# Fresh Pasta



## mr drinky (Jul 11, 2011)

I just got a Marcato pasta roller and I am loving it. I made fresh past 2 of the last 4 nights. Now the wife says she doesn't want dry pasta anymore. 

Anyone have some tasty fresh pasta recipes?

k.


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## tgraypots (Jul 11, 2011)

I made ravioli last weekend using stuff on hand. I always try to keep a few quarts of my meat sauce in the freezer, usually making 10 quarts at a time, so I used that, and had some mozz and pecorino-romano in the fridge for filling. It was delicious and simple. My tomatoes and basil are coming in now, and I'm hoping to roast the tomatoes and make into sauce, and make pesto from the basil. Ain't nothing like fresh pasta!


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## Pensacola Tiger (Jul 11, 2011)

Try some cracked peppercorns in the pasta dough. Small pieces, maybe even just a real coarse grind.


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## rahimlee54 (Jul 11, 2011)

Butternut squash sage brown butter ravioli is great.


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## WildBoar (Jul 11, 2011)

Porcini powder mixed into the dough can add a subtle earthy flavor.

There were a couple ravioli filling recipes on a thread a month or two ago, including some ideas for braised pork or ribs. Sounded really good!


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## mr drinky (Jul 11, 2011)

That powder sounds like a good idea. So far I have only done spaghetti and tagliatelle. I also picked up a chitarra from Fantes for a couple other sizes of fettucini. I think I am going to try playing with the dough a couple of times and then work on fillings. 

k.


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## WildBoar (Jul 11, 2011)

Fantes rocks. We make it a point to visit 1-2xs/ yr. It's become an integral part of the ECG weekend for us :cool2:

Another dough tweak I have seen is adding a splash of white wine to the mix. It is very subtle, but adds a little bit of enhanced flavor.


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## Kyle (Jul 11, 2011)

Is this the pasta roller you got? I've never looked into making my own pasta and now I'm really intrigued, this is good enough to get the job done? I would only be feeding 3-4 people maybe once a week so I wouldn't want to spend too much money.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009U5OSO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## mr drinky (Jul 11, 2011)

Kyle said:


> Is this the pasta roller you got? I've never looked into making my own pasta and now I'm really intrigued, this is good enough to get the job done? I would only be feeding 3-4 people maybe once a week so I wouldn't want to spend too much money.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009U5OSO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20



Yep, that is the one. With that model you will be able to switch the hand crank and use it for tagliatelle and a fine spaghetti too as it has two cutters built in. It is surprisingly easy to make fresh pasta, but next I want to start mixing the dough in a food processor to save in clean up time. Right now I am doing it by hand. I suspect once I get this down I could mix the dough and roll a noodle pasta in roughly the time it takes to boil the water. 



WildBoar said:


> Fantes rocks. We make it a point to visit 1-2xs/ yr. It's become an integral part of the ECG weekend for us :cool2:
> 
> Another dough tweak I have seen is adding a splash of white wine to the mix. It is very subtle, but adds a little bit of enhanced flavor.



Now that wine is a very good idea. 

k.


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## mano (Jul 11, 2011)

Next time any of you are in Philly, LMK. I go by Fante's frequently.


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## rahimlee54 (Jul 11, 2011)

Kyle check ebay for the machines, they are dirt cheap there. I wish someone would have told me that when I had my in-laws grab one for me.



> Yep, that is the one. With that model you will be able to switch the hand crank and use it for tagliatelle and a fine spaghetti too as it has two cutters built in. It is surprisingly easy to make fresh pasta, but next I want to start mixing the dough in a food processor to save in clean up time. Right now I am doing it by hand. I suspect once I get this down I could mix the dough and roll a noodle pasta in roughly the time it takes to boil the water.



How long is it taking you to mix it? I can usually form a dough in a couple minutes, it would take me much longer to clean the processor. Also I am under the impression the dough should rest before rolling and cutting, but that could just be preference from one to another.


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## WildBoar (Jul 11, 2011)

x2 on letting dough rest for half an hour. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes for noodles, but it helps then making sheets for ravioli.


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## mr drinky (Jul 11, 2011)

I was reading some pasta making instructions and it said that if the dough rests too long it might become hard to roll and you will need to add more water. I don't know. I'm still learning, but I might try letting it rest this next time. 

k.


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## SpikeC (Jul 11, 2011)

I have the pasta roller/cutter for my Kitchenaid, and it rocks! I can do a pretty good ramen noodle with Koon Chun alkali water.


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## SpikeC (Jul 11, 2011)

The dough needs to rest to relax the gluten so that it will stretch properly.


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## tgraypots (Jul 11, 2011)

I love ramen, and my kitchenaid mixer and pasta roller. I'll have to try to make my own ramen noodles now!


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## SpikeC (Jul 11, 2011)

Check out the web site "norecipes.com" for details about the process.


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## mr drinky (Jul 15, 2011)

So I am trying to improve my pasta making skills. Point noted on the resting time for the dough and adding a bit of white wine. I love wine and pasta. 

I also picked up a couple varieties of semolina/durham flour, which is supposed to be better, but I saw Giada mix in some cake flour too. Maybe later I'll try that. She also used only egg yolks and not whites and put salt in the dough. 

Giada used her food processor, and that looks way cleaner than doing it by hand, but I did see on Iron Chef someone mixing the dough in a large prep bowl. I don't know why I didn't think of that before.

Any of you fresh pasta makers put salt in the dough? Also, do you have a flour or oil preference? Just wondering.

k.


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## MadMel (Jul 15, 2011)

I have different recipes for different kinds of pasta. Salt and yolks and flour for the normal pasta. For ravioli skins, I'd add some whites, water, olive oil. And minus the salt. Cake flour for the pasta, with about 30~45 per cent semolina.. I don't actually have an oil preference but it's gotta be olive oil or neutral tasting oil, unless you want to flavour your pasta that way..


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## 99Limited (Jul 15, 2011)

I was on the verge of starting to make my own pasta and did a bunch of research on how to make the dough. What I came away with is start with AP flour and your basic wet ingredients, stick with that until you end up with a consistent dough every time. I know this is boring but there are nuances in making dough that you will pickup on that will help later on like when you switch to using semolina.


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## mano (Jul 15, 2011)

Pasta is a generations old peasant food, easy to make with eggs and AP flour. No need for water, oil or salt unless you want to use them. Mixing, kneading in a food processor, rolling and cutting is a pretty quick learn and will get you better than 95% of what you buy in a box. It's lighter, tastes better and guests love it

Kneading by hand, going with better flour and other higher end ingredients will get you in the top 1%. 


Most of the time I knead by hand, use 3 eggs for 2 cups of AP flour, knead, rest 15 min. roll and cut. I'm going to try semolina next.


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## JBroida (Jul 15, 2011)

i always like to do only semolina and egg yolks... i've done a bunch of other ones, but i just love the way it turns out


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## SpikeC (Jul 15, 2011)

I did ramen noodles last night. Using flour, water and kansui. Really nice and chewy!


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## mr drinky (Jul 15, 2011)

I think my next pasta is going to be pappardelle. For some reason it is impossible to find where I live and my wife has been begging for it. I know there are pappardelle cutters, but I saw some neat rolling technique on Iron Chef the other night. They always do pastas, so I have been paying attention to how they make it a bit more. 

I also got "The Pasta Machine Coookbook" today and now my inspiration is going wild (too fast). There is a recipe for apricot corn pasta (semolina, cornmeal, and apricot nectar). I think I am going to substitute agave nectar when making pappardelle and serve it with some fish on top . Maybe thin cut walleye strips or catfish.

k.


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## JBroida (Jul 15, 2011)

mr drinky said:


> I think my next pasta is going to be pappardelle. For some reason it is impossible to find where I live and my wife has been begging for it. I know there are pappardelle cutters, but I saw some neat rolling technique on Iron Chef the other night. They always do pastas, so I have been paying attention to how they make it a bit more.
> 
> I also got "The Pasta Machine Coookbook" today and now my inspiration is going wild (too fast). There is a recipe for apricot corn pasta (semolina, cornmeal, and apricot nectar). I think I am going to substitute agave nectar when making pappardelle and serve it with some fish on top . Maybe thin cut walleye strips or catfish.
> 
> k.



just roll out sheets, cut rectangles, and hand cut pappardelle... thats how everyone i know does it


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## mr drinky (Jul 15, 2011)

Yeah, that sheet thing was how I was going to do it, but this guy on IC rolled the sheets like a jelly roll and then cut it like a loin. It was easy to get uniform width.

k.


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## WildBoar (Jul 18, 2011)

mr drinky said:


> Yeah, that sheet thing was how I was going to do it, but this guy on IC rolled the sheets like a jelly roll and then cut it like a loin. It was easy to get uniform width.
> 
> k.


That's how we have done it.

BTW, the best use of pappardelle is in pappardelle con cinghiale (my user name namesake) :hungry:


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## MadMel (Jul 19, 2011)

WildBoar said:


> That's how we have done it.
> 
> BTW, the best use of pappardelle is in pappardelle con cinghiale (my user name namesake) :hungry:


 
+1 to that!!


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## Keith Neal (Aug 16, 2011)

I prefer the old fashioned recipe: 4 cups AP flour in the Kitchen Aid mixer and add eggs until the consistency is right -- usually 6. The heavy duty Kitchen Aid will knead it, though I ruined a little Kitchen Aid doing this. I always let the dough rest for 30 minutes after kneading. I freeze some of the dough. When thawed it is just like new. After rolling out, I usually use the fettucini cutter, but sometimes her ladyship likes the dough rolled out and put on the counter for her to cut by hand to desired odd shapes. Then flour one sliced green tomato (for two people) with salt and pepper, saute in olive oil, add milk and fresh ground nutmeg to build a Bechemel sauce, and toss in the cooked pasta. It usually requires a fair amount of pasta water to loosen. Delicious.


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