Okay, now who does not like pasta? I think the ones disliking it are far and few part… There is truly no better treat than homemade pasta. You might think it will take forever to make, or it will come out terrible. But the truth is that with only two ingredients you can create a wonderfully delicious dish. There is truly something special about homemade pasta that will encourage you to make it again and again…(and the bonus, you might just develop some sexy arm muscles.) 😆
Types of pasta
There are two main categories: dried or fresh.
Dried pasta can be found all over in most stores where as fresh pasta refers to freshly made by hand and sometimes with a pasta machine.
There are also a number of different shapes and sizes available.
Being married to an Italian I quickly realized that every shape pasta has a specific purpose and don’t dare mess them up. 🤣 Naaah just kidding. I just learned alot about pasta. Actually thinking of it now it makes sense why you will use some pastas for certain dishes.
Like your thicker ribbon strands, called Tagliatelle works wonders with a mince base sauce, or your thinner strands like Capellini or shapes like Stelline works better in broth like soups.
Equipment needed for homemade pasta
Traditionally you will only need your hands and maybe a rolling pin. You will knead your dough until it is soft, silky and smooth by hand.
However, these days life is definitely made easier with different equipment.
I use my electrical mixer on a slow speed to combine all the ingredients. Once the dough is combined it resemble breadcrumbs. I then knead by hand.
Kneading your dough does take a bit of arm muscles. If the dough feels to dry, feel free to add another egg. This will make working with the dough a bit easier.
But, to make your life even more easier, I introduce the pasta machine…
There are so many different choices out there. But I found that the manual hand one works wonders for me. I can control the speed and the thickness with minimal effort. Of course there are very nice electrical ones out there as well. At the end of the day it comes down to whatever makes it easier for you.
Basic recipe for egg pasta dough
Try to use Tipo ’00’ flour, but I have had great success using plain cake flour.
This recipe is enough to make 4 large servings.
600g cake flour
6 eggs (You can add 6 more eggs yolks to make the dough richer)
Place the flour heaped up onto a clean surface. Start by beating 6 eggs in a separate bowl. Now make a well in the centre of your flour and add in the eggs.
Use your hands to mix all the flour into the egg. This will become very sticky but keep mixing the flour in. If the dough seems very stiff add in another egg or two. And keep mixing in. In total you can add up to 12 egg yolks. This will make a richer pasta. Remember to add flour to your hands to keep the dough from sticking to it.
You will have to knead your dough until it is smooth, silky and elastic.
Cover your dough with some cling wrap, making sure that no dough is exposed and allow your dough to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Shaping your homemade pasta
This is where the real fun starts. I used my manual pasta machine to make some Tagliatelle.
Start by breaking orange size pieces of dough off. Make sure to keep the dough that you are not working with, covered.
Roll the piece of dough between your hands to make a sausage shape.
Now start your pasta machine on the biggest setting. (no. 7) run the dough thru the two rollers 6 to 7 times, after each time fold the pasta in half, first lengthways and with the next roll sideways. Set the rollers closer to each other (no.6) and repeat rolling the dough thru. Change to (no.5) then (no.4) then (no.3) I didn’t roll out the pasta further than this as I wanted a thicker strand. But feel free to experiment and roll the pasta out as thin as you wish. Rolling out the dough this many times might seem pointless, but you are working the dough. This will result in a perfectly textured pasta once it is cooked.
Now move the turning arm, and secure it into the slot according to the shape that you wish to make. Sprinkle some flour over your rolled out and thinned pasta before you run it thru the shape rollers.
Once cut, place it on a pasta drying rack. I use a normal cooling rack, just elevated and secured to ensure that the rack doesn’t move and fall off. My mother-in-law uses a big flat bowl. She adds one layer of pasta, sprinkles some flour over the layer, then add another layer, repeating the layers until all the pasta dough is shaped.
You can cook your pasta immediately or allow it to dry completely. Once it is dried you can store it in a airtight container in the fridge until you want to use it. Just remember. This is fresh pasta, not store bought ones. Therefore you can not store them as long as the store bought ones, use it with in 2-3 days.
However, you can always freeze the pasta. Simply add the uncooked pasta in freezer bags, seal properly and store flat in the freezer. It can be stored this way for a month or two. Once you are ready to cook the pasta, you can simply just add it to your boiling water. There is no need to defrost them.
How do you cook freshly made pasta
Start by boiling some water in a large enough pot. Add about a teaspoon of salt to the boiling water.
Once your water is boiling, add in the fresh pasta. And give a quick stir.
You will notice that the pasta sinks to the bottom of the pot. Keep an eye on the pasta, once it starts to rise to the top of the water it will be cooked.
Before you take your pasta off the stove, test a small piece of pasta. If it is soft to the bite but still tender (in other words, Al dente) then it is ready.
Also remember, the thicker the pasta the longer it will take to cook. In general fresh pasta cooks with in a few minutes, much faster than store bought pasta.
Strain all the excess water from the pasta. Your pasta is now ready for sauce. Add in the sauce to your pasta, mix in and BUON APPETITO!!
