Cookaholics Bulletin Board

After I got rid of my KA mixer, I was left pasta machine-less. Well, I finally rectified that (got an Marcato motor machine) and have taken up making fresh pasta again. Last night, used the pasta recipe from MC@H, which is a little odd in that it has less eggs then normal, has salt, and vital wheat gluten. Made tagliolini, and just tossed with some flavoured oil (had garlic and spring onions fried in it previously) and some pepper. Went with chicken wings. Damn, I love fresh pasta.

Not 100% sold on the MC@H recipe though. It was very easy to work with, but I'm not sure the texture was 100% spot on, plus it had two rest periods (one before rolling, one before cutting) which is a lot of hassle; storing sheets of pasta is a PITA. I'll contemplate it.

Paul,

I've had good luck with CI's recipe. I'm pretty sure it's 3 eggs to 10 oz of AP flour, whizzed in the FP until it forms a ball, rested for 30 minutes, and rolled without fuss as usual. Although if you can find 00 flour, it's better in terms of texture (a bit less spring). The 3 eggs/10 oz ratio needed just a smidge of water IIRC to bring it together.

I find it freezes well too once it's cut, tossed with flour and put into nests (I know....lately I'm obsessed with weekend cooking and then freezing for later mid-week use).

I think I've used theirs in the past with good luck as well. I just recently obtained some 00 flour (though for pizza, apparently in Italy the have slightly different 00 for pasta and pizza?) and am going to try it out. For comparison, the MC@H recipe has almost 15 oz of flour, but only 1 egg; however, it has olive oil, which probably subs for the egg. I looked at kellers recipe and I think it had way more eggs. Interesting how much variation there is.

My Italian market sells both...00 flour marked for pizza, and 00 flour marked for pasta. I have no idea what the difference is (I just make sure to get the right one). It makes a big difference though. I like the recipe because it's really quick and easy, and produces reliable results. Lidia Bastianich has a recipe that subs water and olive oil for some of the eggs as well, but I didn't like it as much.

The one time I bought 00 flour (many years ago, when KAF came out with it...maybe it has improved?) for pasta I was not impressed with it. It seemed too wet, even when I added what seemed like too much, and it just didn't seem to roll out right. Then it was sort of unanimous that the flavor was sort of lacking compared to everyday AP flour. Out of curiosity, we checked out some places in the Italian market area that made fresh pasta, and some had 50 lb bags of bread flour as their flour of choice, others AP, but none with 00. This told me I probably wasn't imagining things.

One flour I tried with pasta that was delicious was the KAF French bread flour. I thought, if that could make such a difference in flavor with bread, how about pasta? Turned out really good, and everybody that tried it really liked it. I wish the price of that flour hadn't skyrocketed through the years.

The only time I have reduced the amount of eggs to flour in pasta was when coming up with a recipe for lo mein noodles, which seemed better texture wise with less egg and a little water added in place of it. Otherwise, it seems a loss in flavor, IMO.

I always rest my pasta twice. Once, before rolling, as this lets the flour absorb the moisture, and lets me see if it is too wet, and needs a little more flour. I always make it in the FP, and, as when making Chinese dumpling dough, I aim for what seems a tad too dry, but after the rest, it rolls out perfect - no sticking, but not dry. And after rolling out, I hang the sheets on the handles of my ovens for the second rest, which is short, and by the time I roll out the last one, the first is usually ready to cut.

All this talk about fresh pasta is going to necessitate my making some. Who started this? I know a friend of mine that will thank you.

Fwiw, Leite's culinaria has a good recipe for fresh pasta. Works really well and I use 00 flour with it.

I measure it by weight (so 10 oz, regardless of volume differences between it and AP). I wonder if that makes a difference? My brand is also Italian, so maybe it's a tiny bit different than KAF? I found the dough a tad bit drier than the one with AP. Both were good, I just liked the softer texture better with the 00. Less gluten in it.

I've tried KAF 00 flour, and I don't like it. Like Dave, I thought it came out too wet. I much prefer Caputo. Although, I only use 00 for pizza.

I frequently make eggless pasta dough. I use about 3/4 AP and 1/4 semolina. I add enough water to get it to the right consistency, usually about 1/4 of the volume of the total of the flour and semolina, and some salt. I rest it for at least a half hour, and then liberally add flour as I'm rolling on the widest setting. I roll it many times folding as I go on wide, basically getting it to ripple. When it ripples, it's ready to start rolling down.

The nice thing about eggless pasta is it holds really well. No eggs to cause the dough to oxidize.

Amy

Paul, All:

Here's the pasta dough recipe I use all the time, for basic noodles, including pappardelle, lasagna, and ravioli:

3 cups bread flour
3 cups semolina flour
pinch salt
2 eggs
Very cold water

Mix everything through the eggs in a mixer. Add very cold water a little at a time until the dough balls up; be careful not to over-water. Knead, form into balls, and let rest for at least 1/2 hour in the fridge. Roll out.

Works for various flavorings too; I've added both spinach puree (1/2 cup) and saffron to it in the past. The saffron was a bit of a bust though. It added a nice yellow color, but you couldn't taste it.

Thanks, Fuzzy. How much pasta does it make (how many people will it serve generously?)