Anonymous Modernist 327

The egg in pasta is not being used as an emulsifier, so I don't think you can just replace it with lecithin. Nor would you want to, in my opinion: the taste of the egg yolk is fundamental to the flavor of the pasta. Also: as LFMichaud points out, if you have access to a commercial supplier you can buy egg yolks in bulk; otherwise, search over at eGullet for "uses for egg whites" I think we've got a several topics that cover it. Good thing eggs are cheap!

Several of us over at the eG Forumshave tried making the standard wheat pasta listed on volume 3 and have found the dough to be much too firm to use with rollers. Was this dough specifically designed for an extruder? If so, how would you modify it to work with a roller? I think most of us have simply added more water to get to a workable texture, but of course you could add more egg or oil as well.