds MAX. Your pasta should still have a slight bite.

13. Store it! Fresh pasta can keep in the fridge for up to 3 days covered. You can also freeze fresh pasta at this point and can keep for months with this method. If needing to dry, you can either hang it on a drying rack or an old fashioned hanger. You can also lay it out to rest on a baking sheet. Just be sure to dust the strands or sheets with some semolina or all purpose flour to ensure the strands don't stick.

14. Keep moisture out! Just a tip to remember, fresh pasta and moisture don't mix well when it comes to drying your pasta. It is very susceptible to growing mold if not dried properly, so if you are laying it out on a baking sheet, make sure the noodles have a little breathing room to ensure even drying.

Enjoy!