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Combining the eggs and flour:
Because no one can tell in advance exactly how much flour one needs, the sensible method of combining eggs and flour is by hand, which permits you to adjust the proportion of flour as you go along.
Pour the flour onto a work surface, shape it into a mound, and scoop out a deep hollow in its center. Break the eggs into the hollow.
Beat the eggs lightly with a fork for about 1 minute as though you were making an omelet. If using spinach, beat for a minute or so longer. Draw some of the flour over the eggs, mixing it in with the fork a little at a time, until the eggs are no longer runny. Draw the sides of the mound together with your hands, but push some of the flour to one side, keeping it out of the way until you find you absolutely need it. Work the eggs and flour together, using your fingers and the palms of your hands, until you have a smoothly integrated mixture. If it is still moist, work in more flour.
When the mass feels good to you and you think it does not require any more flour, wash your hands, dry them, and run a simple test: Press your thumb deep into center of the mass; if it comes out clean, without any sticky matter on it, no more flour is needed. Put the egg and flour mass to one side, scrape the work surface absolutely clear of any loose or caked bits of flour and of any crumbs, and get ready to knead.
Kneading:
The proper kneading of dough may be the most important step in making good pasta by machine, and it is one of the secrets of the superior fresh pasta you can make at home. Dough for pasta can be kneaded in a machine, but it isn’t really that much quicker than doing it by hand, and it is far less satisfactory, particularly when kneaded in a food processor.
Return to the mass of flour and eggs. Push forward against it using the heel of your palm, keeping your fingers bent. Fold the mass in half, give it a half turn, press hard against it with the heel of your palm again, and repeat the operation. Make sure that you keep turning the ball of dough always in the same direction, either clockwise or counterclockwise, as you prefer. When you have kneaded it thus for 8 full minutes and the dough is as smooth as baby skin, it is ready for the machine.
Note:
If you are working with a large mass, you can divide it into 2 or more parts and finish kneading one before taking on the other. Keep any part of the mass you are not working with or of the dough you have finished kneading tightly covered in plastic wrap.
Thinning:
Cut each ball of dough made with 2 eggs into 6 equal parts. In other words, the pieces of dough you end up with for thinning should be three times as many as the eggs you used.
Spread clean, dry, cloth dish towels over a work counter near where you’ll be using the machine. If you are making a lot of pasta you’ll need a lot of counter space and a lot of towels.
Set the pair of smooth cylinders, the thinning rollers, at their widest opening. Flatten one of the pieces of dough by pummeling it with your palm, and run it through the machine. Fold the dough twice into a third of its length, and feed it by its narrow end through the machine once again. Repeat the operation 2 or 3 times, then lay the flattened strip of pasta over a towel on the counter. Since you are going to have a lot of strips, start at one end of the counter, leaving room for the others.
Take another piece of dough, flatten it with your hand, and run it through the machine exactly as described above. Lay the strip next to the previously thinned one on the towel, but do not allow them to touch or overlap, because they are still moist enough to stick to each other. Proceed to flatten all the remaining pieces in the same manner.
Note:
This is the procedure to follow if you are going to cut the pasta into noodles (not stuffed pasta).
Close down the opening between the machine’s rollers by one notch. Take the first pasta strip you had flattened and run it once through the rollers, feeding it by its narrow end. Do not fold it, but spread it flat on the cloth towel, and move on to the next pasta strip in the sequence.
When all the pasta strips have gone through the narrower opening once, bring the rollers closer together by another notch, and run the strips of pasta through them once again, following the procedure described above. You will find the strips becoming longer, as they get thinner, and if there is not enough room to spread them out on the counter, you can let them hang over the edge. Continue thinning the strips in sequence, progressively closing down the opening between the rollers one notch at a time, until the pasta is as thin as you want it. This step-by-step thinning procedure, which commercial makers of fresh pasta greatly abbreviate or skip altogether, is responsible, along with proper kneading, for giving good pasta its body and structure.
Drying:
For all cut pasta, fettuccine, tagliolini, pappardelle, and so on, allow the strips spread on the towels to dry for 10 minutes or more, depending on the temperature and ventilation of your kitchen. From time to time, turn the strips over. The pasta is ready for cutting when it is still pliant enough that it won’t crack when cut, but not so soft and moist that the strands will stick to each other. Pasta requires no additional drying except for the purpose of storing it.
Cutting flat pasta
Use the broader set of cutters on the machine to make fettuccine, and the narrower ones for tonnarelli or tagliolini. When the pasta strips are sufficiently, but not excessively, dried, feed them through the cutter of choice. As the ribbons of noodles emerge from the cutter, separate them and spread them out on the cloth towels. To cook, gather the pasta in a single towel and slide it into boiling, salted water.