Squash Ravioli with Sage-Brown Butter

I had a really hard time with this dough. I've done the basic pasta dough by hand and it worked and the Batali spinach dough - also successful. This time I borrowed a friend's food processor to make the dough. First problem was the quantity - 6 cups of flour almost filled her machine and it wasn't blending well so I divided the mass at the 'parmesan cheese' stage. I did the 'squeeze test and thought it was right but fought to knead it - just wouldn't smooth out. Broke it up, re-pulsed and added a bit more egg mixture and tried again. Still a tough knead - it never got smooth. When I went to roll it it kept breaking and behaving more like pastry than pasta. Finally got some of it thin enough to make a few and the final product was tough (as fresh pasta goes) Is it possible to overwork the dough? It seemed like it didn't have enough gluten... Anyhow - I would put a note on this recipe to make sure you have a really big food processor before attempting it. And I like Rouxbe's basic pasta recipe much better. would the high egg yolk/oil/water have made a difference? Just wondering why it was a fail.

It is hard to know exactly what happened with this dough, but it seems like it needed just a bit more water. If it was crumbly and not getting stretchy, it means that gluten was not developing and it was likely dry and tough--not elastic and resilient. It is a very egg (protein) rich dough--but it needs to be adjusted with a bit more water as that is what activates gluten development.

Next time, try this: get the dough mass together and knead with a bit of water by hand for 2 minutes. Add a dusting of extra flour if it sticks--but keep working it until it gets smooth. Let the dough sit, covered or wrapped, for 20-30 minutes before rolling. Enjoy!