Basic Fresh Pasta Dough

We make pasta 2x week on average using this flour mix:
Semolina Durum AP 1:1:2
ie 1c semolina 1c durum 2c ap
We mix 18 lbs at a time using all King Arthur.

Try the David Tannis recipe instead. This one has many steps (and one too many egg yolks), all of which were not completely necessary.

When I make pasta, I never use all the flour at once because depending on humidity and the size of your eggs, it may be too dry. I normally start with one half to 2/3 of the flour required and mix it in. I then put in a ziploc bag for 15 min or so and it helps to absorb more of the flour. Then take out and knead in a bit more flour. The rest of the flour can be added bit by bit as you are putting the dough through the machine.

I have used 00 flour and it gives a different finer texture. Normally I only use semolina and eggs no salt, oil or anything else. This gives a silky wonderful flavorful dough that is a delight to handle. If it is to wet add a little semolina, if to dry wrap in a wet cloth. I use approx. 4 eggs 2 1/2 cups semolina. Depending on type of egg and local humidity . This will feed 4 people, no leftovers. I roll out to #4 you can go to #5. Knead the dough after resting 100-300 times until silky.

I use Italian 00 flour as IMHO is the best. Then use a scale to simplify the amount of eggs: 60% of the weight of flour gives a neariperfect dough for rolling. I usually start with 55% as the flour moisture varies. Then if 60% seems a little dry and moisture by the tablespoon. Oh 2% salt based on the total weight I had a bakery in my former life so I always weight ingredients

Can this be made a day or two ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator until ready to use?

This seems like a lot of eggs. I've binged enough "Pasta Grannies" on youtube that now I follow the simple nonna recipe of 1 egg per 100 grams of 00 flour. If I'm making eggless semolina pasta, just lukewarm salted water until it comes together and can be kneaded. Works perfect!

I expect this suggestion to be read with surprise. I make fresh pasta with no eggs at all. I use only semolina flour and water. I put 1 1/2 cups of semolina in my food processor and through the top slowly add lukewarm water until the dough forms a ball, adding water or flour very gradually until the consistency is right. After resting in the fridge for a few hours, it runs through the pasta machine like a charm. Use it fresh, or if dried, it keeps indefinitely.

This was great, although I agree with earlier reviewers that there was not nearly enough liquid in the recipe as written. I added 1 additional Tbsp of olive oil and 1.5 Tbsp of water. I do not have a pasta maker, so kneaded the dough longer before resting (10 minutes) to account for the fact that I would not be running and folding it through the pasta maker. After resting, I then rolled it out in quarters by hand using a rolling pin.

I use a Julia Child one from long ago. It works great. 1 3/4 c flour, 2 eggs in food processor. Mix, then add 2-4 Tablespoons water while pulsing. It doesn’t even need to rest, unless you want it to. Use a pasta machine to make lasagne or fettuccine, etc. Boil 3 minutes or use lasagne without boiling since it bakes in the sauce.

Eggs aren't uniformly sized. I recently took a pasta class from King Arthur. Their method: 90 g AP flour, 93 g duram flour, two eggs, nothing more. They let moisture from eggs dictate how much flour to stir in from well, only gathering as much flour as the eggs need to form a handle-able dough. Knead to form slightly tacky dough (abt 7-8 min, think silly putty, soft kneaded art eraser), lightly flouring hands & surface as needed. Rest dough 30-45 min, roll out & fill, or dry til firm & cut.

what is King Arthur?

Great reference for all techniques and variations and flavours are in: Guide to Pasta by Sam Nosrat .....

I learned to make pasta w a food processor in a cooking class years ago. The teacher DID teach the manual method, but with the processor, it's super quick and easy. Also, her recipe called for 3 large eggs (no additional yolks). It's always worked for me (except when I accidentally used medium eggs-- big no-no).

There's not a separate recipe for the whole grain pasta dough. You can make this one into whole grain pasta by swapping in 1 cup sifted whole wheat, spelt or farro flour in place of 1 cup all-purpose or 00 flour. Add more egg yolks or water as needed and rest the dough for 1 hour.