How did you make the dough? What recipe? Generally speaking, it is not inappropriate to add a few tablespoons of water to get a better dough. Add the water a couple of spoonsful at a time, knead the dough, then add again as required.

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Thanks for the answer. I use the King Arthur Pasta Flour and the recipe is on the package. It is basically a mixture of durum, semolina and all purpose flour. It is 3 cups of flour to 4 eggs and 2-4 tablespoons of water depending on the consistency. I have noticed a few recipes that call for 1-2 tablespoons of oil and I was wondering if that would make it more pliable and better for filling...

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AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.

added over 2 years ago

I always put about 1/2 teaspoon of really nice tasting oil (for me, that means fruity and peppery . . . preferably, arbequino) into my fresh pasta dough, assuming the same ration of 3 cups of flour to 4 eggs, for precisely that reason. It does make the dough easier to handle. ;o)

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pierino is a trusted source on General Cooking and Tough Love.

added over 2 years ago

For the pasta sheets, you can stick to your ratio (egg to flour) BUT the thing with pasta dough is that it will absorb as much moisture as it "wants" from the eggs. This all has to be done by hand on a board with a scraper and bench flour for your hands. Also, be sure to let the dough rest wrapped in cling wrap for 1/2 hour. Okay, unwrap. Cut off a piece of dough about the size of an egg. Massage it. Now we are assuming you are using rollers here, so begin with the top setting, put the dough through, fold it and put through again about eight times. Now put the thoroughly worked, flattened dough through yet again, once at each setting until next to last (save the last setting for lasagne). At this point you should have a silky sheet but one still workable for ravioli or tortelli fillings etc.

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AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.

added over 2 years ago

Thanks for the tutorial, pierino! The multiple run-throughs is key in getting the texture right. It's amazing how the elasticity is improved, dramatically, each time the dough goes through. ;o)

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Thanks for the tips. I do run it through at least 8 times -- and sometimes more to get the texture really silky. Is it possible to run it through too many times? Seems to work well for flat pasta but not as well for ravioli. Maybe I'm making the ravioli wrong.....

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Do you think the 00 flour would be better? Could yield a softer dough...

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