Saturday, August 22, 2009

Home Made Pasta

This is essentially a handout that I made for a "class" I taught on making home made pasta. It is SO simple. Let me know if you have any questions. The picture is of a boat load of spaghetti noodles that I made prior to being cooked. I just tossed them in flour as I made them so that they wouldn't stick together.

The Dough Ingredients: eggs and flour, sometimes water or oil

Flavoring the Dough: Basil or other herbs, lemon zest, spinach, tomato powder, garlic salt

*Add to dough with eggs or between thin layers of pasta sheets

Methods for Making Dough: Almost all methods begin the same way. Place flour in a bowl, make a well in the middle and add the eggs, etc. Slowly incorporate flour, mixing with a fork

*Quick and Easy: 1 egg for every ½- ¾ cup flour

*This dough starts out pretty sticky and doesn’t require kneading. Before each

pass through the rollers, you “dip” it in flour, until you reach the desired

consistency. Then you begin decreasing the roller setting, making your dough

sheet thinner until you reach the desired thinness and then you roll it through

the attachment to make spaghetti or fettuccine, etc.

*The texture is much less smooth than other methods.

* Not conducive to hand rolling, etc.

*Keep portions of dough not in use covered.

*Typical Method: 4 eggs, 3 cups flour, water as needed

*Spread a little flour on your work surface. Knead until dough is a consistent

color and texture. (about 7-10 minutes).

*Form dough into a ball and cover with a damp towel or saran wrap. Let the

dough rest for 10-15 minutes. This helps the ingredients to blend and the dough

become more relaxed and workable.

*Roll dough in pasta maker or with rolling pin.

* Keep portions of dough not in use covered.

*This dough turns out very smooth consistency pasta, perfect for everything

from spaghetti to ravioli.

*Spin on the Typical Method: 4 eggs, 3 cups flour, 2 Tbs. Olive Oil

* Sift flour into a food processor. Place eggs and olive oil on top of flour.

Process until dough starts to come together. It will look like a ton of tiny crumbs.

Press together with your hands, adding a tiny bit of water as needed if too dry.

*Spread a little flour on your work surface. Knead until dough is a consistent

color and texture. (about 7-10 minutes).

*Form dough into a ball and cover with a damp towel or saran wrap. Let the

dough rest for 20-30 minutes. This helps the ingredient to blend and the dough

become more relaxed and workable.

*Roll dough in pasta maker or with rolling pin.

* Keep portions of dough not in use covered.

*Can also use a heavy duty mixer with a dough hook.

*This also turns out pasta with a smooth consistency

*It is easier to mix together but the drawback is that you have to let it rest quite

a bit longer.

*I think that the olive oil in the pasta is great for if you are going to store the

dough. It doesn’t seem to stick to itself as much.

*Rolling it by hand:

*This method obviously by far takes the most amount of time and energy.

*A good rolling pin in a must.

*Make sure that you really let your dough rest so that it is workable.

*On your work surface you want the thinnest sprinkling of flour. If you use

too much flour, your dough will slide around and make you crazy.

*Roll dough out to desired consistency and cut into shapes wanted.

*A pizza cutter works really well for cutting out fettuccine or lasagna.

*A round cookie cutter works well for ravioli.

Storing your Pasta:

Drying:

*Buy or make a drying rack.

*As pasta comes out of the machine you can hang it on the rack for a few hours until

dry.

*Store in a Ziploc bag or other airtight container.

*You can store the dried pasta indefinitely.

Freezing:

*Lay out or form pasta “nests”, toss with flour and place in a Ziploc bag and freeze.

*Store in freezer for about 6 months.

Refrigerate:

*Place in a Ziploc bag or airtight container.

*You can place parchment paper between layers of pasta if you are worried about it

sticking together.

*Use within 2-3 days.



1 comment:

ba and the boys said...

we were poor and we used to always make our own pasta growing up. atually, poor might have only been part of it. i think it was tradition. my greatgrandma was still alive until i was 15, and she was from italy. so i think we always just made pasta since she did.
i dont anymore. but this is pretty much how i remember it.
ciao!