Fresh Egg Pasta and Pesto

Several years ago I bought myself a KitchenAid mixer for my birthday (the bright red one from the Pro Series…it’s beautiful!). Soon, the pasta attachments followed as a Christmas gift and I began making fairly easy homemade pasta. Then I discovered the Making Artisan Pasta book by Aliza Green. It rocked my world. There is absolutely nothing more delicious on than fresh, homemade pasta, especially when you have fresh eggs!

And, seriously, you can have yummalicious homemade pasta on the table in under an hour when you combine your KitchenAid (or other stand mixer) with the pasta extruded attachments!

For this recipe, I had an abundance of basil and was craving pesto.

Egg Pasta Dough

350 grams Italian “00” flour
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 large egg yolk
35-45 ml (2-3 T) lukewarm water

Place the flour in your mixer bowl and use the paddle attachment. Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, while mixing on low speed. When moist crumbs begin to form, add the water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough begins to come together. If there are still some dry crumbs, add a bit more water. The dough should NOT be wet. Mix until a ball begins to form. Watch carefully and don’t over mix or burn out your mixer motor!

Turn out dough onto a woood surface and knead by hand for approximately 5 minutes to create a smooth, pliable dough.

Cover dough ball with a damp towel, or wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

Setup your pasta extruded and choose the pasta shape you want to create. For this recipe, I used the spaghetti extruded. Set your mixer speed to “10” and insert one small ball (about 1” in diameter) into the extruded at a time. Extrude to approximately 9-10” lengths of pasta onto a baking sheet.

Add noodles to boiling/salted water and cook until noodles float to surface. Serve immediately with pesto and fresh grated Parmesan for a delicious vegetarian meal. For you seafood lovers, and for a hit of protein, grilled sea scallops are a perfect addition to top the pasta. Simply rinse and remove the small side muscle from the scallops. Pat dry. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with both sides with salt and pepper. Grill on medium-high for 2-3 minutes per side.

Homemade Pesto (Makes 1 cup)

35 grams toasted pine nuts
1 garlic clove
Kosher salt
70 grams fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
30 grams fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Place pine nuts, garlic clove, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in mini food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Scrape down sides of bowl and add basil leaves, olive oil and Parmesan and continue to pulse until fully blended/puréed. Add to hot pasta, cover with additional fresh grated Parmesan and enjoy!

To store leftover pesto, place in an airtight container and add just enough olive oil to cover the surface to prevent browning. Refrigerate.