Home-made Pasta – Better than dry past?

Is fresh pasta better than dried pasta? It depends on the sauce.

When we talk about pasta, the first thing that comes to our minds is “Italy”! Italy is the country that eats more pasta than anywhere else in the world. Pasta usually is home-made, fresh or dry, and anything that is home-made tastes much better. Even though it is not difficult to make, the tradition to make pasta at home is gradually fading away in Italy. As any other modern family, its is easier for the Italians to grab some dry or fresh pasta at the grocery store on the way back home. During the weekends and some specials dates, on the other hand, people still prefer to dedicate some extra time and make their own pasta. The sauce dictates what type of pasta, and what shape, you ought to use. A smooth, buttery sauce goes best with eggy home-made noodles, while a chunky, southern Italian aubergine sauce isn’t the same on anything but dried pasta spirals.

This recipe is the basic, I brought it from one of my first trips to Bologna. You can use this same recipe for any kind of pasta you feel like making (spaghetti, lasagna, papardelle, linguini, fusilli, penne, tagliatelle, etc).

Ingredients for 8 portions:

800 g flour
8 eggs
pinch of salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Quick and Easy Directions:

Add all the ingredients in the food processor. Knead quickly with the hook on, but not too thoroughly. Put the dough on the counter and press it with your hands until you get a firm and homogeneous ball.
Wrap it with cling film and let it rest for approximately 45 minutes.

Traditional Method:

Arrange the flour make a sort of “mountain” on a clean surface (wooden work surface or the counter top of your kitchen ). In the very center of the “mountain” make a “well” big enough to hold 8 eggs. Add all the eggs inside the well. Start by whisking the eggs with a fork while gradually incorporating the flour from the wall. When you get a thick mix of eggs and flour inside the well, start to knead it by hand until you get a smooth firm and homogeneous dough (10-12 minutes). A bench scraper may help you collect and incorporate the flour in the dough.
Wrap it with cling film and let it rest for approximately 45 minutes.

Rolling and Cutting:

With a rolling pin, start to roll the dough very thin. If you are rolling by hand, lightly dust the work surface with some flour. Rotating the pasta 90 degrees once in a while ensures a even distribution of the dough. Once you get a thin sheet of pasta (as thick as a dime), its time to cut the pasta into noodles (or in rectangles if your plan is to make lasagna). Loosely roll up the sheet of pasta. Using a knife, cut slices the roll of pasta into ribbons of approximately 5mm wide. According to the width, a pasta is called fettuccine (thin ribbons), tagliolini (medium ribbons) or papardelle (large ribbons).

With a mixer pasta attachment (Kitchen-Aid, Cuisinart) or a pasta cutter, start to roll the dough very thin. Once you get a thin sheet of pasta (as thick as a dime), its time to cut the pasta into noodles by hand (in rectangles if your plan is to make lasagne). Loosely roll up the sheet of pasta. Using a knife, cut slices the roll of pasta into ribbons of approximately 5mm wide. According to the width, a pasta is called fettuccine (thin ribbons), tagliolini (medium ribbons) or papardelle (large ribbons).
With a mixer pasta attachment (Kitchen-Aid, Cuisinart) you can also extrude the pasta into cylindrical shapes (spaghetti, bucatini, fusilli, rigatoni, small Macaroni, and large macaroni).

Green Pasta

Green pasta is an interesting alternative to the traditonal yellow. Just by adding spinach as part of the ingredients, the result is a delicate taste and a vivid green color.

Ingredients for 6 portions:

6 eggs
600 g of flour
120 g of fresh or frozen spinach

Cook the spinach on 2-3 tbsp of water and a bit of salt until it is soft and dry. Pass it through a sieve. Add the eggs and the flour. Knead for 10-12 minutes (if required add a few tsp of water). Let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Roll and cut into the shape of pasta that you prefer.