The Fresh Pasta Topic

[JAZ]

Sam, I'm not arguing that the egg yolk pasta wouldn't be great. My question was about how it handles; hence the question about fat content.

I'm not sure you looked at the Keller recipe. It not only calls for 6 yolks and one whole egg, it also calls for 1-1/2 teaspoons of olive oil (that's for 8 oz of flour, or approx. 225 grams). So Keller's recipe contains 38.25 grams of fat for 225 grams of flour. I'm also not sure where your math came from. My recipe calls for 3.25 oz. (say 94 grams) of flour with 9 grams of fat (one egg yolk + 1 tsp oil). Multiply my recipe by 2.4, and you get 21.6 grams of fat for 225 grams of flour.

So my question remains, how does such a rich dough handle? Does it require the resting and extra kneading time?

[Chris Amirault]

Regarding the rice noodles, would you recommend using rice flour if one does not have the equipment to grind the rice, or would the noodles not be very good?

I'm not sure -- it's a good question. I was also wondering how they'd turn out in a powerful blender instead of the Ultra-Pride. You'd have to let it settle so that the air bubbles would come out, but that might be a speedy process.

Give it a try and let us know!

[velveeta]

I do egg noodles with no gear at all - just a mixing bowl and rolling pin.

The noodles are rustic and get thick when cooked, some might call them more of a dumpling. We just had them last night in turkey soup.

They also keep dried in the cooler for a long time.

ps. what a beautiful pictoral on those rice noodles Chris.

Edited November 30, 2009 by velveeta (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Had a nice day Saturday making noodles with my daughter. I love this moment, one of my favorites in cooking:

We made fat irregular noodles -- which you might call "preschooletti," or in the style of the preschooler -- but I'm interested in branching out and making different shapes. In particular, I'm wondering about making strozzapreti, and this video nails the last step of the method (see ~4:00):

It figures: the $8/lb pasta shape is made simply by rubbing strips of 1/2" wide pasta in your palms. That's next up.

[Aloha Steve]

Had a nice day Saturday making noodles with my daughter. I love this moment, one of my favorites in cooking:

Chris, it looks like a work of art ! How long did it take you to get the yolks so perfectly spaced LOL

I'm inspired to try making noodles with my son, thanks.

[Chris Amirault]

One of the great kid cooking activities, I think.

[Lapin d'Argent]

Chris, thanks for posting that video -- she's a dream to watch! Now where do I get me one of them nice big beautiful rolling pins?

[sabg]

i have not made fresh pasta in years and really want to start again..i was just watching lidia and she uses oil in her dough..she had guest from italy that only use egg & flour...not even salt..i know a lot depends on personal taste..i just want my new first experience to be really really good.....i will e using a hand crank machine...i dont have the strength to just really on my own kneading..thanks

[Clark D]

My personal preference is just semolina, a little salt, and water. Egg pasta definately has a place in my heart as well, especialy if I am making ravioli. As a rule though I stick with my bascic, it isn't as rich as egg pasta but I love the texture.

Clark

[Paul Stanley]

I always do just eggs and flour : 100g (soft) flour per egg. Salt goes in the water anyway, so I don't see the point of salting the dough -- though I'm sure it would do no harm; and I can't see what benefit oil would give -- oil shortens a dough, but I want elasticity here. And I don't want the taste of oil in a pasta I may well be saucing with a butter or cream sauce.

The "best" I think comes from using good eggs and flour, proper kneading, and thin and even rolling, not so much from fiddling with the ingredients.

[mgaretz]

I use a blend of 50 grams of white unbleached flour and 50 grams of whole wheat durum flour (the mother of semolina - get Golden Temple Brand at an Indian Grocery - get the brown bag with the red/orange stripes), a pinch of sea salt and 1 extra large egg. (Once, just once I had to add a 1/2 teaspoon of water, maybe the egg was a tad small or I didn't measure the flour correctly.)

I mix this in my KA mixer on the lowest speed with the standard paddle until all the flour is wetted (you'll hear the motor start to work harder and then wait until the dough picks up the last dry bits from the bottom of the bowl). The dough will be very dry, just wet enough to stick together. Kneed together for a minute and roll into a log.

Then I cut the dough into either three or four equal pieces and process through the flat rollers (KA pasta attachment) to setting 5 to 7 depending on what kind of noodles I'm making, but usuually 5. I flatten each dough piece out and feed through on setting one. Fold what comes out in half and repeat until the width of this piece is just a little less wide than the rollers. Then once through on each progressively higher setting until I get where I want. Then hang the piece on a pasta rack (or lie on a towel) and repeat with the remaining dough. Change to the cutter and cut - no need for further drying. Also no need for any more flour while working the dough, but once cut I flour it a little as I collect the cut pieces.

Tonight I am going to attempt won-tons, so I will use the recipe above but with 100% white flour and probably a bit extra water to give a little more stretch to the dough.

[Jmahl]

I use a blend of 50 grams of white unbleached flour and 50 grams of whole wheat durum flour (the mother of semolina - get Golden Temple Brand at an Indian Grocery - get the brown bag with the red/orange stripes), a pinch of sea salt and 1 extra large egg. (Once, just once I had to add a 1/2 teaspoon of water, maybe the egg was a tad small or I didn't measure the flour correctly.)

I mix this in my KA mixer on the lowest speed with the standard paddle until all the flour is wetted (you'll hear the motor start to work harder and then wait until the dough picks up the last dry bits from the bottom of the bowl). The dough will be very dry, just wet enough to stick together. Kneed together for a minute and roll into a log.

Then I cut the dough into either three or four equal pieces and process through the flat rollers (KA pasta attachment) to setting 5 to 7 depending on what kind of noodles I'm making, but usuually 5. I flatten each dough piece out and feed through on setting one. Fold what comes out in half and repeat until the width of this piece is just a little less wide than the rollers. Then once through on each progressively higher setting until I get where I want. Then hang the piece on a pasta rack (or lie on a towel) and repeat with the remaining dough. Change to the cutter and cut - no need for further drying. Also no need for any more flour while working the dough, but once cut I flour it a little as I collect the cut pieces.

Tonight I am going to attempt won-tons, so I will use the recipe above but with 100% white flour and probably a bit extra water to give a little more stretch to the dough.

We do pretty much the same for years - semolina, egg and water - mix in KA as above - let rest a little and roll out in an old hand cranked pasta machine.

[chef koo]

I'm looking for a good recipe. I can think of one to a degree but I want one that will give me a specific texture that I haven't been able to achieve.

Take this lady at 0:11 for example

Or like this

Anyone got any advice?

[fairfranco]

What texture are you trying to get excactly?

It's really about the kneading and the rolling to get it just right.

Ingredients wise you just need 100g of ideally type '00'flour to 1 egg.

Making taglliatelle is the same as making any other pasta and it is just the way it is cut that makes it taglliatelle which you have shown in that video in your post.

[StevenC]

What texture are you trying to get excactly?

It's really about the kneading and the rolling to get it just right.

Ingredients wise you just need 100g of ideally type '00'flour to 1 egg.

Making taglliatelle is the same as making any other pasta and it is just the way it is cut that makes it taglliatelle which you have shown in that video in your post.

This is correct. I try to aim for the "al dente" texture that you find in fresh pasta in Emilia Romagna, but seldom outside of that region. (Many people say that you aren't supposed to get an al dente texture with fresh pasta, but the fresh pasta in Emilia Romagna does have a particular resistant texture that I like.) So, I knead the hell out the dough. If I'm using a pasta machine, I put it through several passes of each setting. Once it's rolled out and cut, I let it dry on hangers. Then, I boil it in salted water very, very briefly--really, no more than a quick parboil--before finishing it in a saute pan with the sauce.

[Prawncrackers]

When I want to make fresh pasta with a little more bite I substitute 40% of the 00 flour with durum wheat semolina. I would use proper Italian stuff but it almost impossible to buy in domestic quantities here in the UK so I use the fine ground semolina used in Indian desserts. It's much cheaper and gives the desired results.

[LindaK]

When I want to make fresh pasta with a little more bite I substitute 40% of the 00 flour with durum wheat semolina. I would use proper Italian stuff but it almost impossible to buy in domestic quantities here in the UK so I use the fine ground semolina used in Indian desserts. It's much cheaper and gives the desired results.

Same here. For some pasta I use all semolina, I love the flavor and the firmness, and am lucky to have a local source for it. Wherever you find it, it does need to be very finely milled. I remember the first time I tried to make pasta, using a semolina flour that was coarsely ground, not knowing any better. Disaster.

[StevenC]

When I want to make fresh pasta with a little more bite I substitute 40% of the 00 flour with durum wheat semolina. I would use proper Italian stuff but it almost impossible to buy in domestic quantities here in the UK so I use the fine ground semolina used in Indian desserts. It's much cheaper and gives the desired results.

Same here. For some pasta I use all semolina, I love the flavor and the firmness, and am lucky to have a local source for it. Wherever you find it, it does need to be very finely milled. I remember the first time I tried to make pasta, using a semolina flour that was coarsely ground, not knowing any better. Disaster.

Interesting. Don't you find that using semolina, even finely ground semolina, adds a gritty texture to the fresh pasta? I use 100% semolina when I make southern Italian eggless pasta by hand (spaghetti and such), but I always mix the semolina with near-boiling water, which seems to dissolve the grittiness.

[Prawncrackers]

You know I've never thought about whether my pasta was gritty because of semolina. So I made some tonight and I can confirm that it is silky smooth. I used 120g 00 flour, 80g finely ground Indian semolina, a pinch of salt, two egg yolks and enough water to bring the dough together. Kneaded briefly, then rested the dough for half an hour in the fridge. I used a pasta machine to roll out the dough in two batches folding it over several times to get it really smooth and finished to thickness 7 on the machine. I had it with a creamy pea, pancetta, pecorino sauce and it was pretty good, very smooth with some body to it. Maybe it's the type of semolina you're using but I would find gritty pasta off-putting too.

[eternal]

that looks amazing. I want to make pasta now.

[juliebrown]

good recipes comes from you own will of providing or making your own recipe.

Thanks,

Julie

PMP

[chef koo]

THanks for the info. I was just really intrigued by the lady in the first video. The way she was stuffing the pasta into a bowl. It didn't lose it's shape or stick together but it was still flexible. I've never seen or been able to achieve that.

[Chris Hennes]

Time to bump this topic back up, I think. For dinner tonight I made a dish from Giuliano Bugialli's Bugialli on Pasta

Papardelle ai peperoni

Pappardelle with chicken in sweet pepper sauce

I thought it was interesting that Bugialli wants the papardelle cut with a scalloped edge, and that he ask that it be cut 2" wide (I only cut mine about an inch and a quarter). I am used to papardelle (or at least, the pasta labelled as such around here) as having straight edges. Is this normal? I cooked the chicken sous vide at 140°F rather than baking it, but otherwise pretty much followed the recipe as written.

[janeer]

The pasta looks lovely. I'm not sure why, but papardelle seems to be geting narrower and narrower: perhaps people think it looks more refined? Anyway, it seems that years ago, certainly in Italy, it was always wide, 2" as Bugialli calls for, and I like it that way. I am always disappointed if I order it out and it arrives looking like ribbon. I love the fluted edge, it makes the large pasta more graceful, but straight is OK.

[FrogPrincesse]

A couple of days ago I made angel hair pasta using the "basic pasta dough" recipe from Babbo (recipe at the bottom of the linked page), and served it with the "basic tomato sauce" (recipe at the end of this other linked page). This has been my go-to pasta recipe for a few years now. I mix the dough in a stand mixer for a few minutes at low speed, and then do all the kneading by hand once everything is well mixed. I roll it with the Kitchenaid attachment.

The pasta cooks for about a minute and is finished in the sauce.

I made a double batch and cut the other half as tagliatelle, and dried them for a later use. I have to keep an eye on my daughter because she likes to eat the dry pasta as a little snack!

Edited September 18, 2012 by FrogPrincesse (log)