I have a confession: I got a pasta machine last year and never used it. I really wanted to learn to make my own noodles, but it seemed like a lot of work and a big mess. When I finally broke down and tried, I found it really wasn’t either of those things, but it did take a bunch of time.

After digging through tons of recipes I narrowed it down to this rule for myself. Per one cup flour, add one egg, half tablespoon EVOO, and half tablespoon water.

Each one cup flour should make about 1.5 servings. This is a doubled batch.

Mix the wet ingredients well and pour into a well made in your flour. Mix until combined and forms a ball. Then knead a couple minutes. Let rest 30 minutes if you can. Then divide into a few pieces and start shoving it through the pasta machine. Start at the widest setting and start narrowing it until it’s the size you want.

If it starts getting too wide for the machine, fold it in half lengthwise and put it through at the same width before narrowing again. When you are done put it through the cutter and hang to dry. Cooked later in the day, it should only take 3 or so minutes to boil so keep an eye on it.

I’m obviously not an expert, so if you have any tips feel free to share them!