The Omnivorous Fish

Julie,

Don’t be fooled by the siren call of oil. There is plenty of fat in the egg yolks, what the oil provides more than anything is the taste of olive oil, which, frankly, I find at odds with the flavor of egg. If anything, more water will make the dough more forgiving.

It’s difficult to use too much flour. As you progress in your pasta making career, you will use less, but you’re not hurting the pasta. Believe it or not, all the reworking you did probably helped. When you roll pasta with a machine, people often give it a second kneading by folding it several times while passing it through a roller, since the pasta undergoes less stress than it does while hand-rolling.

Once your nests are solid, bag them, by all means, but keep the bag flat, as if it were still on a sheet pan. Don’t let them jumble around.

Congratulations! Soon, you’ll have the water on to boil before you make the dough!