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Fresh Pasta Squares

It's important to make this tender fresh pasta into pansoti as soon as you have cut the dough into squares: The squares dry out quickly and become difficult to seal.

Cooks' note:

Pasta dough, though best used immediately, can be made (but not rolled out) 1 day ahead and chilled, wrapped in plastic wrap. Bring dough to room temperature before rolling out.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    2 hours

  • Yield

    Makes about 24 (3 1/2-inch) squares

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons water

Special Equipment

a pasta maker

Preparation

  1. Make dough:

    Step 1

    Blend all ingredients in a food processor until mixture just begins to form a ball. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, incorporating only as much additional flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 6 to 8 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let stand 1 hour.

  2. Roll out dough:

    Step 2

    Set smooth rollers of pasta machine at widest setting. Cut dough into 4 pieces and keep 3 pieces covered. Flatten unwrapped piece of dough into a rectangle and feed through rollers. Fold rectangle in half and feed through rollers 8 more times, folding in half each time and dusting with flour as necessary to prevent sticking.

    Step 3

    Turn dial to next (narrower) setting and feed dough through without folding. Continue to feed dough through without folding, making space between rollers narrower each time, until narrowest setting is used. Cut rolled-out dough into 31/2-inch squares. Gather trimmings into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Transfer squares to a wax-paper-lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Roll out and cut remaining dough in same manner, then repeat with trimmings.

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