Fresh Pasta

I bought semolina flour to make fresh pasta.  This is somewhat ironic because traditionally fresh pasta is made with bread flour in Italy, and semolina is only used for dried pasta, but whatever. . .

I started with a basic recipe I found online:
100g semolina
1 egg
pinch of salt

From there I basically focused on getting the feel of well-developed dough. (smooth and elastic).  To add some color I threw in 1/8 cup powdered spinach (made by putting frozen spinach in my coffee grinder).  Which necessitated adding a lot more flour.  After about 2 minutes of kneading I let it set under a damp towel for 30 min, then I kneaded it another 5min and started rolling it out.

Rolling pasta is a pain in the ass.  It seems like no matter home much you roll, you can always divide it in 2 and roll it thinner.  Even after going as thin as I could imagine I still ended up with rather chunky pasta that took abnormally long to cook.  Then when I cut it into fettuccine-like strips, they were uneven and it stuck to itself.  This became a huge project.  Eventually I got it all into a container with some semolina flour to keep it from sticking, and that evening boiled it.  I thought it would be 2 people's worth of pasta, but it was easily 4 people's worth.  The green color was beautiful, and I really liked the consistency, which reminded me of what I used to buy at The Pasta Shop in Berkeley.

I am going to try this again to make uncolored lasagna pieces (which should be easier and less time consuming) and then to make ravioli colored by beet juice.  If I still enjoy the process at that point I will be investing in a $25 hand crank pasta machine before I do noodles again.

I am sorry that this post has less info about the details of the cooking process, but all the times (kneading, setting, boiling) seemed very subjective and specific to my case.  My advice for anyone making pasta at home is this:

1. Don't buy semolina at the grocery store.  it is a ripoff.  I got 6 lbs. of Bob's Red Mill semolina for $12 off Amazon
2. Mix the egg, salt, and other wet ingredients with a form in the middle of the flour and then gently incorporate bits of flour at a time.  Whole mixing and kneading try for a smoother, not tacky, but not dry mix.  Achieve this by adding water and flour in small amounts to correct.
3. When rolling the pasta use LIBERAL: amounts of flour on the pin and the surface.  Don't worry about using too much.
4. Boil the pasta in a lot of water, and check the taste every minute or so, till you are happy with the result.

Here is a photo of the finished product after being sauteed in a little butter and Parmesan with leftover brussels sprouts: