How to Make Flour + Water Egg Pasta Dough
This is my standard dough that I use for non stuffed pastas, and should be yours if you are looking to impress. This is one of three foundational doughs used throughout the Flour + Water cookbook, and probably my favorite to make. I have tried out quite a few different dough recipes, but this one has consistently given me the best results and in the end is easiest to work with. This dough also uses an insane amount of eggs yolks so be ready, about 300 grams, or 16-20 yolks, no whites. I remember when I first saw that I was thinking WTF? Is this guy serious?
But the dough is legit. Really legit.
There are a lot of good things going for this dough. It makes delicious pasta, but after formed and ready to roll out, you do not need to introduce any new flour into the rolling process. If you made it right, it is not going to be sticky, yet also very pliable to shape into what ever pasta you are rolling. I just got done rolling out some garganelli and it was the perfect dough for the job.
Some cons that aren’t really cons, but it’s a tough dough when kneading. Some doughs are a little squishier and easier to maneuver and manipulate, you need to put a lot of force down for this one. Also, since it is such a dry dough, you introduce water during the process, but only when necessary.
Alright – I’ll stop boring you, let’s make some dough.
Ingredients –
- 00 Flour – 360 Grams – about 2 1/4 cups of flour. PLEASE WEIGH THIS, it makes a huge difference getting the pasta to egg ratio perfect here. There are many different size yolks out there
- Egg Yolks – 300 Grams – 16-20 yolks
- Olive oil – 1 1/2 teaspoons
- Salt – 2 pinches
Tools –
- Water spray bottle
- Bench scraper – highly recommended
- Pasta roller – to roll
- Rolling pin – optional
Step 1 – Making the dough
Separate the egg yolks and weigh. Weigh the flour. Combine the yolks, olive oil, and salt into its own bowl, beat the eggs and combine the ingredients.
Create a generously sized well with the flour on a clean surface. I usually do this with the measuring cup my flour was in. Once your well is established, pour in the yolk mixture to the well. Use a silicon spatula to get as much yolk mixture as possible out of the bowl.
Being slowly incorporating the flour. I typically start it off with a fork, or by using a finger and moving in a circle. As the flour is getting incorporated, add more flour into the mixture. Continue until the mixture is not liquidy, and is more of a gooey mass.
Once you have your gooey mass, start folding over flour with your bench scraper to incorporate further. After this, you have to start mixing with your hands. Continue to fold the dough over. There will be small pieces of flour around your work station, continue to try and fold those in, even when the dough seems extremely dry. I usually work to flatten the dough, to stretch it out, and then work to incorporate the dry pieces.
When everything is incorporated, form a ball and start to knead the dough. According to the book, you can’t really over knead the dough. So shoot for about 10-15 minutes of working time, until the dough is not changing in your hands anymore. Knead pressing down in the center of the dough with the palm of your hand, and slightly moving your hand to the outside. Rotate the dough 90 degrees, and continue.
When the dough it getting a little dry, apply water using the spray bottle. Use as little as possible, I typically will do 1 spray, and rub it around the dough. Continue to knead and work the dough until you have reached the 10-15 minutes, or the dough is not changing.
Cover for a minimum of 30 minutes, and start to roll out!
Step 2 – Rolling out Dough
After the dough (and you) has been resting for 30 minutes, time to roll out the dough for what ever type of pasta you are making. Set up your pasta roller, make sure there is ample space and a clean surface around you.
Unwrap the dough from the plastic wrap, cut the ball into 4 pieces. Take one with you.
Using your hands or a rolling pin, press the dough down until fairly flat. Try shaping into a rectangular-ish shape to fit into the roller. Leave a little room for the dough on each side of the roller so it is not touching the end of either side of the roller.
Starting on the widest setting, run the dough through twice, then move down a setting, run through twice, move down another setting, and run another two times. You will need to guide the dough as it is going being rolled, and will need to guide it out with another hand.
Ideally, especially starting off, you have two people for a manual pasta roller. But if it’s only you all hope is not lost. The most important part is to guide the dough into the roller. I am usually cranking with my right hand, then guiding with my left. As the dough is starting to build up under the machine, I try to grab the dough with my left ring/pinky finger to simultaneously guide the dough while pulling it out of the roller.
After the third round, laminate the dough. Laminate by taking your dough, and folding the dough in half long ways, and then again. Press together with your hands or rolling pin to combine. Start at the widest setting and start over. Run dough through setting twice, and move onto the next.
Every pasta roller is slightly different, but for egg dough pasta, I typically bring my dough down to the second to last setting. It is perfect for any noodle type pasta, anything more than that is too big. Anything smaller is exceptionally thin, and will be used for some stuffed pastas.
