Pasta Fresca: Homemade Fresh Pasta
I'm sitting at my kitchen table very early on a Tuesday morning. The house is quiet, the wife and kids are still asleep. As I sit here sipping a strong espresso, I can't help but think about the incredible voyage I embarked on a few months ago.
As you know, I launched the Ask Leo Pizza website at the beginning of July. The response has been overwhelming. I have created a platform for brand new pizza makers, restaurateurs, and home cooks who want to learn "Pizza 101" from a seasoned professional in the industry. WIth my new website, I have made it possible to simply click the chat button and give you the opportunity to ask me questions in real-time. And when I say overwhelming, I mean, the amazing response from all my friends and industry colleagues, and you, my loyal followers! The website can now be translated into different languages which allow people from all over the world to view my content and respond with their questions. With so much pizza on my mind, I needed to switch gears to allow myself to unwind.
I recently received some questions asking if I had a "go-to pasta dough". While this is a bit of a loaded question because like pizza dough, the type of pasta that you are making will change the recipe, I do have a recipe that will allow you to make the most common types of Pasta Fresca and be successful every time. If you follow my steps, in no time at all, you will find yourself feeding your friends and family a true piece of Italian cuisine that dates back centuries. The ingredients are simple and once you have mastered the steps that I'm about to show you, you can continue to experiment on you own to make your kitchen your favorite pasta shop.
Let’s start with the basics. The first important rule to remember is that fresh pasta is very forgiving! I can remember making pasta as a kid with my grandmother. She would let me beat the eggs and slowly mix them into a well she had made in a mound of flour. She added a pinch of salt and soon would take over when the kneading began. Have fun and patience when you work and in the end, you will be rewarded. It's easy to feel intimidated if you have never made fresh pasta before but once you practice this dough a few times, you'll be confident enough to whip up a batch at the drop of a hat.
You need to remember that fresh pasta and dry pasta are two different animals. Anyone can go to the grocery store and pick up a pound of the stuff that you find in a cardboard box down the Italian aisle. Dry pasta is fantastic for many dishes but there are as many other pasta dishes that require fresh pasta due to its flavor and texture. Fresh pasta is softer and chewier than dry pasta and you would never hear the term "al dente" referred to when eating it. Even the way fresh pasta is cooked is different than dry. Typically, dry pasta would go into a pot of boiling water for 8-10 minutes depending on the amount of Al Dente you prefer. Fresh pasta will cook in under 2 minutes depending on your cut, mine is ready in 60-90 seconds after dropping it into the boiling water!
Here's the important steps to pasta making and you should consider these your bible if you plan on being successful.
There's also a lot of fancy tools on the market to help you on your pasta making journey. Don't get caught in the trap! The only tools you need are simple and even if you decide to throw down some of your hard earned cash to invest on some equipment, there's not a lot that you really need. Sure you can run down to your local gourmet kitchenware shop and find beautiful fluted pastry wheels, all types of fancy electric pasta machines, and even special drying racks but all you need is simply a fork and a rolling pin!
Over the years, I have invested in a manual pasta machine that has a hand crank. It allows me to sheet my dough into six different thicknesses and comes with an attachment to make the two most common cuts of pasta, tagliatelle and tagliolini. You can also get this same set up for your stand mixer at home. One thing is for sure, if you make the sacrifice to make pasta from scratch, you will be rewarded with some killer ripped forearms!
Let's choose the ingredients and get started!
Pasta recipes call for all types of ingredients but there are only two ingredients that are critical: flour and water. My recipe calls for flour, eggs, and salt. Depending on the type of pasta that you are making, my line up may change a bit. Also note that if you are feeding anyone with food allergies, there are great gluten free flour alternatives on the market that will still allow you to make excellent pasta at home. You can also substitute fresh eggs for water if you have someone who might be allergic to eggs.
Let's take a moment to talk about flour. Specifically, the three kinds of wheat flour you find mentioned in pasta recipes are semolina, all-purpose (A.P.), and finely milled "00" flour. If you ask my grandmother, she will tell you that you should only use A.P. flour because it's what you will have in your kitchen all the time. At the end of the day, I prefer to use "00" flour because of the silky texture it give my final product. Semolina flour will add heartiness and a rougher texture to your pasta but it also allows your sauce to cling to it better. Sometimes I will use a combination of semolina and "00" when making specialty cuts of pasta or pasta sheets for lasagna. Once you master my recipe, you can go out and start experimenting with the combinations that you like the best.
You will also note that in my recipe, I don't use any water. I only use eggs in my dough and I can easily manipulate the final texture by the ratio of egg yolks to whole eggs that I use. Water is what makes your fresh pasta mushy. I don't find it completely appetizing but there are some who live by it. The same goes for adding olive oil. Adding oil will give you a softer texture. Some people prefer the flavor that olive oil brings and you might like it too... Try making the dough with my recipe as written first. This will give you the ability to decide what you like and don't like so you can make tweaks later. I don't use water in my dough but if you find my dough to be stiffer than you like, add a teaspoon of olive oil to my recipe and it should be perfect.
My recipe is easy to scale up or down if you understand the basics: I use two whole eggs and one egg yolk for every five ounces of flour. When I refer to eggs, I only use the large variety. This is because I know that a whole egg will give me 1.4 ounces of white and 0.6 ounces of yolk. I created my dough formula with this in mind. You should also note that if you are using organic eggs, there is some variance in the size from regular farm eggs that you get at the grocery store. Organic eggs are usually a bit smaller and you will find that your dough may end up a bit drier. If this happens at any point, it's easy to correct. Simply wet your hands under some running water and continue to knead the dough. Don't pour water all over your dough! I said it, just don't! You'll thank me later!
Oh, and some of the pasta purists out there might criticize me for using salt in my dough. Again, this is a matter of preference. A lot of people will tell you that you should only add salt to your pasta water before cooking your pasta. In Italy, you will even have people tell you that your pasta water should be as salty as the sea. I still agree that the water needs to be salted but I also feel that the addition of salt in the dough helps with the texture of your pasta. You should note that I don't use sea salt either (Italian grandmother all over the world are rolling in their graves right now!), sea salt actually keeps the dough from developing a silky smooth texture when kneading. My grandmother prefers iodized table salt but I only use kosher salt. I like the way that kosher salt dissolves in the dough and I also prefer the flavor to granulated table salt.
15 ounces Le 5 Stagioni or other Italian "00" pasta flour
1 1/4 Teaspoon (0.25 oz.) Kosher Salt
Mixing your dough by hand will guarantee that you can adjust your dough as you are working with it. It's a little more work than using your Kitchenaid stand mixer but it gives you more control. If you never made fresh pasta before, hand mixing will also allow you to learn what the dough is supposed to feel like during its development stages so that when you do use a stand mixer, you'll know what to look for to tell that it's done. Here's how to mix your dough by hand:
Weigh out your flour and pour it onto your work surface in a pile. Then, with your fingers, make a hole in the center. Try to make the whole about 4-5 inches wide so that the eggs don't pour out when you add them in. My photos show the old school method of beating your eggs when you add them in whole. You can actually whisk the eggs and salt together in a separate bowl and add them to the flour well. You can also add the oil now if you are choosing to use it.
Using a fork or your fingertips, gradually start pushing the flour into the pool of egg. You'll keep adding flour until it no longer makes sense to use the fork. The dough will be wet and sticky but it will hold together as a single mass.
At this point, use a bench scraper or any type of firm flat edge that you can find in your kitchen to scrape off any dough sticking to your fork or hands. Then, begin to fold in any additional remaining flour, turning the dough 45 degrees at a time. The dough will feel dry and shaggy; this will be the point that you begin kneading.
The kneading is an important step to the development of the dough. An undermixed dough won't have that snappy spring as a properly mixed dough and you will be able to see bits of unincorporated flour inside. As a side note, it's almost impossible to overmix your pasta dough when doing it by hand. Your arms are more likely to fall off well before the dough ever has a chance to overmix. A good sign that your dough is overmixed is that the dough becomes so elastic from overworking the gluten in the flour that it will actually become tough and almost hard like a rock. A properly mixed dough should require about 10 minutes of work by hand for it to be properly mixed. It will become a smooth ball of dough when it's done. As soon as the dough is done, don't walk away to feed your cat or tend to your garden. This will cause the dough to begin drying out and form a skin on the outside surface. I like to tightly wrap my dough in plastic wrap so that it's nicely sealed inside without air getting to it.
To knead, simply press the heel of your hand into the ball of dough, pushing forward and down. Rotate the ball 45 degrees and continue until the dough ball no longer looks powdery. It will be smooth and have an elastic texture like Play-Doh when done. If your dough feels wet and tacky, add a little more flour as necessary. If the dough feels too dry, wet your hand under cold running water and continue kneading the dough. Wrap the finished dough ball in plastic wrap or a ziptop bag with the air taken out. At this point you can freeze it for up to 3 weeks or stick it in the refrigerator to rest.
Your newly formed dough ball has just gone through some major evolution. If the process, you have created a gluten network that's incredibly springy and elastic. The resting period allows the flour to continue to hydrate and the gluten network to relax. If you tried to roll out the dough at this point, your dough would be too dry and too elastic to roll out. I allow my pasta dough at least 1 hour to relax in the refrigerator. You can let the dough rest for as long as 6 hours but if you go longer than that, you will find the your dough goes from looking a nice yellow color to something more greyish. The flavor won't be effected, just the color.
You did it! The hard work is over, now comes the fun part. This is usually when I call my kids to the kitchen for a hand. My youngest is 3 years old and she loves rolling out dough, your kids will too! Unwrap the dough ball that was just in the fridge for an hour and place it on the counter. Don't throw the plastic wrap in the garbage; you're not done with it yet! Cut the dough into four equal pieces, set on piece aside and wrap the rest. I use a manual pasta machine to roll my dough out but you can easily use a rolling pin. If you use a rolling pin, keep an eye on the thickness of your dough. You will want to make sure that all the dough that you are rolling out if close to the same thickness to ensure that it all cooks in the same amount of time.
With the pasta maker assembled and locked tightly to the counter, set the rollers to the lowest number. Some models start with the number zero, mine starts with the number one. I flatten my dough piece with my hands to give it a head start and then begin to feed it into the machine. Use a steady and consistent motion when hand cranking. You don't have to go super-fast either, just be steady. If you feel uncomfortable holding the dough and cranking the machine at the same time, a partner might be a good idea until you get the hang of it.
Pass the dough through the rollers on the lowest setting. For each setting on the machine, you'll want to pass the dough through two or three times to allow it to get the best consistency. You'll want to gently support the exiting end with the flat of your hand and your index finger. Turn the dial to the next highest setting on the machine and continue to roll out in the same manner as before. After you have passed the dough through a few times, it's time to laminate your dough.
Laminating dough is a process that makes a series of folds and rolling it into a smaller package. Laminating the dough realigns the gluten network and makes the dough sheet stronger with greater elasticity and tenacity. The nice thing about laminating your dough is that it will clean up the dough sheet and patch up any holes that you might have, all which are normal. I always do my laminating step before switch the dial on the pasta maker to the third setting.
I use a three fold process when laminating. Basically, I take the two ends of my dough sheet and fold them to the middle. Then I fold the whole thing in half and use a rolling pin to make it thinner. I try to keep the edges squared up. Attention to this detail now will allow you to make really nice and straight dough sheets. This is pretty important especially when making pasta sheets for lasagna or ravioli.
Once your dough is laminated, you'll want to feed the dough back in the pasta maker. MAKE SURE YOU BRING THE MACHINE BACK TO IT'S WIDES SETTING (0 OR 1) OR YOU'LL RIP THE DOUGH INTO SHREDS! Continue to roll the dough in the same manner as before starting with the lowest setting and continue to go through the setting until you reached your desired thickness. For tagliatelle, I usually sheet down to the third to last setting. My dial ends at 6 so I roll my dough out to #4. If you like your pasta a little thinner, you can go down to the second to the last setting. I don't recommend going any thinner than that.
Now that you have rolled out the first piece of dough, you'll need to continue with the remaining 3. Simply repeat the previous steps with each piece of remaining dough until you are done. It's important to remember that pasta sheets dry out quickly. In between rolling each piece of dough, you'll want to cover your finished sheets in between a layer of plastic wrap or some parchment or wax paper. Just remember to lightly sprinkle some flour in between each layer to prevent the dough from sticking. If your pasta sheets are really long, you might want to cut them in half. I try to keep my pasta sheets about 12" - 14" long. This will help the people eating your pasta wrap in on their fork without falling off.
Cutting your pasta is very easy. If you have used a rolling pin to sheet your pasta, you'll want to dust the sheet with a good amount of flour and then roll it up making sure that it doesn't stick to itself and the layers stay separated. Using a shape knife, slice the pasta to your desired thickness and unroll the pieces after they are cut. This is where the term Tagliatelle comes from.
I switch my machine to the desired cut and reattach my hand crank to the proper side. Feed 12"-14" of dough into the cutter...
...And catch it as it comes out...
Dust the freshly cut pasta with flour and curl it up into little nests. If for any reason your pasta winds up sticking to itself, you can ball it back up and start the sheeting process over again. When I make tagliatelle, I use a wooden drying rack that I dragged back from Italy in my carry on. If you don't have a fancy rack, you can lay the tagliatelle on a kitchen towel in a single layer and then cover them with another towel on top. I like to let my tagliatelle dry for about 30-60 minutes before cooking. This gives me the same texture that I remember my grandmothers being like.
When making the thinner Tagliolini, I don't allow the pasta to dry at all. I place the small nests in a container and sprinkle them with a little more flour. I cover the container with a lid to keep any air out. I place the container back into the fridge until I'm ready to cook them. I try to cook them shortly after they are cut.
Bring a pot of water to boil. I typically use a 5 quart pot with 3 quarts of water inside. I then add a quarter cup of kosher salt to the water and bring it to a boil. Fresh pasta cooks VERY quickly. Usually I will cook my fresh pasta for 60-90 seconds. It is important that your pasta is cooked thoroughly. Unlike dry pasta, it actually gets slightly firmer during the first phase of cooking. If you don't cook it long enough, the egg and flour proteins won't set, your starch won't fully hydrate, and you'll end up with pasty pasta. I personally like mine cooked for 90 seconds but you should never cook your fresh pasta for more than two minutes or it will get mushy.
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