PAPPARDELLE!

After my better half has been complaining about the fact that I never use our pasta machine (a Marcato Atlas), I carried with me from Europe, I took the chrome plated, antique looking pasta maker out of one of my kitchen cabinets, and gave it a try. After all, nothing beats fresh, hand made pasta! I fiddled around with different flours (bread, all-purpose, Italian 00, semolina) to create the best dough possible, and came up with the following recipe:

3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup of semolina flour

5 large eggs

1 generous teaspoon salt

I mixed the two flours and the salt together, poured it on a working surface, and made a large hole with a spoon right in the middle. I broke the eggs into a a bowl, whisked them together with a fork, and then poured the eggs into the hole. Then I slowly added flour from the edges onto the egg mix  and carefully started kneading, then continued to knead more forcefully, until the dough was smooth and elastic, which should take about 10 minutes. Of course, you can use a food processor, but I love the sensuality of working with my hands.

I formed a ball, wrapped it into plastic and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Then I cut the ball of dough in 1/4, covered and reserved the pieces I wasn't immediately using to prevent them from drying out. I dusted the counter and dough with a little flour, pressed the dough into a rectangle and rolled it through the pasta machine, starting at the widest setting, that would be No. 1 on the Marcato Atlas, reduced the setting to No 2 and cranked the dough through again. I repeated the procedure up to paper thin No. 8 (you can go up to No 9 if you like your dough super, super thin). I dusted the sheets of dough with flour as needed. Since I love pappardelle, large, broad, almost an inch wide, fettuccine, I first cut the edges of the dough sheets straight and then into pappardelle stripes. That's really easy to do. 

Now, what's really IMPORTANT is that you have a pasta drier rack ready (see picture above) to be able to hang your pappardelle to dry. This is really crucial, because that way you prevent your freshly made pasta from sticking together, and trust me, once they stick together, you won't be able to separate them, and all your hard work would be in vain.

Once properly dried I toss them into salted boiling water for a minute or two, until al dente, and serve them with a simple home made heirloom tomato sauce or with olive oil, shaved truffles (or truffle oil) and Parmiggiano!