Pasta for four
When people ask me what my favourite thing is, I always have the answer ready to go. It’s pasta. Right away before I even have to think about it, I know my answer.
It’s something that is so comforting and so filling and something filled with so much love and attention. It’s a food you make for 1 or for 100 people. It’s a vessel for a beautiful sauce that is made with love and affection. It rolls around perfectly in your mouth and mixes so many flavours together. This is sounding a bit romantic.
What’s better, fresh or dry? For me, I love both. They are both so different and sometimes have totally different uses. I find dry pasta can be cooked to more Al Dente texture, while fresh is more delicate to the teeth. You can buy a million kinds of dry pasta in the store for a good price, plus most of the pasta made in Italy and shipped to Canada is very good quality.
If you need pasta in a flash, go with the dry, bu it you have time making it yourself, then get going! I love making pasta dough because it's a very hands on process. You have to touch every aspect of the dough, right to the finish of the final product. It's also great activity to do with as a pair.
So for today, I’m going to give you a recipe for fresh pasta dough. This recipe I usually use with a heavier sauce that has meat in it, but it can easily be done vegetarian. Last time I did it; I cut it into pappardelle and made a Ragu with pancetta and mushrooms. It was winter time, so the food was good for the weather.
The dough can be cut into thinner strips with a knife if you don’t have a cutter on your roller. Don’t worry about if you don’t have all the fancy machinery; just roll it as thin as you can either with a roller or a rolling pin. It might take a bit longer, but you will get the result you want eventually, just be patient.
Another quick note to add is about the flour. Typically in Italy and in restaurants in Canada we try to use 00 Flour imported from Italy to make pizza and pasta dough. It helps us to try to keep the traditional effect of Italian dishes outside of Italy. You can find this flour at most large grocery stores now as well as European Deli’s or supermarket’s. If you don’t have the flour at home and can’t make it to the grocery store, All Purpose works well too.
On the day I made this recipe I had the pleasure of using my Nonna's pasta machine and roling the dough with Julia. It was a very happy day
Okay gang! Here’s the recipe, so let’s makeadapasta!
Fresh Pasta dough recipe
400g flour (you can use 00 Flour if you can find it, but AP flour works just as well)
4 whole eggs
Salt
-Measure out flour and place it on the surface you are going to work on (I use a kitchen counter, but you can also use a large wooden board if you have that)
-Make a well in the middle of the flour and add a pinch of salt
-Crack the eggs into the well and begin whisking in the flour until most of the flour comes together with the eggs
-Work the dough on your hands on the table, incorporating all of the flour. This will take some time, with the stretching and the pulling, but it is important for the dough to have a bounce
-Once the dough is formed, it should be smooth and round (an easy way to check it to press a finger into the dough and watch it spring back)
-Cover and reserve for later
-The dough needs to properly rest before you start rolling it out, so I would say a half hour is a good amount of time to start from
*The gluten is very tight after being worked many times and the dough is stiff, much like bread dough
Rolling of the dough
-When you use the machine, remember to use flour in every step. You don’t want to have it stick to the sides and ruin the dough
-Be patient and start on the biggest number and work your way down
-Don’t try and force the machine, since it will probably break (be gentle)
-Once you have rolled it out and cut it into the desired shape, toss is with some Semolina flour to help it dry out and stick it in the freezer
-I usually group them in little bunches that aren't too big
*If you are rolling with a rolling pin, the same principle applies with the flour (you will have to do a bit more labour yourself at the start, but it works your muscles)
Boiling
-The pasta will take about 30 seconds to cook
-Once it floats, take it out
-Don’t forget to salt the water with a good amount of salt, before the pasta goes in, so the water has flavour
Save some of the liquid to add to the sauce. The starch helps emulsify the sauce and pasta together
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