Rolling egg dough
BY MACHINE
Okay, it’s time to roll out your dough. A pasta
machine is a sure-re way to make beautiful
pasta at home on your very rst go. As I only
have a small machine, which I assume you
do, too, I cut the dough in half (or thirds or
quarters depending on how much dough I’ve
made) to make it more manageable. Wrap any
dough you aren’t rolling back in plastic wrap
or a tea towel to ensure that it doesn’t dry out.
Set the pasta machine to the widest setting.
Roll the dough through the machine once,
then fold the dough in half and atten with
your hands or a rolling pin. Turn the dough
90 degrees and send it back through.
Press lightly on the dough to eliminate
any air bubbles – a rm roll with a rolling
pin or abottle of wine helps, rather like a
steamroller. Repeat twice, folding and turning
the dough each time before rolling it through
the machine again. Roll it through once more,
but this time do not fold it – just feed the
dough through the machine, giving it a gentle
pull to create a long and regular shape. You
are now ready to thin out your pasta sheet.
Turn the dial on your pasta machine up to
the next number, to reduce the gap between
the rollers. Feed the dough in and help pull
it through as you turn the handle. It may be
easier to have someone help you do this on
your rst go, as the dough can get unwieldy,
but I promise that you will get the hang of
it pretty quickly. The thing to remember is
to continue turning halfway through. You
can reverse if necessary, but otherwise keep
rolling the dough through and maintain the
pace. Continue to feed the dough through,
each time turning the dial to reduce the size
of the gap between the rollers. If your dough
starts to look a little sticky, lightly dust with
our before continuing. The pasta will get
very long – again, I sometimes nd it too
much to handle so I cut it in half, ensuring that
I cover the half I’m not using with a tea towel
or plastic wrap. Keep reducing the setting and
38
feeding the dough through, stretching and
thinning the pasta until you have reached
your desired thickness (see page 52).
BY HAND
As we have already discussed, there is an art
to rolling out egg dough by hand; however,
don’t let that stop you giving it a go. While
I am no expert on hand rolling, what I am is
an advocate for giving homemade pasta a
go, machine or no machine. A large, lightly
oured bench and rolling pin (or a bottle of
wine if you’re desperate) are all you need to
get started and produce pasta. The turning
and rolling of the dough apply here too, so
you will want to keep rotating the dough as
you roll it out to your desired thickness. Julia,
my pasta teacher, uses a clock analogy: turn
from 12-2-4-6-8-10 but no more. Always roll
away from you with even pressure. To make
it more manageable as a beginner (and if
you are short on space), I’d suggest cutting
the dough up and rolling out in batches
(purists, look away). When you’ve reached
your desired thickness, roll your pin over the
dough with no pressure to even it out. Rolling
by hand is hard work, but with a little practice
and experience, you will be producing
beautiful, even sheets of pasta.
CURING YOUR PASTA
Most egg pasta should be ‘cured’ before
being cut into the desired shape. This simply
means to let it dry for 5–10 minutes, ipping
the dough over halfway through, until it’s
starting to dry but not cracking. This will
help you to cut the dough without it sticking
together, especially if you’re using a machine
to cut the ribbons. The curing time will
depend on the weather, air ow, whether or
not you machine rolled or hand rolled, and
your desired shape, so keep a close eye on
it. The exception is lled pasta, which is best
made straight away, taking advantage of the
soft, moist dough.