Mint Pasta Dough

• ¼ cup packed fresh mint leaves
• ¼ cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ¼ cups tipo 00 flour (or 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour), plus more for dusting
• ½ cup durum flour
• 10 egg yolks

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Have a bowl of ice water ready. Add the mint and parsley and blanch until bright green, about 15 seconds. Using a spider strainer or slotted spoon, immediately transfer the herbs to the ice water to stop the cooking. For a dough with a deep green color, reserve about ¼ cup of the blanching water and let it cool. 

When the herbs are cooled, remove them from the ice water and shake off any excess water. Transfer the herbs to a blender, small food processor, or mortar and pestle, add the oil and 1 tablespoon of water—or 1 tablespoon of the blanching water—and purée the mixture until smooth. (The finer you purée the herbs, the fewer specks you’ll have in the pasta.)

Transfer the herb purée to a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and add both flours and the egg yolks. (Or, to make the dough by hand, first mix the flours on a work surface. Make a well in the center, then add the egg yolks and herb purée, mixing with your fingers.) Mix on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, adding water or the cooled blanching water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together. You should only need 1 to 3 tablespoons of water. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it until it feels silky and smooth, about 5 minutes, kneading in a little flour, if necessary, to keep the dough from sticking. The dough is ready if it gently pulls back into place when stretched with your hands.

Shape the dough into a ball, then flatten the ball into a disk. Cover it and set it aside for at least 30 minutes or wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. (If freezing, thaw the dough overnight in the refrigerator before using it. Alternatively, thaw it in a microwave oven on 50 percent power in 5-second increments, just until cool to the touch.)

To roll out the dough, cut it into 4 equal pieces. If chilled, let the pieces sit, covered, at room temperature for 10 minutes. The dough should be cool but not cold. Shape each piece into an oval wide enough to fit the width of your pasta roller. Lightly flour your work surface and set the pasta roller to its widest setting. Lightly flour 1 piece of dough, pass it through the roller, and then lightly dust the rolled dough with flour, brushing off any excess with your hands. Pass the dusted dough through the widest setting again. Set the roller to the next narrowest setting and pass the dough through, dusting again with flour and brushing off the excess. Pass once again through the roller.

Fold the dough in half lengthwise over itself and cut about ¼ inch off both corners at the fold. This folding and cutting helps to create an evenly wide sheet of dough.

Continue passing the dough once or twice through each progressively narrower setting. For pappardelle, you generally want to roll the dough about 1/8 inch thick— setting 2 or 3 on a KitchenAid attachment—or about as thick as a thick cotton bedsheet. 

As you roll and each sheet gets longer and more delicate, drape the sheet over the backs of your hands to easily feed it through the roller. You should end up with a sheet 2 to 5 feet long, 5 to 6 inches wide, and 1/8 inch thick.

To cut the pasta sheet into wide ribbons, lay it on a lightly floured work surface and use a cutting wheel or knife, or use the cutter attachment on the pasta machine. If you are not cooking the pasta after cutting it, dust it with flour, cover it, and refrigerate it for a few hours, or freeze it in a single layer, transfer the frozen pasta to a zip-lock bag, and freeze it for up to 1 month. Take the pasta straight from the freezer to the boiling pasta water.