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I have been a pasta maker for ages, and one of the things I hear people say all the time when they stop by my booth at the farmers market is – I have a pasta maker, but I hardly ever use it. When I ask why, they usually say that they’ve tried before but the dough didn’t work out. Either it was dry and falling apart, or too wet and it stuck to everything. Getting the dough right is the only hard thing about pasta, and if you get past that, you may break the machine out more.

1. Hopefully you are using one of the old hand cranker machines made by a number of companies such as Mercato or Atlas. If so, do not get your machine wet under any circumstances. These machines usually come with a brush that will allow you to get in there and dust off any excess flour when you are finished, or pick up a little paint brush from the hardware store.

2. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be. You’ve seen many people make the volcano of flour on a table, crack a number of eggs into it and then slowly integrate them into the flour. This can be fun, but it also takes a long time for a novice, so when I teach classes, I let people do the mixing in a large bowl until they get it combined, and then we knead it.

3. Don’t get hung up on one type of flour. Certainly semolina is sought after, but it is important to find a very fine grind if using it. All-purpose flour works great, and if you have access to 00 flour – that is the gold standard.

4. Cheat. If you’re in a hurry, use your food processor. It really takes the work out of it.

5. Recipes – There are so many out there that I would suggest looking one up from your favorite cook. I’ve liked recipes from Marcella Hazan, Gennaro Contaldo, Massimo Botturra, Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver.

6. Nap – When you’ve finished making your dough, cover it up and let it take a nap for an hour or so. I wrap mine in plastic wrap; some people use a tea towel.

7. When adding water to a recipe – do it a little at a time. It is much easier to continue to add a little water than to fix dough that is too wet.

If you really want to dive into pasta, I strongly recommend the book “Mastering Pasta: The Art and Practice of Handmade Pasta, Gnocchi and Risotto” by Marc Vetri.

2/3 C water (more as needed by the teaspoon only)

Add flour to a food processor, make a well in the flour and add the egg and salt. Pulse a few times and scrape down the sides. While the motor is running, slowly drizzle the water in until a dough begins to form. When you have consistent pea size balls forming, remove, knead a few times, wrap in plastic and let rest an hour. Proceed to cut into whatever shape you like.

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