You’re going to want to start with ’00’ flour. The finer grind in the flour will make your pasta work soooo much easier and it will produce a soft, pliable dough for you. The ’00’ flour is usually sold in small 2 lb bags and can be found in the weirdo aisles in most big grocery stores. PC has a version that is sold in their ‘black label’ grocery items. Also, italian grocery markets will definitely have this.

Don’t bother with Amazon. I already checked and they don’t have it. Here is a shot of the one I currently have that I got from Pete’s Frootique.

Those of you who know me know I am a big cheapskate. Trust me when I say don’t skimp out on your pasta roller. I paid about $80 for mine and it is sturdy and reliable and one of my most favourite kitchen possessions.

The easiest recipe I know of for pasta is a simple ratio of 100g of flour per one large egg., with an additional splash of olive oil for flavour and a bit of extra moisture.

To put that into an even broader context, I make a recipe using 400g of flour, 4 eggs, and my basil flavoured olive oil, divide that into two, and half will amply feed Jason, the kids, and I with one portion of leftovers for the next day. It yields so much pasta it is really easy to go overboard.

I get my appliances to do the hard work for me. Use a mixer with a dough hook to knead your pasta dough for about 5 minutes. When you take it out, it should be a soft and pillowy dough.

I divide my dough into two since I make so much. Wrap your dough babies in some plastic wrap and put in the refridgerator to rest for about an hour.

For this part, you will need a clean surface, some extra flour for dusting, a regular rolling pin, your pasta roller, and of course your dough baby. I am using my largest cutting board for the rolling part. To keep it from slipping around under the pressure of the rolling pin, I wet a dish cloth and lay it flat underneath the cutting board.

Use a rolling pin and flour to flatten your dough baby just enough so he can get pressed through the first (and widest) setting on your pasta roller. Continue to flatten your pasta sheet with your pasta roller, adjusting the machine thinner and thinner, until you have reached your desired thick(thin)ness. You may need to sprinkle your pasta sheet occassionally with flour (like in the picture above) if the dough is too wet. A wet dough will gum up your pasta reels (which are impossible to clean btw).

This will look weird for anyone who doesn’t know me. Have I mentioned I am a bit frugal? I refuse to buy a wooden pasta drying rack, so instead I use plastic hangers and hang them off my pot rack so they can desiccate. They are easy to clean and are resilient to my wild wear-and-tear lifestyle.

If you wanted to be a bit more normal, I guess you could also use a cookie cooling rack and lay the noodles flat. Noodles should dry for 1/2 hour minimum. If they don’t dry out, when you put them in the boiling water they will fatten up.

The water you boil your pasta in should be HEAVILY salted. (It should taste like sea water). As well, fresh pasta doesn’t take hardly any time to cook, so make sure you keep a keen eye on your boiling pot.

What I have done in the picture above is made a cream sauce next to my boiling pasta so that, once the noodles are done, they are put directly into the cream sauce and can be plated right next to the stove.

Fettucine pasta in a garlic cream sauce with pancetta and roasted tomatoes