Pasta From Scratch Food

FRESH PASTA

Steps:

• Beat together the eggs, yolk and olive oil with a fork in a large spouted measuring cup.
• Combine the flour and a large pinch of kosher salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse briefly to combine. With the food processor motor running, gradually pour the egg mixture through the feed tube and let it run until the dough forms a ball around the blade. (If the dough is too sticky to form a ball, add a tablespoon or so of flour and process again. If it is too crumbly to form a ball, add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and process again.) Once the dough forms a ball, process until smooth and springy, 20 to 30 seconds.
• Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead several times, until the dough comes together in a smooth ball.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. (The dough can be made 1 day ahead, wrapped and refrigerated. Let it come to room temperature before rolling.)
• Anchor a pasta machine to your countertop or secure the pasta attachment to a stand mixer. Set the machine to the widest setting. Unwrap the dough and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Wrap 3 of the pieces while you work with the fourth.
• Flatten the dough into a rectangle and lightly dust with flour. Roll it through the pasta machine at the widest setting. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter and feed it through the pasta machine. Repeat the folding and feeding of the dough through the machine 2 more times. (Rolling and folding in this manner will help strengthen and smooth the dough.)
• Set the pasta machine to the next setting (one setting thinner than the widest). Flour the dough as necessary and feed it through the machine. Repeat, feeding it through one more time.
• Adjust the machine to the next thinnest setting and feed the dough through 2 times as above. Continue changing the setting and feeding the dough through 2 times for each setting until you have fed the dough through the second-to-last setting. The dough should be thin enough so that you can see your hand through it.
• If you are cutting your pasta into noodles: Stop rolling the dough through after you have gone through the second-to-last setting.
• If you are making filled pasta, like ravioli: Change the machine to the final setting and feed the dough through.
• Cut the dough in half crosswise and cover it with plastic wrap. Repeat the folding, rolling and cutting process with the 3 remaining pieces of dough. Cover each piece of dough as you finish. You should have 8 pieces of dough total.
• If you are cutting your pasta into noodles: Affix the cutting attachment to the pasta machine. Choose the desired setting and feed the dough through. Lightly toss the noodles with a little flour on a baking sheet to prevent sticking and cover with a dry kitchen towel while you process the rest of the dough. Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, 3 to 4 minutes.
• If you are making filled pasta: Proceed according to your recipe's instructions.

PASTA FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Using a blender equipped with dough hooks, mix the flour, semolina, and salt together. Add eggs one at a time, breaking the yolks in the bowl as you do. Add olive oil. Blend until dough starts to pull away from the sides.
• Knead dough and whatever dry components remain together by hand until fully combined. Roll into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
• Start boiling a large pot of water and keep at boiling temperature.
• Cut dough into 4 pieces, then wrap 3 of the pieces in the plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. Cut that portion in half, and form into a rectangle. Roll out as flat as possible using a rolling pin.
• Using a pasta roller that's been dusted with flour, roll out the pasta into long sheets. Roll through at least 3 times, starting with the widest setting and gradually making it smaller. Add flour to pasta and pasta roller as needed to prevent sticking.
• Form pasta into the desired shape. Ideally, use a pasta drying rack to hang the pasta (see photo for example). By the time you fill all the racks with pasta, the first rack will be dry enough to start cooking. If you don't have a pasta drying rack, lay pasta out on a baking sheet so the strands don't have a chance to stick together.
• NOTE: do not add salt to the water! The pasta contains enough salt already. Add pasta to the water one rack at a time. Give the pasta a swirl with the tongs to make sure it doesn't stick together while cooking. If not using a pasta rack, just make sure not to crowd the pot.
• Cook for about 90 seconds, and extract pasta using tongs. NOTE: this technique is used to keep hot water in the pot, as opposed to the dry box method of pouring the pasta into a colander.
• Place pasta on a strainer to drip off excess water. The prefect time to remove the pasta from the strainer is when the next batch of pasta is done cooking.
• Repeat steps 4-9 until all the pasta is cooked.

BASIC PASTA

Steps:

• In a medium sized bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the flour, add the slightly beaten egg, and mix. Mixture should form a stiff dough. If needed, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for about 3 to 4 minutes. With a pasta machine or by hand roll dough out to desired thinness. Use machine or knife to cut into strips of desired width.

HOMEMADE PASTA IN A FOOD PROCESSOR

Steps:

• Place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse to combine.
• With the machine running, add eggs one at a time and blend after each addition. Add olive oil and process until dough looks like a coarse meal that comes together when pressed into a ball, about 10 seconds. Do not over-process. If the dough seems excessively sticky, add a little more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, processing just until incorporated.
• Lightly dust work surface and hands with flour. Turn dough out of food processor and knead until elastic and smooth, and no longer sticky, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Shape dough into a disk and cover with plastic wrap or an overturned bowl. Let rest for at least 1 hour at room temperature (or up to 1 day in refrigerator) before rolling. If the dough has been refrigerated, let stand at room temperature for about an hour before rolling and shaping.
• Cut the dough into 6 to 8 pieces. Flatten it into small rectangles to fit through a pasta machine.
• Keeping the dough lightly floured, roll the pieces through a pasta machine set at its widest opening. Keep rolling pasta through machine as progressively narrower settings, forming strips.
• Lay pasta strips on a lightly floured surface and keep covered with towels. One at a time, fold strips into a flat roll and slice crosswise into ribbons. Unfurl ribbons and transfer to a floured baking sheet. Slice lengthwise into long ribbons, about 1 1/2 inches wide, using a sharp knife or pizza cutter.
• Cook pasta in boiling salted water for 2 to 4 minutes, until al dente. Drain and serve immediately.

FRESH PASTA

Steps:

• Put the flour in a food processor with ¾ of your egg mixture and a pinch of salt. Blitz to large crumbs - they should come together to form a dough when squeezed (if it feels a little dry gradually add a bit more egg). Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead for 1 min or until nice and smooth - don't worry if it's quite firm as it will soften when it rests. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 30 mins.
• Cut away ¼ of the dough (keep the rest covered with cling film) and feed it through the widest setting on your pasta machine. (If you don't have a machine, use a heavy rolling pin to roll the dough as thinly as possible.) Then fold into three, give the dough a quarter turn and feed through the pasta machine again. Repeat this process once more then continue to pass the dough through the machine, progressively narrowing the rollers, one notch at a time, until you have a smooth sheet of pasta. On the narrowest setting, feed the sheet through twice.
• Cut as required to use for filled pastas like tortellini, or cut into lengths to make spaghetti, linguine, tagliatelle, or pappardelle. Then, dust in semolina flour and set aside, or hang until dry (an hour will be enough time.) Store in a sealed container in the fridge and use within a couple of days, or freeze for 1 month.

SPINACH PASTA FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Start boiling a large pot of water.
• NOTES: a) If using frozen spinach, skip steps 3-5; b) if omitting the spinach, use 1 1/4 cups of flour.
• Heat a skillet to medium heat, and add spinach; don't use cooking spray or oil.
• Cook spinach for about 30 seconds, stirring continuously. Spinach should turn a bright green color.
• Plunge spinach immediately into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.
• When spinach has cooled down to lukewarm temperature, squeeze out the excess moisture using a cheesecloth.
• Add spinach, olive oil, eggs, and salt to food processor and run until fully blended.
• Add flour to food processor and run until blended. If the mixture is still sticky, add flour.
• Remove dough from food processor. Roll dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Allow to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Transfer dough to a work surface that's generously dusted with flour. Cut dough into 4 pieces.
• If using a pasta maker, roll each piece out with a rolling pin until it's about 1/4" thick. If not using a pasta maker, roll until thin and hand-cut as desired.
• Shape dough into rectangles and run through pasta maker, starting with the widest setting. If the dough sticks in the rollers, dust the dough and the rollers with flour.
• Continue rolling dough through the rollers, gradually reducing the setting to flatten it as desired. NOTE: spinach pasta may need to be 1 setting wider than you normally want because of the stickiness of the dough.
• Cut pasta into shapes using the appropriate attachment.
• Lower pasta into water (don't drop it) and boil for a few minutes. Don't crowd the pot with pasta, as this can cause pasta to stick together.
• NOTE: Don't dump the whole pot of cooked pasta into a strainer the way you might with dry, boxed pasta. If transferring to a strainer, don't rinse with water.
• Using tongs or a spider skimmer, remove pasta from the water and transfer to a different container. Doing it this way will help the pasta keep its shape, and allow you to use hot water for the remainder of the boil.

HOW TO MAKE HANDMADE PASTA RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• On a clean, sturdy work surface, turn out your chosen flour(s) and salt and make a large well in the middle with your hands.
• Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and olive oil together in a medium bowl until combined, then pour the mixture into the well.
• Using the same fork, whisk the eggs, slowly incorporating more and more flour into the eggs by moving your fork along the edges of the well.
• Once almost all of the flour is incorporated, start bringing the dough together with your hands. (The dough should be malleable, but not sticky--add more flour if the dough is sticking too much to your hands or the surface. Alternatively, if it's too dry and tough, whisk another egg with 1 tablespoon of water and use your hand to sprinkle some of the mixture over the dough, continuing to do so until the dough is easier to knead.)
• Knead the dough for 7-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. When you poke the dough, it should spring back.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, or until the dough does not spring back when poked.
• Unwrap the dough and cut into 8 equal pieces so that it's easier to work with. Take 1 piece and wrap the rest in the plastic wrap so that they don't dry out.
• Lightly flour your work surface, and begin rolling out the piece of dough into one long piece. Then, fold the top third down, and the bottom third over that, like a letter. Rotate the dough 90˚ and roll the piece back into a long shape. This helps form a more even rectangular shape and makes the dough a little bit easier to work with.
• Continue rolling out the dough until it is very thin. When you lift the dough, you should be able to see your hands through it.
• Fold the top and bottom of the rectangle to meet in the middle, then fold over again--this will make the dough easier to cut. Cut the dough to your ideal shape. Loosen or unravel the cut dough immediately, so it doesn't stick, sprinkle with a bit of extra flour, or semolina, if using. Let the pasta sit out for about 30 minutes to dry out slightly.
• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and stir to ensure it doesn't clump. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or 30 seconds to 1 minute after the pasta comes to the surface (fresh pasta will cook much faster than dried pasta!)
• Take out a noodle and taste for doneness. Once cooked to your liking, remove the pasta from the water, being sure to save at least 1 cup (240 ML) of the pasta cooking water.
• Add the cooked pasta into your preferred sauce and stir to coat, adding some of the reserved pasta water if needed to add a bit of body and silkiness to the sauce.
• Enjoy!