Name: Basic Pasta Dough Recipe
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more as needed); 4 large eggs; ⅓ teaspoon kosher salt (plus more for the pot)

Basic Pasta Dough Recipe

Adapted from Lidia Bastianich’s recipe.

Basic Pasta Dough Recipe

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 5

Total Time 50

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Servings

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour plus more as needed
4 large eggs
⅓ teaspoon kosher salt plus more for the pot

Instructions

Measure 2 full cups of unsifted flour (or weigh out 10 ounces), and dump it all in the bowl of a food-processor; process for a few seconds to aerate. Beat the eggs with the salt in a spouted measuring cup. With the food processor running, quickly pour in all the eggs through the feed tube. Process continuously, as a dough forms and gathers on the blade and cleans the side of the bowl. If the dough does not come together or clean the bowl after 30 seconds or so, stop the machine, scrape down the sides, and sprinkle in a couple of tablespoons more flour. Process for a few more seconds-and add more flour if necessary-until a fairly firm ball of dough forms.
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface, and knead by hand for a minute or more, until it is smooth and firm. If it’s at all sticky, incorporate more flour as you knead. Press the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for at least 1/2 hour. (You can refrigerate the dough for up to a day, or freeze for a month or more. Defrost in the refrigerator, and return to room temperature before rolling.) Cut the dough in four equal pieces.
Roll each piece through a pasta machine at progressively narrower settings adding flour to prevent from sticking (I like to use semolina for this part). Use the pasta cutter to cut into desired shape.
Dust the freshly cut strands with flour, and gather them into a loose nest on a floured tray. Leave the tray uncovered at room temperature until you are ready to cook the pasta. To cook, bring to boiling a large pot of well-salted water (at least 6 quarts with a tablespoon or more of salt). Using your hand or a colander, shake excess flour off the nests and drop them into the pot. Stir and separate the strands as the water returns to a rolling boil, then cook the pasta for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until al dente.