Making fresh pasta is a fun and rewarding project you can complete in an afternoon, and contrary to popular belief, it doesn't require a ton of startup capital. That's right: With the right recipe and a few affordable tools on hand, you can make pro-level pasta without a fancy machine.
One popular way to make fresh pasta is by using a stand mixer with the hook attachment to knead the dough for you (a food processor works, too). Once the dough is rested, it is then fed through a crank-operated pasta rolling machine. Sure, all of this equipment will save you some elbow grease, but it's by no means the only way to make pasta. After all, what do you think the Italian grandma's have been doing for eons? They've rolled up their sleeves and got to work, achieving silky strands of tender pasta with little more than a rolling pin and some muscle.
With certain doughs, like that for biscuits, it's important not to overmix so the texture isn't tough. With pasta dough however, you actually want to toughen up the dough by kneading it for as long as your biceps can handle it. To pass the time, you can treat the experience of kneading the pasta dough as meditative, or perhaps you can use it to unleash some stress in the form of rage baking. Bonus: Since it's impossible to over-knead pasta dough, it's a great task to give eager young kitchen helpers.
To get started, choose a pasta dough that's been designed with hand-rolled pasta in mind. For a finished noodle that has a tender bite and a little chew, go with a recipe like this fresh egg pasta dough. Enriched with extra egg yolks and a little olive oil, it makes the dough more pliable, ergo easier to roll by hand. It's perfect for beginners and for pasta shapes like ravioli and fettuccine. For a firmer, more toothsome pasta built for twirling around a fork, follow this recipe for eggless dough that uses a blend of flours to make the process of rolling by hand just about as easy as an enriched dough.
Obviously, one of the draws to making pasta by hand is that it doesn't require any expensive equipment. That said, it does help to have a few basic tools handy for the final steps of shaping. While a rolling pin will be essential for all types of pasta, a few of the tools on this slideshow are tailored to certain styles of noodles. The fluted cutter, for instance, is a great gadget to have for creating frilly edges to farfalle. And while a chef's knife will work fine for cutting thick strands of pasta like pappardelle, a specialized rolling pin built for cutting thinner strands like spaghetti will make the work feel a lot less tedious.
So, if making pasta from scratch turns into a hobby for you, consider investing in the following tools that will help make the process more efficient, and the final product more polished looking.
The Link LonkSeptember 30, 2020 at 01:06AM
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Nine Tools to Help You Make Fresh Pasta by Hand - Yahoo Lifestyle
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