5 Things You Need to Know to Cook Delicious Pasta from Scratch
Italy is known for food, including pasta, pizza, tiramisu, gelato, and other delicious desserts. Everyone should experience, at least once in their lives, eating an authentic pasta dish with fresh ingredients at a restaurant in Italy. Until then, making and eating fresh pasta instead of store-bought, is a tasty, cost-effective alternative. It’s not that hard, either. Here are five things you need to know to make tasty and delicious fresh pasta:
1. Use the Right Ingredients
Making pasta from scratch might sound difficult, but it’s easy and requires only three ingredients: flour, eggs, and salt. Some people use olive oil to add moisture to the dough. You’ll also need a rolling pin or a pasta machine to help you flatten the dough.
While you might get a more authentic result with finely milled flours like 00 (doppio zero or pizza) or semolina, it’s OK to use all-purpose flour. The amount of flour and number of eggs you’ll need depends on how many people you’re cooking for and if you plan to store leftovers. Most recipes follow a ratio of 1 egg for every 2/3 cups of flour.
2. Follow Step-by-Step Directions for Dough
Before starting, make sure you have a clean countertop with plenty of space to roll out the dough. Put 2 cups of flour on the surface and create a small well in the center, into which you then put 3 eggs and a half teaspoon of salt. Using a fork, carefully whisk the eggs without disturbing the mound of flour. Once the eggs are whisked, use the fork to start gradually bringing some of the flour into the egg mixture. Use your hands to finish mixing the wet and dry ingredients and form into a dough ball. Add flour if the dough feels too wet and beaten egg if it’s too dry.
Knead the dough for seven to 10 minutes. There are a variety of ways to knead dough. The easiest is to push down and away with the palm of your hand, turn and fold the dough, and push down and away once more. Repeat this process until the dough has a smooth and cohesive consistency. Form the dough into a ball again, cover it with plastic wrap, and allow it to rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
If you are using a pasta machine, flatten the dough by hand until it’s about 1/2-inch thick, and sprinkle it with flour. With the machine on its widest setting, feed the dough through the slot and turn the handle, being sure to hold the pasta as it comes out of the machine. Roll the dough through the machine again on the same setting one or two times before moving to the next smallest setting and repeating the process, going to smaller settings over time until the dough is about 1/16-inch thick.
Finally, attach the cutting blades to the machine and carefully feed the dough through, being careful with your hands. Boil the pasta immediately in heavily salted water.
3. Use a Pasta Machine
You’ll save time if you use a pasta machine. These machines flatten and roll out the dough and come with attachments to create different pasta shapes, i.e., spaghetti and linguine. They’re not all that expensive either, with options ranging from about $20 to $100. Otherwise, you will have to spend a little more time and effort flattening the dough with a rolling pin, which can be arduous and tiresome just after kneading the dough.
That said, shaping pasta by hand, especially with friends or family members, can be fun and rewarding. One technique for making farfalle, also known as bowtie, involves cutting the dough into 1 1/2-inch-wide squares, holding from opposite edges of the square, twisting, and then gently pressing the middle with your thumb so that the pasta holds its shape. For penne, take similarly sized squares and roll them up diagonally using a thick skewer or the handle of a wooden spoon.
4. Pair It with an Amazing Sauce
There are many sauces, but tomato sauce, a.k.a. marinara, is what most people associate with pasta. You can make a simple and flavorful authentic Italian tomato sauce with just a handful of ingredients: crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, and olive oil. Alternatively, you can get a little more creative and try one of the many other types of sauce, including meaty Bolognese, creamy alfredo, or zesty pesto.
Some types of pasta are better suited to certain sauces. Penne, for example, is perfect for hearty sauces, like ragu. Pappardelle and other wide noodles are preferable for creamy sauces, like Alfredo or vodka sauce.
5. Store Your Leftover Pasta Appropriately
Pasta will stay good overnight in the refrigerator, but you will have to dry or freeze it for longer storage. To dry, toss the pasta with a little bit of flour and hang on a drying rack, or lay flat on a baking sheet, for at least 12 hours. The pasta is finished drying if it breaks in half when twisted. You can then store the pasta in an airtight container for about six months.
