Many of us have been isolated and socially estranged since mid-March, and the excess of sourdough photos on Instagram has shown us one thing: we are looking for ways to keep ourselves busy and the kitchen is usually the best way. There's a perfect activity for carbohydrate lovers: making pasta. Is easier than it looks like. While there are plenty of accessories you can buy, like pasta makers and shapers, all you need to get started is flour and eggs. Nothing else. It's the technique, as well as the ingredients, that matters here, making it a great activity to practice when you're stuck at home.
We've compiled everything you'll need to make your own delicious homemade pasta, according to professional chefs.
The basics
There are plenty of pastas you can make at home, from squid ink linguine to truffle ravioli. But most have the same base: a light egg and flour dough that has been rolled and cut into different shapes. Fresh pasta is different from the stable type obtained in a box, which is usually made from semolina flour and water.
“It is totally possible to make pasta without any special equipment; many shapes can be made with just a rolling pin or even a bottle of wine and a knife, ”says Clay Conley, chef at Grato in West Palm Beach, FL. If you're interested in equipping yourself a little better, its recommended accessories include a corrugated pasta machine or a dough cutter, which would replace the knife, and a pasta maker, which can replace the rolling pin to make thin sheets of pasta.
Since fresh pasta dough requires a bit of kneading, Robert Irvine, chef and presenter of "Restaurant: Impossible," says a KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook accessory is another useful accessory, but by no means necessary. A KitchenAid mixer can come in handy for making pasta for another reason: You can get a set of pasta accessories to cut the noodles.
Many recipes will give you the amount of flour by weight, not cups. That's because flour is notoriously difficult to measure by volume. If you have a kitchen scale, it can help you be more accurate.
Finally, a note on flour. While many chefs will tell you that pasta is relatively simple to make, even without sophisticated ingredients, they would strongly recommend getting 00 flour, a type of finely ground flour with a higher amount of protein. It can be difficult to track even without a pandemic involved, so if you can't find it, all-purpose flour is the best alternative. You can also try asking a local pasta store if they would sell you, but respect the confinement rules when doing so.
The essential
French Roller ($ 11.99, amazon.com)
A French rolling pin gives you much more control as you roll out the dough.
JA Henckels - 8 ″ Prize Knife ($ 34.95, amazon.com)
A quality chef's knife is indispensable for many kitchen projects. This is an option under $ 50 that will last for years.
Good accessories
Betty Crocker Pastry Crimper ($ 12.95, amazon.com)
While you can cut pasta with just a knife, a pasta cutter is faster and you won't have to worry about cutting yourself with the knife as you drag it along the cutting board. This tool also makes it easy to crimp ravioli or lasagna noodles and even make a nice bow tie pasta.
Gefu Pasta Maker ($ 74.95, amazon.com)
Pasta machines like this create extra-thin egg noodles.
KitchenAid - 4.5 Qt Tilting Head Stand Mixer ($ 279, amazon.com)
The jewel in the crown of countertop appliances, KitchenAid stand mixers can work by mixing everything from cookies to pasta. They all come with a dough hook accessory, which is great for kneading pasta and making homemade bread. The more than 2,000 5-star reviews on Amazon are a testament to its usefulness. KitchenAid's great power lets you make your pasta faster, especially if you're cooking for a crowd.
KitchenAid Stand Mixer Paste Accessory Set ($ 199.95, amazon.com)
If you have a KitchenAid blender, you can get this set of accessories instead of a separate pasta machine to produce the noodles.
Oxo Good Grips 5lb Food Scale with Removable Display ($ 23.96, amazon.com)
Weighing flour is a much more accurate way to measure than using a measuring cup, making dough less likely to end up too wet or too dry. A kitchen scale makes it easier to be a precision baker.
Caught red handed
Chris Pandel, executive chef at Swift & Sons in Chicago, shared with us his basic egg pasta recipe. No matter what pasta you are making, or what equipment you are using, fresh pasta starts the same way: with plenty of flour in the center of the table. Create a well and pour in the lightly beaten eggs.
The general ratio is 1 meager cup (100 grams) of flour per one egg per serving. So if you are making pasta for four, you will need 400 grams of flour and four eggs. Mix slowly with a fork until incorporated, then knead for about 10 minutes, either by hand or in a stand mixer, until smooth.
After your dough is smooth, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for an hour. Spread it to the desired thickness by hand or with a pasta maker. Once you have it as thin as you like, cut it into strips and boil it in salt water for about a minute. Because fresh pasta is delicate, chefs tend to recommend a simple sauce that you don't always have to use a recipe for. Pandel recommends butter, sage, and parmesan. Conley has two favorites: one is a simple red sauce made from canned San Marzano tomatoes, and the other is cacio e pepe, which uses only cheese, butter, pasta, water, and pepper.
The basic recipe should give you plenty of scope to work. Once you've mastered the kneading and dough, you can cut the ribbons into smaller or wider shapes, or even make fresh lasagna sheets. Try making stuffed pasta, like ravioli, without special equipment, or use a seal or ravioli mold to make perfect pasta pillows.
Common mistakes
All of these instructions sound pretty simple, right? As with all simple things, however, precision is key. Here are some things to keep in mind:
The dough is very sticky or very dry
Especially if you are working without a scale, you may find that your dough is too dry or sticky when you knead it and a soft ball is not forming. “If you make fresh pasta and it is a little dry or crumbled, just add a little water. A little helps a lot, ”says Irvine. If it is too sticky, do the opposite: add a little flour. In other words, you don't have to worry too much about making the mix perfect the first time, you can adjust it as you go.
You don't knead enough
Kneading the dough is not just about mixing, it also helps gluten develop, Pandel explains. You should knead until the ball is completely smooth, about 10 minutes. If you find it difficult to knead that long, consider asking for help or investing in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
Not salting the water enough
Salting the water prevents the pasta from sticking, but it also adds flavor to the pasta and, in the case of sauces such as cacio e pepe, it is also used to flavor the sauce. So when it comes to salt, don't cut yourself. Conley says it should be "like the ocean"; In other words, use more salt than you probably think is necessary.
Recommended reading
Ready to experience more? These are some of the chefs' (and ours) favorite cookbooks for fresh pasta and Italian cooking.
Marc Vetri's 'Mastering Pasta' with David Joachim ($ 20.99; amazon.com)
Getting a reservation at one of the Vetri Italian restaurants in the Philadelphia area is notoriously difficult even in the best of times. Bring home your pasta-making secrets with "Mastering Pasta," recommended by Pandel and Conley.
Cooking by Hand by Paul Bertolli ($ 26.49; amazon.com)
Part of food meditation, part of recipes, this book is an excellent deep dive into Italian cuisine, recommended by Pandel.
Thomas McNaughton's 'Flour + Water: Pasta' ($ 35; amazon.com)
When you're ready to graduate from advanced pasta making, both Pandel and Conley suggest McNaughton's ingenious recipes for inspiration.
Marcella Hazan's 'Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking' ($ 28.91; amazon.com)
What Julia Child did for French cuisine in the United States, Hazan did for Italian. This is an editor's favorite and a must-have cookbook for anyone who loves a good plate of pasta.
Vicky Bennison's 'Pasta Grannies' ($ 20.99; amazon.com)
Conley recommends this book, which brings the YouTube channel "Pasta Grannies" (one of her favorites) to paper format and presents chefs from all over Italy, along with the secrets of making pasta.
In the end, though, reading about pasta can only teach you to a certain extent, and it also has the side effect of making you hungry.
Note: The above prices reflect the price at the time of article posting.
