At the end of the day, I settled on using all-purpose flour for my recipe. It's the flour most people already have in their pantries, and it makes great pasta. Any time I refer to "flour" from here on out, I'm talking about your handy bag of AP. That said, if you want to get more serious, 00 flour, with its powdery texture, can yield even silkier noodles, and semolina adds a heartiness and a rougher texture that'll help sauces cling better to your noodles.
Some folks like to add a combination of semolina and 00—I haven't tested all the permutations, but stay tuned. I just might take the insanity to a whole new level. Regardless of what flours you choose to experiment with, I'd recommend familiarizing yourself with basic dough-making techniques using just one type, so that you'll know what cues to look for. With my flour selected, it was time to test different sources of moisture.
My first step was to make three doughs, keeping the hydration level as consistent as possible across the board. I used three equal measurements of all-purpose flour as my baseline; one batch got water, one batch got egg whites, and the third got egg yolks. This is what I wound up with; you can probably tell which is which. The water-only pasta right was a total bust—the noodles were bland, mushy, and The yolks, on the other hand, made a beautiful, golden dough left.
More yolks will deliver more color, more egg flavor, and silkier noodles. Unfortunately, that high fat content complicates things a little bit. Though it's not exactly scientifically accurate, you can think of that fat as making the gluten proteins all slippery, preventing them from building a strong network—when I tested this using different amounts of olive oil, I found that, sure enough, more oil made for softer, mushier, less elastic noodles.
And, to complicate matters even further, I had a really hard time getting the flour and yolks to come together. It was a dry, tough dough that was difficult to mix and knead—not exactly beginner-friendly. Difficulty aside, an all-yolk pasta may make great noodles, but it's not sufficiently elastic to use for stuffed pastas, which require a dough that can be rolled more thinly and is, quite simply, bendier.
I needed to strike a better balance. At this point, I knew there was no point in adding water—if I wanted additional moisture, egg whites were definitely a better bet. It seemed clear that my dough was going to require a combination of whole eggs and additional yolks. I ultimately settled on three yolks for every egg white. What's that? You like softer, mushier noodles?
Good for you. Add a teaspoon of oil to my basic recipe. Want a richer, eggier flavor and a more golden hue? Throw in an extra yolk and add a little more flour. This is your dough. To figure out exactly how much flour to use with my eggs—to find my ideal hydration level, technically speaking—I made five batches of dough. Using the same ratio of yolk and egg white for each, I began with four ounces of flour and, moving in half-ounce increments, added flour to each batch until I could no longer get the dough to come together.
After I'd kneaded these doughs for 10 minutes each, they looked like this:. Once I'd let them rest for 30 minutes more on resting times shortly! The wettest dough and the driest dough were completely unworkable. They simply wouldn't pass through the roller—one was incredibly sticky, while the other crumbled into dry clumps. Sometimes, a longer resting time can help a dough hydrate more, and it is possible that the driest of these could be rehabilitated with additional time.
We'll get to the pros and cons of long rests in a bit. Ultimately, the sweet spot that I, and my blind-tasters, settled on was one whole egg 1. The dough represented by the pasta strands on the left was so wet that the noodles stuck together; the one on the right was dense and almost stiff.
The middle pasta, our unanimous winner, was made with a dough that was relatively easy to mix and knead, but not so wet that the pasta stuck to the roller or itself. It tasted good, looked good, and had that signature delicate, satiny texture. To Salt or Not to Salt? My dough was almost perfect. The only other thing I wanted to test was whether I'd get even better flavor by adding salt directly to the dough, instead of just my cooking water or sauce. The simple answer is yes. Do it! Salting pasta water is still well and good, but there's no compelling reason not to salt your dough.
I tried both fine-grained iodized salt and slightly coarser kosher salt, and both work; I prefer the flavor of kosher salt. Just don't use a coarse sea salt, which will keep your dough from developing a silky-smooth texture. Hypothetically, you could salt your pasta even more and skip salting your pasta water, but I choose to make a dough that still tastes good after cooking in salted water, since it gives me a little more flexibility in the flavor of the final product—I can make and freeze batches of dough and then decide on a case-by-case basis how salty I want my pasta to be.
At this point, we're working with 10 ounces of flour, a teaspoon of salt, and two whole eggs, plus four additional yolks. This will make four to six servings and can be halved or doubled as desired. If you have a good food processor, you can go ahead and toss all your ingredients in and let it run until it forms a big ball.
Let it keep whipping around in there, or take it out and knead it with your hands. You can get to a similar point with a stand mixer, using your dough hook attachment. But I gotta admit: I love making pasta by hand. It's a little more work, but it's satisfying, fun work.
It also gives you a lot more control. I'm going to let you in on a little secret: When I'm making pasta at home, I don't measure my flour. Sure, I'll weigh out a rough amount, but when you're working with flour and eggs, there are a lot of variables that you simply can't control.
Your eggs might be slightly bigger or smaller; it might be an especially humid or dry day. All of these things will affect how much flour you'll need. Mixing by hand guarantees that you can adjust your dough as you're working, ultimately allowing you to develop your ideal texture with greater precision. Here's how to do it. Step 1: Make a Well.
Weigh out your flour and pour it onto your surface in a pile. Then, with your fingers, make a hole in the center. You'll want it to be relatively wide—at least four inches—to accommodate all those eggs.
Now add your eggs to the center. These photos show the old-school technique, in which you actually whisk the eggs once they're on the countertop, but there's no reason you can't whisk them ahead of time. Step 2: Mix. Using a fork or your fingertips, gradually start pushing the flour into the pool of egg.
So, as promised, I will do a brief review, while still talking about pasta. So, what do I think of this machine? It does what I want it to! AND it comes with a double cutter for spaghetti and fettuccine which I have used successfully. The machine works like a charm and is very durable and reliable. One con I have noticed about this machine after making pasta about 15 times in it!
So, when rolling pasta by hand, I have learned that using only semolina flour to make your dough is going to kill you and will make you want to cry. Trust me. Additionally, Thomas Keller calls for using a tablespoon of milk in his original recipe, if you have some dry white wine around i.
Pinot Grigio , feel free to use that instead of milk- it will give the dough a little pizazz! Adapted from Thomas Keller via Epicurious , Always wanted to make fresh pasta.
Thanks for sharing. We and by that I mean my husband made pasta tonight! No pasta maker. Well, he is the pasta maker! I posted the recipe we use a while back on my blog but it is essentially all semolina. I am NOT a pasta addict- at all- but his pasta is like nothing you buy at the store. I think I wrote this to you before. I have very good luck with semolina flour.
You must put it through the food processor and make it as light as possible and then be sure to rest it wrapped in plastic. If it is too sticky, then the egg amount is off. Simply add in more flour, a tiny bit at a time. I write this because of everything I have tried, I stand by semolina being the very best flour for pasta that will have body to it and not end up being simply egg noodles.
What a wonderful recipe! My reluctance in making my own pasta is cleaning the machine. I buy mine at Whole Foods. And, another thing I thought of today is to eliminate every other egg white. The whites are protein and can cause toughness.
I like making homemade pasta for homemade chicken noodle soup in the crock pot. There is no doubt that you are a good individual — this is really a terrific write-up!
Hi Justin, the cooking time really depends on what you are making the pasta dough into. For spaghetti and fettucini I would say minutes is a good call. I personally have not tried drying the pasta because I always end up using it all before I have anything left.
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Home Learn In the kitchen Fresh pasta dough: the 7 things you need to know. In the kitchen Sep Fresh pasta dough: the 7 things you need to know Making your own fresh egg pasta is rewarding, but there are a few key rules you need to know.
John Campbell. Or, how about? Save recipe. King prawn and herb-and-almond pesto pasta. Read more. Learn How to make fresh pasta. I live in denial until the morning I look out the window and the familiar view of our backyard has changed overnight into an indistinct, fluffy, blanket of snow. I immediately think of all the people that have to start their day, going to school, or to work or any other activity. How do they react? Do they crawl back in bed or go out anyways?
They probably have to keep going. My husband has to. Maybe because they were born here and they've seen this "thing" happen year after year, they built up a shield, a "carelessness", and even an immune system that I do not have. My first thought is to lock myself in the house and go out only when Loreto will take me to the airport to go back home.
This mindset eventually changes and I do go out a bit, all bundled up so I can face the cold outside. There is something so comforting and "homey" in making pasta dough from scratch. I get flashbacks of my great grandma, grandma, mom, and aunts making their own pasta, their certain hand movements, the soft look in their eyes, the love that emanates from the simple task of blending four and eggs. The ratio has always been, in my family, for generations, 1 egg to g of flour. A pinch of salt, optional, a few drops of water necessary if your eggs are on the smaller side and you feel the dough is too dry.
Always the whole eggs and not only the yolks; very practical, the women in my life, they wouldn't want to deal with leftover egg whites just for the sake of a brighter yellow pasta dough.
What about the olive oil, you're asking? I know somebody adds it, never in my family. As for the flour to use, I also added in the notes my thoughts on using a blend of flour type 00 and semolina.
The percentage is up to you. The semolina gives a coarser texture particularly suitable to let the sauce stick to your noodles without sliding down. I use less or no semolina when I'm making ravioli or lasagna sheets.
I use a wooden surface called spianatoia in Italian like my mom and nonna would do. Working on a rough surface gives a better consistency to the dough. I like to use my hands to " feel " the dough, if it is sufficiently ductile and soft, but not too much, neither too dry, otherwise it will tear when stretching.
You can -of course- use a food processor to speed things up, and later we will share a version of pasta dough making in the food processor. The time you work the dough and the energy you put into it, develop the gluten, which is fundamental for the final consistency of the pasta. Work it for no less than 5 minutes: you have to give it elasticity, with the warmth of the hands and kneading properly with the necessary force.
Push it forward with the palm, then fold it and turn it, without tearing it and repeating the movement, again and again, several times, until smooth "as a baby's bottom".
Now it's time for the dough to rest. Thirty 30 minutes is the necessary time for the different components of the dough to be tied together. Air is the enemy of pasta dough, in every phase of the process. While resting, it must be wrapped in plastic, or covered with a wet towel, or left under a bowl.
That's it your dough is done! The blend of 00 flour and semolina flour is completely up to you. When I am not cooking, I enjoy playing musical instruments, singing, writing. I have learned over the years to live in gratitude and enjoy the moment. I love baking and kneading dough because it takes me to a happy place in my soul.
I feel the same way about the first snowfall
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