You Don't Always Have To Mix Fresh Pasta By Hand

Homemade pasta can feel like a luxury that can only be accomplished by someone with infinite time on their hands and a staff of dishwashers on standby. A basic recipe seems to require plenty of hands-on effort, but there's an easier, less messy way to get artisan pasta dough at home. Instead of hand-kneading it yourself, enlist the help of your trusty food processor or hand mixer. 

In the same way that a food processor can help you pull together a pie or a hand blender can help make pizza, these tools can aid you in making a solid pasta dough that you can turn into any shape or size that you desire. Made of flour, egg, and oil, these ingredients get a few pulses in the food processor (or a couple of mixes from the hand bender) followed by a quick kneading. Afterward, you'll have a workable pasta with half the usual mess to clean up. 

Let's start with the food processor method. As mentioned before, you'll only be pulsing together egg, oil, and flour. There's no need to salt your dough because you'll be adding plenty to your pasta water. After pulsing it a couple of times, the dough should have a crumbly appearance that holds together when pinched. If you still think it's too dry, try adding a 1/2 teaspoon of cold water to the mix to moisten it up. You'll then dump it out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it together like you would a pie dough. 

For the hand mixer method, you'll blend all the ingredients together until they begin clumping into crumbs. Then you'll proceed as you would for the food processor dough, kneading it together to form a smooth ball. From there, it has a date with the pasta roller, which will help you get the perfect thickness for your noodles. This final dough sheet can become anything — spaghetti, fettuccini, or even ravioli. With a little help from your kitchen tools, you've got homemade pasta and half the mess.