Week 19 -- Basic Pasta

Basic Pasta Dough

  • Ingredients (for 6 to 8 servings)
    • 200g (7 oz) of flour, semolina or all purpose, or combination of the two (eg, 1/2 semolina, 1/2 AP)
      • Semolina: Course ground durum wheat flour used for pasta, couscous, gnocchi, bread
        • More protein and gluten than all-purpose flour, slightly yellowish
        • The extra protein and gluten helps pasta keep its shape during cooking and gives pasta a firm al dente texture
      • All-purpose flour makes a pliable dough that stretches more evenly for stuffed pasta like ravioli
    • 2 eggs -- egg to flour ratio = 1 egg to 100g (3.5 oz) flour
    • 1 tbs olive oil
    • Pinch of S&P
  • Procedure
    • Add flour, eggs, olive oil, s&p to mixing bowl, use paddle attachment, low speed, run just long enough to thoroughly mix all ingredients, avoid creating excess gluten, if it's too sticky, depending on size of the eggs, add a couple tsp of flour as needed, we want dough that's right on the edge of dry and sticky, but on dry side
    • Wrap the pasta dough in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for at least an hour to cool, making the dough nice and firm before rolling it out
    • Really can't be rolled out by hand, need a pasta press, either stand alone or for Kitchenaid mixer
    • Dough needs to be laminated to become smooth
      • Run the dough through the pasta press, thickness setting #1, it will be grainy the first time through
      • So, fold it like a book and run it through the press the other way, keep doing that until it comes out nice and smooth -- laminated/layered dough, repeat 10-15 times
    • Make the pasta thinner and thinner until the desired thickness, step up the thickness setting to #2, run it through, setting #3, run it through, up to setting #5 for lasagna or ravioli or fettuccine thickness

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Coloring Pasta Dough

  • Make red pasta dough with tomato paste
    • Due to introducing more liquid, use 1 cup flour and 1 egg and 1 egg yolk (leaving out the white part of the second egg) because we want stiff dough, and 1 heaping tbs tomato paste
    • You can use roasted red pepper, but get as much moisture out as possible to retain stiff dough, again use about 1 tbs pureed roasted red pepper
  • Make green pasta dough with basil pesto, 1 heaping tbs pesto, or use pureed spinach
  • Add the coloring agent to the eggs before adding the flour to get consistent coloring, so whisk the tomato paste or basil pesto into the eggs first
  • Then add the cup of flour to the mixer bowl, then add the colored egg mixture, and mix
  • Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour
  • Run the dough through the pasta press, because of the additions, it will take more rolling, but don't despair, it will become more and more elastic and pliable with each rolling, until desired consistency is achieved

Flavoring Pasta Dough

  • Do it the same way we add color
  • Add garlic or other herbs and seasonings, or minced meats, or any food product you desire

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Cutting Fettuccine

  • Use fettuccine cutter on Kitchenaid, if you have one, but if not it can be cut by hand
  • Dust the pasta dough with yellow cornmeal or semolina to keep from sticking together
  • Roll it up for pinwheel cutting, cut to your desired fettuccine width, then unroll the pinwheel
  • Store your cut fettuccini in a container with some cornmeal or semolina to prevent sticking
  • Don't worry about the cornmeal/semolina, it will come off when the fettuccine is cooked
  • Don't use regular flour to prevent sticking, it will make a gooey mess

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Cooking Fresh Pasta

  • Fresh pasta needs much less cooking time than dried pasta
  • Begin with low boil or heavy simmer, and drop in the fresh pasta
  • Observe the following guidelines, but test frequently for al dente texture
    • Capellini (30–35 sec)
    • Tagliatini, linguine (50–60 sec)
    • Fettuccine (60–70 sec)
    • Pappardelle (70–90 sec)

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