Eggs, Flour, and Oil are three of the most basic, quintessential ingredients on the planet. They star in literally millions of recipes- each with the ability to hold their own.

• Eggs: your ability to coagulate {bind}, emulsify {thicken}, and flavor {yum} so many of my kitchen creations amazes me. Oh, and I also enjoy you Benedict-style on Sundays with a mimosa.
• Flour: while you’ve gotten a bad rep from common allergies and diet trends – I’ve stuck with you. Gluten Strong. We’re in this for the long run.
• Oil: not only do you cut the friction between my meal and my skillet, but also you add mouth watering moisture to my otherwise meh grilled entrées. {See also: French fries}

Now that I’ve shared my proclamation of love to each of the above ingredients- I should let you in on a not-so-top-secret secret. When this trio gets together- magical things happen. I’m not talking about pancakes or breakfast platters either- I’m talking about pasta.

I’m Italian. I grew up on Sunday dinners, homemade raviolis, and garlic bread- lots of garlic bread. Making homemade pasta is like second nature to me. Age 1, learn to walk. Age 7, learn to ride bike. Age 7 ½, learn to make fresh pasta. Okay I wasn’t that young- I’m not really sure how old I was actually- but I do know that I learned from the best- my mother, of course. Fresh pasta should be considered a delicacy, in my opinion. My mother has always had this superhuman ability to quickly crank enough of it out to feed an army (or just my family that eats like an army), and it always taste so consistently dang delicious. My mother’s fresh pasta tastes like home to me, and it is something that I love to replicate {well attempt to} for people that I truly care about.

Read my simple fresh pasta recipe below- I hope that you will make it for someone special soon.

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Homemade Pasta Dough

[make approximately 4 generous servings]

• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 T olive oil

The best part of making homemade pasta dough: it’s so incredibly simple. My own rule of thumb is to use as many eggs as people that I am serving: four people = four eggs. Then use one less cup of flour: four people = three cups of flour.

Mix the flour and eggs together– I recommend using a mixer and a dough hook if you have this available; however, you can also use a large bowl and a little muscle. Create a ‘well’ in the center of your flour and pour your lightly beaten eggs into the center. Mix.

Use oil sparingly and add a tiny bit of water if the dough feels too dry or does not come together into a ball. You will easily get a feel for it- trust me.

At this point- you have your base. You can literally do whatever your please with your dough now. As a nod to my Italian grandmothers who are hopefully reading this from an internet cafe in heaven somewhere– I will also show you how to make noodles the real way.

Working in small segments is best: I like to cut my ball of pasta dough into four parts, working on one at a time. Lightly flour a flat surface or your designated work station.

While I was blessed to receive a pasta making attachment last Christmas for my stand mixer- sometimes pulling out my old hand crank machine is just as fun.

Both the hand crank machine and stand mixer attachments work about the same in that you adjust the dial on the pasta roller, starting at “1” or the widest available and ending at “4”, “5”, or “6” depending on your preferred noodle thickness. For pasta I usually take mine to a “5”, for lasagna or raviolis where a thicker base is needed I will stop at 4.

After your pasta is rolled into sheets- you can then cut it into noodles- I prefer the wide, flat noodles.

Badda bing- badda boom. You’ve done it! You can either lay it flat on a baking sheet and freeze it for future meals, or you can prep some boiling water to serve immediately. Boiling fresh pasta takes literally no more than two minutes.

I have an amazing pasta rack that I use while I’m processing this delicacy.

Fear not if you do not own a drying rack. You can simply lay the pasta flat on baking sheet and separate layers with foil or wax paper. By all means, get creative though: in college I once used a clothes drying rack and hangers to dry fresh pasta. Just call me MacGyver.
Serve pasta with sauce of your choice and  your favorite red wine. I actually recommend red wine with everything though…Mangia!

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Nutritional Information: Homemade Pasta 

Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1/4th of recipe 

Calories: 410 • Fat: 6 g • Carb: 66 g • Fiber: 3 g • Protein: 15 g • Sugar: 0 g
Sodium: 70 mg