Pasta Recipes with a different number of eggs

[GHPoe]

I have 2 recipes for fresh pasta. Both use 3 cups of a mixture of different flours, but one calls for 3 eggs, and the other calls for 4 eggs.

Does anyone know what the benefit of adding an extra egg does?

 

[vyapti]

Unless you're making egg noodles, fresh pasta usually doesn't have any eggs. Are you making it for something like spaghetti or something like chicken noodle soup?

 

[GHPoe]

I am making it for fettucini alfredo. One recipe is from a Pasta Williams Sonoma Cookbook and the other is on the back of the Perfect Blend Pasta Flour from King Arthur.

 

[vyapti]

I found two egg noodle recipes on Cooks Illustrated. One called for 3 eggs/2 cups flour another called for 3 eggs/3 cups of flour. I found no explaination, though.

 

[Chopstix]

I've recently started making my own pasta. I always use 100 grams of flour to 1 egg -- which is the recipe I got from the book Heat (about the author's experience working in Mario Batali's kitchen and learning to cook in rural Italy). This recipe was given to him by an old Italian pasta maker in the countryside.

So far my pasta always comes out excellent. I've used it for fettuccine and ravioli.