From time to time, we mention that it’s possible to make fettuccine entirely by hand, and, we blithely state something along the lines of, roll out the pasta dough and cut it into fettuccine, without having a clue about the difficulty. That’s because we just use our pasta machine (we love it and use it about once a week), but we thought, what if we’re telling all our followers who don’t own a pasta machine to do something that’s really difficult? So, to check, we made fettuccine entirely by hand, and it was …
… as easy as using a pasta machine. And nearly as fast. We’ll show you the steps quickly, so you can get into the kitchen and start scratchin’ out your own fettuccine.
Start with a batch of basic pasta dough, rested and ready to roll. Divide it into 4 pieces, and, on a floured work surface, using your trusty rolling pin, roll out one piece into a long sheet.
Dust the sheet with flour, fold it into thirds the long way, and use a sharp chef’s knife to cut it into strips.
Unfold the strips and place on a drying rack covered with a clean dish towel to dry.
It took us no longer to make this fettuccine with a rolling pin and a knife than it does to use a pasta machine; well, maybe a few minutes longer, but, now we know how easy it is to make fettuccine using just a few hand tools. Looks as if you’ll need to find a new excuse to avoid making fresh pasta!