pasta
I have gleaned that fresh pasta (egg and flour) can be "left on the counter to dry". My question is, how soon will the dried fresh pasta go bad. Secondly, where should dry pasta be stored? In the pantry or in the fridge?
When in the pantry, maybe twirled on itself and inside a container. My problem with pasta hangers is that it attracts ants.
My italian grandma does it, but says to really make sure they dry out.
You can dry them out and then freeze them, if it makes you feel any less hesitant.
What type of flour are you using? If you are using semolina, as expected, you should try to sift it and remove the coarse parts. Also, you can mix 75% semolina and 25% of a softer wheat flour. The egg makes the dough much (much) harder to extrude, you can try substituting water for egg:
I make my fresh pasta with the wonderful mx700 Simac (which you can find online for about 40/60$) and I can assure you that the pressure applied by the machine is tremendous and when I don't get the mix carefully balanced the motor clearly screams and the machine cracks like it's going to open in half.
In Venice, Italy we have a traditional manual pasta machine called Bigolaro that resembles a bit the one you posted, but the handle is much larger, hence easier to turn: you should use a metal pipe (on each side) to make your work easier!
Best Answer
The most accurate answer is going to depend quite a bit on your environment, the following things are factors:
There's also the moisture content of the pasta itself to consider. Under ideal conditions (semi-warm, relatively dry and reasonably clean air), pasta that has been dried correctly can last for several weeks at room temperature on a vented tray covered with some wax or parchment paper. I try very hard to consume it within that period, ideally within a day or two of making it.
If you do need to store it longer, you want it in an evacuated container of some kind (vacuum sealed) and then freeze it. Make absolutely certain the pasta is completely dry or the crystallization of the remaining moisture is going to affect it very negatively.
If you need to make a lot well ahead of time, consider using a bit less egg than your recipe calls for, kneading more, and then simply refrigerating the pasta in an otherwise evacuated container (plastic bag, etc) similar to how you'd purchase fresh pasta at the grocery store. It can stay refrigerated in that manner for up to a couple of months, and you can dry it fully prior to using it.
It's hard to write a blanket 'safe' answer here too, as oils you might add to your recipe could be closer to being rancid than you think - use common sense above everything else and rely on your sense of smell :)
In short, if you're going to end up freezing it ... you're kind of defeating the purpose of making it fresh to begin with, a good brass-cut pre-made commercial durum would almost be a better idea at that point. But if you do have to freeze it, try to do so in the absence of air and moisture, or you'll end up with something that sort of defeated the purpose of making it fresh to begin with.