Fresh Pasta for Fettuccine
One would think that fresh pasta is a northern-Italian phenomenon, and in general northerners do eat more fresh pasta than dry, whereas southern Italians consume more dry. But the Roman tradition is to have freshly made tagliatelle as a Sunday treat. And in most cases it is served with cibreo—the giblets of a freshly killed chicken.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 1 1/2 pounds
Ingredients
Recommended Equipment
Preparation
Step 1
Put the flour in the bowl of the food processor and process for a few seconds to aerate. Mix together the whole eggs and the yolks, olive oil, and 1/4 cup ice water in a measuring cup or other spouted container. Start the food processor running and pour in the liquids through the feed tube. Process for 30 to 40 seconds until a dough forms and gathers on the blade. If the dough does not gather on the blade or process easily, it is too wet or too dry. Feel the dough, then work in either more flour or ice water, in small amounts, using the machine or kneading by hand.
Step 2
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a minute until it’s smooth, soft, and stretchy. Press it into a disk, wrap it well in plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 1/2 hour. (You can refrigerate the dough for up to a day or freeze it for a month or more. Defrost in the refrigerator and return to room temperature before rolling.)
Step 3
To roll out the dough with a pasta machine, cut it in six equal pieces. Keeping them lightly floured, roll each piece through the machine at progressively narrower settings into sheets that are 5 inches wide (or as wide as your machine allows) and 20 inches to 24 inches long. Cut the long sheets in half crosswise, giving you twelve strips, each about a foot long and 5 inches wide.
Step 4
Cut the fettuccine by hand, one strip at a time. Lightly flour the strip and, starting at one of the short ends, fold it over in thirds or quarters, creating a small rectangle with three or four layers of pasta. With a sharp knife, cut cleanly through the folded dough crosswise, separating into 1/2-inch-wide pieces. Shake and unfurl the cut pieces, opening them into long ribbons. Dust liberally with flour and gather the fettuccine into a loose nest and set it on a floured tray. Fold and cut all the pasta this way, piling the fettuccine in small floured nests. Leave uncovered to air-dry at room temperature until ready to cook the pasta (or freeze the nests on the tray until solid and pack in airtight ziplock bags).
