Basic Dough for Fresh Egg Pasta

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks, beaten

Semolina or rice flour, for dusting

Once you’ve prepared homemade pasta by hand, you will keep going back to it time and time again for special occasions. Making pasta dough by hand takes time and lots of practice to get a feel for the pasta dough. It’s in this process you will build a relationship with knowing your dough so much so that you wouldn’t really need to measure the ingredients. 

The NYT recipe is a great starter and I have used this with great success. For this particular instance, I preferred my own approach having purchased some duck eggs to make some Pappardelle pasta.

In Michael Ruhlman’s book, “Ratio,” he advised on using a 3:2 flour to egg ratio. 

• 9 ounces flour (about 1 1/2 cups) : 6 ounces of eggs (3 large eggs)

With this in mind, I used about 1 cup of flour (set another 2 tablespoons of flour depending on the humidity). I also prefer to use 1 duck egg (they’re larger than a chicken egg) and one extra egg yolk. I find that the pasta’s texture and elasticity are superior to using chicken eggs.

For those who like fresh pasta for 1 (2-3 servings worth) this is what I use:

• 1 cup of All-Purpose Flour
• Measure 2 tablespoons of flour and set aside
• 1 duck egg or extra large chicken egg
• 1 egg yolk

PREPARATION

1. Measure the flour onto a clean surface. Create a mound and at the center form a well for the eggs. 
2. Break 1 duck egg and 1 duck egg yolk into the well. 
3. Using a fork, gradually incorporate the flour into the well, start using the hands to prevent a break in the wall of the well. 
4. A mass of the dough will begin to form. If the dough is stringy, dust a teaspoon of flour at a time until the right consistency of the dough holds together without sticking. Wrap the dough with plastic and let it rest for one hour.
5. Unwrap the plastic and begin kneading the dough. Use a fold-over technique and use the heel of your palm to push the dough away from you. Repeat until the dough has a uniform and smooth appearance.
6. Wrap the dough again and let it rest for another 20 minutes.
7. Use a rolling pin to flatten the ball into a disk. Keep rolling and turning the disk 90 degrees clockwise until dough is about 1/4 inch thick.
8. Keep rolling the dough until you have a thin dough, uniform throughout when you hold the pasta against the light. Let the dough dry for a little bit before cutting.
9. For Pappardelle, roll the sheet of dough with the rolling pin and until the sheet of pasta is wholly rolled up onto the rolling pin. Remove the rolling pin, and approximately 2 inches across of the flat roll will remain.
10. Using a large knife, measure 3/4 inch wide and cut the roll of pasta into ribbons.
    Unravel each ribbon and form a nest by wrapping the ribbons of pasta across the palm.
11. Place the pasta nest on a floured dish or kitchen towel to dry until use. If using the same day, leave them flat to dry. 
12. Cook 1 lbs of pasta in 4 quarts of boiling water and 1 tablespoon of salt. Remove when ‘al dente’ and strain.

Red Wine Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup Red Wine
• ½ cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ¼ cup cream or a ⅓ cup of whole milk (add more to suit your taste)
• Freshly ground peppercorn

PREPARATION

This recipe is perfect for leftover medium rare sirloin steak. I made the Red Wine sauce by deglazing the caramelized bits stuck on the grilling pan after searing the sirloin steaks.

1. Using a wooden spoon slowly dissolve the bits with 1 ½ tablespoon of unsalted butter.
2. For this instance, I used a Casone Toscana wine, but your favorite red wine will do. Then slowly add the wine until all the brown bits have dissolved and incorporated into the mixture. Turn heat to low and let the alcohol evaporate.
3. Add ½ cups of beef broth bit by bit and stirring as you incorporate the sauce together.
4. When the sauce is simmering remove 2 tablespoons of the hot wine mixture and dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.
5. Add  ¼ of cream or a ⅓ cup of milk if you don’t have cream.
6. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture into the simmering sauce.
7. Continue to simmer until the sauce thickens.
8. Remove when you dip your spoon into the sauce and coats the spoon. It sauce should be viscous.
9. Season freshly ground pepper

Once the Pappardelle is cooked, drain and put back in the hot pot. Place back on the lowest heat on the stove. Add the Red Wine sauce into the pasta until each strand is nicely coated with the sauce, but not drenched. Toss in the slices of the sirloin steak (cut across the grain in ¼ inch thickness). The hot pasta and sauce will be enough to warm the steak. Garnish with Parsley or Chives — optional.