HOMEMADE ANGEL HAIR PASTA

Homemade Angel Hair Pasta image

this is my recipe for home pasta. it is the only way to enjoy pasta. You will also need a hand-rolling pasta maker. I bought a cheap one from bed bath & beyond and it broke after 3 uses. I have included a link to a good one below. Learn from my mistakes - buy a decent one and never clean the machine with water. It will break like mine did, in the middle of making pasta for my team at work during our Christmas party. I also think a hand rolling one is better than electric, because it is a great workout. http://www.akitchen.com/store/vil151sm.html

Provided by christanana

Time 47m

Yield 6 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 3

Ingredients

5 large fresh organic eggs
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I prefer king arthur flower)
semolina flour, for dusting (I get this from a local Italian market)

Steps:

Put 3.75 cups of all purpose flour in a large mixing bowl.
Create a crater in the middle and break all 5 eggs into the middle of the crater.
With a fork, blend the flour and eggs together.
Once it starts to create a doughy mixture, mix it together with your hands. If the flour is not completely binding with the eggs, I add a little water to get it to a good consistency.
Create a ball of dough from the mixture, dust with some all-purpose flour and cover with a damp paper towel. Wrap the dough and paper towel in plastic wrap and put into the fridge for 1 hour.
Cut the dough into 3 or 4 pieces. I would suggest 4 pieces for beginners.
Take one piece of the dough you have previously cut out of the fridge and cover the rest.
Dust the pasta machine with flour and set the machine at the widest setting. Usually the settings are numbered 1-9, 1 is usually the widest.
Roll the dough through the machine. Fold in half and repeat. I usually repeat this several times so that the dough has a good consistency.
Set the pasta maker at the 2 setting and roll the dough through. Move to the next setting and repeat. Gradually the dough will get longer and you will end up with a long sheet. I stop at eigth setting (9 is way too thin).
With semolina, Dust the dough sheet on both sides and dust a large sheet pan. Cut the sheet of dough to the width of a sheet pan.
Run the sheets through the cutting attachment on the machine ( i like the angel hair setting, linguine is pretty doughy) and lay down on the dusted sheet pan. Repeat all steps until every piece of dough is cut into angel hair pasta.
If you don't plan to cook immediately, cover with a well wrung out paper towel and tin foil and put in the fridge.
Bring a large pot of water, salt and a splash of olive oil to a boil.
Cook pasta for 2 minutes and drain.
Mix in a small amount of olive oil to prevent sticking.
Add to your favorite sauce and enjoy!