Oregano Pasta Dough

This dough will work with any fresh herb you'd like. But I do want to stress that they need to be fresh herbs, dried herbs just aren't going to cut it in this application. I love having my own fresh herbs on my patio because I can just go out and pick what I'd like. The oregano was growing out of control, that's why we decided to use it here.

3 cups flour
3 eggs
4 Tbl. water (this will vary depending on weather and other factors)
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup fresh oregano, stripped from stems

In the bowl of a food processor, blend the oregano, flour, salt, and pepper until the herbs are small and uniform in size. Add eggs, oil, and just enough water to make the dough come together. Remove from the food processor and mix by hand for just a minute, you may need to adjust the consistency with either more water or more flour. You really need to get your hands in it to be able to tell: your don't want it all dry and crumbly, but it shouldn't be sticky either.

Divide the dough into two parts and wrap each in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Don't skimp on this step, it's important. This is enough dough to make pasta twice, or one really large batch (like dinner party sized).

Flour your work surface and remove one of your balls of dough from refrigerator. Only work with one at a time, you want the dough to stay cool. Using a pasta roller dusted lightly with flour, roll out the dough, starting with the thickest gauge and slowly working your way down. You want it really thin, otherwise it will be gummy when you cook it. Cut into desired shapes (a pizza wheel works great for this). I love making pappardelle (flat, long, wide noodles) because it's easy and not as precise as other shapes. Cook in boiling, salted water until done, it should only take about 3 minutes. Al dente isn't really an option here because the pasta hasn't been dried, but you definitely don't want to overcook it. Enjoy!!

makes over one pound of dough