I have been told to fold fresh pasta when making fresh pasta. Why is it important to fold the dough three times before running it through the pasta machine?
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It's not, in particular.
A common way to knead pasta dough is by repeatedly folding it over, and running it through the pasta machine on its widest setting. This spares you the difficulty of trying to knead a very hard, dense dough on a board.
However, how you fold it is really up to you. I tend to fold mine by quarters, with the edges meeting in the middle (two folds, non-overlapping), which eventually provides the dough with a nice, clean, straight edges. There are lots of different folding patterns, and none of them is really "best".
FuzzyChef
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As a kid making pasta with my dad we always folded in three on the first 2 passes. I never asked why. As an adult I have made ravioli and tagliatelle multiple times. The first few times I forgot about the fold(old age!). When I remembered to do it the ravioli had straighter lines. But it also allows you to ensure the pasta is smooth and even before rolling/cutting which may not happen if you hand press then roll. I.e. the sides splitting out and being thinner or jagged.
