How to make fresh pasta for two: start with 100 to 120 grams of semola flour (in the US, called Semolina–high protein, less gluten than all-purpose, totally different actually), one fresh egg, some fine salt, a fork, and a wooden board (ideally).
Pour your flour into a heap on the board, then plunge your fingers into the center and move in a circular motion to create a pastry “well.” If you don’t have a scale, you should have about this much flour for two people:
Next, you should add salt–a heaping pinch–to the flour, just sprinkle it all on top of the flour. I forgot, so I added mine after the egg. Next, add the egg to the “well,” and whisk gently with a fork at first, until you become fortable, slowly incorporating the flour surrounding it. Be careful not to grab too much flour from any one place or your egg will run amuck! Wait til the egg part is thick enough to not go running away to be rough with the fork/flour situation.
Once the egg is pretty incorporated, start tossing flour over the wet parts and moving it with your hands, kneading in the rest of the flour (or as much as it will take until its no longer distractingly/annoyingly sticky). You’ll want to start doing that a little after the soupy consistency shown above–it should be getting crumbly almost.
Then continue to knead the dough until its got a nice texture and seems fully incorporated, not dry, but not able to easily sop up more flour. Then wrap it in plastic, and let it sit on the counter for at least half an hour. If you want to roll it out the next day or in the next few days, put it in the frige and take it out an hour before you want to roll it as cold dough is harder to make thin.
Flour a flat surface like a clean kitchen counter lightly with semolina or all-purpose flour. Pat your room temperature, rested egg dough with flour lightly, and shape it into a flat disk with your hands to get started. Take a rolling pin to it (or if you’re lazy and have one, use your pasta machine, but I disapprove of this in general). Get it fairly thin (look at finished noodle thickness) and even. Flour one side generously, and fold loosely (do not crease) to make a log of sorts. Take a knife and cut your noodles however thick you like them–you will need a very sharp knife or you will be miserable.
Alternatively, you can cut your raviolis out and attach the two sides with a bit of water, being sure to push the air out from next to the filling before sealing (or they’ll be likely to burst).
Boil pleanty of water, salt it generously when it comes to a boil. Cook your pasta for two to five minutes depending how thick it is and how narrow your noodles are; for ravioli expect four to six minutes, depending on the filling and how thick the dough is
I coated mine in a roasted roma tomato, garlic, parsley, chili pepper “salsa” that I had made a day earlier for a roast beef dish, a sort of super-fresh arrabiata sauce, this time.
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