Handmade Spaghetti

Pour out the flour onto a clean work surface and form a well in the middle. Add the salt, eggs, and olive oil into the center of the well. Lightly beat the wet ingredients with a fork. Gradually draw in the flour from the inside wall of the well in a circular motion. Once it starts to come together, knead with your hands until it completely combines into a ball of dough. Continue kneading for 5-7 minutes, until smooth. If the dough is too dry, add a teaspoon of water and keep kneading. Form the dough into a smooth ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and set aside for 30 minutes.

Set up a pasta roller on your kitchen counter or table. Flour the entire work-surface around the pasta roller. Divide the dough into thirds and, using your hands, form each into a rectangle. Pass one of the pieces of dough through the roller on its widest setting twice. Change the roller to the next thinnest setting, and again run the piece of dough through twice. Continue through each setting until you have gone through the second to the thinnest setting (on mine that was #6.) Note that after a few runs through the machine, the pasta will get very long, so flour regularly throughout the process to ensure there is no sticking.

Once rolled out completely, cut the long piece of pasta into 12-15 inch pieces. Run the smaller prices of pasta dough through the spaghetti cutter on the machine. Use your hands to separate the individual pieces of spaghetti and flour generously to avoid sticking. Repeat this process with the rest of the dough.

If using right away, form into little mounds of spaghetti, but if using at a later time, use a drying rack or spaghetti drier to completely dry the pasta without any sticking.