Fresh Pasta

I just wanted to record the proportions when I make fresh pasta. Maybe someday I will add in the full instructions of what to do with this:

I start the salted water heating up when just before making the pasta. About 6 quarts of water and a Tbsp of salt work ok. It takes just about as long to bring the water to a boil as to mix and roll out the pasta. (Note that this means it takes less time to make fresh pasta than to make the dry kind from the grocer's. But normally you would sit around while the water came to a boil and, this way, you are getting the pasta ready during warm up.)

• 1 1/2 c flour (All-Purpose flour makes good pasta. Different kinds of flour change the texture and taste of the pasta. Never use 100% Semolina flour at home. It may work for store-bought pasta but, by my experiments, if you want to use some Semolina flour, stick to about 1/4 Semolina to 3/4 All-Purpose flour.)
• 1/2 tsp olive oil (extra virgin)
• pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs

Measure flour onto a table (or counter). Make a depression in the middle and add the other ingredients. Break the egg into a bowl if you need to check the quality before adding to the flour. (No need to antagonize it first.)

Stir wet into dry ingredients with your hands. (Which you, of course, washed and dried first.) Form a dough and knead a bit. You have to experiment to get the dough just wet enough but neither too wet or too dry. If it sticks to the rollers on the pasta machine, its too wet. If it crumbles, its too dry.

If the dough is too wet, add some more flour and knead in little by little until it's right. If the dough is too dry, add water a half teaspoon at a time and knead it in until, again, it's right.

Let the dough set for 5 minutes. This isn't rocket science but do wrap it in plastic wrap, foil or a damp cloth to keep the outside from drying too much.

Roll out the dough in the pasta machine. It seems to take about 7 times through the rollers to be ready to cook. Start with the rollers open fully. Do about 3 times at that setting. Then reduce the setting and roll it through once on each until you get it right. Resist the urge to roll it too thin. Fresh pasta needs to be thicker than dry. (They say you can do this with a rolling pin and the table. I've never tried it.)