Homemade pasta is not that hard!

When you buy another pack of twigs, straws and bows, you may be wondering what your grandmother would say if she were Italian. Is it really so difficult to cook pasta at home or is it within the power of everyone?

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When to start?

Making pasta isn't the hardest art in the kitchen, though as with anything, the first few times can be a challenge. It is best to start with a calm approach to the topic. It's best not to debut pasta before an important lunch or dinner. It is also worth considering what we will serve this pasta for - whether we want to make slices for the broth, tagliatelle for the tomato sauce, or maybe we want to make a big raviolo con uovo.

In addition to peace of mind, you will need flour, eggs, a rolling pin or cutting board, perhaps a pasta machine, a large pot, and a sieve to drain the finished pasta. For this, dedication and strong arm muscles or a planetary mixer will come in handy. If you want to dry pasta, you will need clean rags and chair backs or a pasta holder.

What flour to choose?

Every Italian nonna, or classic grandmother, uses her favorite flour. Most of them, however, make pasta with 00 flour. This is a very fine flour, which, after adding eggs, forms a gluten network very quickly and gives us an elastic and elastic dough. A dough that resists teeth but is tender at the same time. It is this elastic effect that distinguishes homemade pasta from packaged pasta. Most of us cook packaged noodles for too long without worrying too much about it. However, when we cook pasta ourselves, we take care of it like our own child and don't let it turn into bland dumplings.

If someone was served homemade pasta from a Polish grandmother, they could taste that 500-type wheat flour would make delicious pasta. Basically, homemade pasta is best made with wheat flour because it has enough protein to make a wonderfully elastic dough. Let's aim for as small numbers as possible, thanks to which, immediately after adding the yolks, we will feel what kind of pasta dough can be soft and flexible.

What do you add to the dough besides flour?

In many blogs and in many cookbooks, you will find pasta recipes that consist only of flour and egg yolks. Indeed, such a cake turns out to be rich in taste, but it is extremely difficult to work with it. From the yolks themselves, the dough cracks, and as a result, soft noodles are easier to make than macrons.

Therefore, for making pasta, it is best to use whole eggs or eggs with yolks. A simple rule of thumb is to add 100 medium sized eggs per gram of flour - 1 grams without the shell. It's worth remembering. Some people add a little vegetable or olive oil to pasta dough to make it look prettier. Both ingredients can be added to the dough, but in very small amounts - fat weakens the gluten network, which affects the consistency of the paste.

Some recipes also say to add whole eggs and extra yolks to the pasta dough for flavor. For example, for 400 g of dough, add 2 eggs and 3-4 yolks.

The last point, rather controversial, is salt. There are those who add salt to the dough. However, the vast majority of pasta connoisseurs advise salting not the pasta itself, but the water in which they will be boiled. If we use a pasta machine, we should also not use salt - the instruction manual always warns against salt, which catastrophically affects the life of the device.

How to cook pasta?

If you are cooking pasta on the table, it is enough to pour a hill of flour. We put the eggs in a bowl and pour them into a hill. Start kneading the dough until it becomes elastic. If you feel that the dough is very wet and still sticky to your hands, add some flour. Knead the dough until it becomes flexible. If it's a little dry, don't worry. Gluten is a unique substance, and it works not only when the dough is kneaded, but also when we let it rest (you probably noticed how the consistency of the pancake dough changes, which we leave in the bowl for a while after cooking). Roll the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Pasta dough, like dumpling dough, is a matter of practice and remembering the consistency you want to achieve. Unfortunately, it is impossible to indicate the exact amount of ingredients, since each production batch of flour may vary slightly, as well as egg weight, temperature and air humidity. All these elements affect the consistency of the dough.

If we have a food processor or planetary hook mixer, we can use them to make homemade pasta. Pour flour into a bowl, add 3/4 portions of eggs and start kneading. When we see that the dough does not form a uniform ball after 3 minutes, pour in the remaining eggs. It is important that the dough is not too wet.

How to roll pasta?

Rolling and shaping is the most enjoyable part of making pasta. If we are doing this for the first time, then we will only need simple kitchen utensils: a rolling pin and a pizza cutter, a favourite knife or a regular knife. If we have a pasta machine, now is the time to use it.

Divide the dough into smaller pieces and roll out with a rolling pin until it is about 2-3mm thick. If you are preparing noodles for broth, it is enough to cut them into slices with a knife. If you want to make tagliatelle or pappardelle, cut the pasta, preferably with a pizza cutter, into slices of the desired thickness. We will not regret the flour, covering the pasta. As soon as we have time to prepare a portion, immediately sprinkle it with flour so that it does not stick. Leave the noodles on the counter to dry out a bit and store in the refrigerator.

If we have a pasta machine, follow the manufacturer's instructions. Usually a piece of dough is passed once or twice through the widest settings, and then gradually moved to thinner ones in order to finally cut the pasta with a special tagliatelle extension.

If we want to cook lasagna from dough, it is enough to roll out the dough and cut it into wide pieces. This dough can also be used to make ricotta-stuffed ravioli. Don't forget to boil pasta in salted water. Place the noodles in the boiling water - do not spare the water so that it does not stick. After a minute of cooking, it’s worth a try so as not to tighten it and end up with a full pan of dumplings. This part is very exciting, and everyone who brings the pasta to the place of preparation cares a lot about its texture.

Where to draw inspiration?

If we want to become pasta experts and we like beautiful books, we can buy Pasta Masters, where you can find a lot of theory and practical advice. For fans of Jamie Oliver, I recommend the book that he wrote with his best Italian friend and other nonnas - "Jamie Oliver Cooks Italian". It’s also worth watching your favorite chefs and authors on social networks – they often post videos in which they show step by step how they prepare pasta or sauce. If your family has a grandmother or aunt who knows how to make pasta, you should sign up for her one-time lesson just to understand what the phrase “elastic consistency” means.

You will find even more culinary tips on AvtoTachki Pasje in the Culinary section.