Making Fresh Pasta Dough

[letscook]

I have never made fresh pasta dough, perogie dough yes.
Doing some research on it and watching some videos has made me more confused,

Some call for 1 cup flour to one egg, then another 2/3 cup flour to one egg, and one says make a pile of flour with a well add 3 eggs and keep stirring in flour till comes together if any remaining flour use for dusting.

Figure I would come here and get it straighten out.
I find it amazing watching the elderly pros making this. Nothing like watching Grama cook. I didn't have anyone growing up that made fresh pasta.

Learn to make perogies from my mother in law 38 yrs ago but no fresh pasta.

Any information will be most appreciated and Thank you all

 

[dragnlaw]

You actually just have to try them all to see which one you prefer.

Some are more like egg noodle type pasta. and there are some with no egg at all. I use a recipe with 3 eggs, 2 c flour, Olive Oil.
I divide my dough up into serving portions and freeze.

If making for myself and/or grandkids I get 6 portions. But for adult guests I divide into 4.

 

[Andy M.]

Different proportions will make dough. I go with 1 cup of flour and one egg. knead thoroughly, wrap and rest for 30 minutes. Then make your pasta.

 

[medtran49]

I think I use about 3/4 cup flour to 1 egg, but I'll have to double check. I actually make mine in the food processor. Mix the flour with any added ingredients (like spinach), then with machine running, drop in eggs 1 at a time, and maybe a few drops of water if it looks dry until it's starting to form a ball. I then give it a few kneads on a floured board, press into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and let it rest for least 30 minutes. If I'm making it several hours ahead, I'll refrigerate it, then take it out and let it warm up a bit.

 

[di reston]

My pasta recipes are as follows:

Per shelled raw eggs, double the weight of plain flour and durum wheat flour together, meaning that if you use three eggs, you break them open, weigh them, and then calculate the weight of flour you're going to need. Work the dough with damp hands until you get a smooth and velvety ball of dough. Different flours need different times, but that's the result you should be looking for. Then rest it for a while, the more you rest it, the more workable it is when you come to roll it out, it's more manageable and won't stick.

The old technique of making a mountain of flour and then making a crater in the middle where you put the eggs is also crucial in hand made egg pasta, which you use for lasagne and ribbon pasta, or tagliatelle.

This may seem vague, but - go on! go ahead jump and see!

Now we come to water and flour pasta, which is much more widely used in Southern Italy.

The proportions are: 1kg durum wheat flour and 50 % max tepid water, plus salt. The basic technique is the same as egg pasta - make the crater with the flour, and put the water and salt in the crater, easing the flour into the mix as you go. It should make a somewhat firmer dough, but you can shape it very well once it has rested in the fridge for an hour. You can make short pasta like 'strascinati', or pulled pasta shapes, by rolling a 'rope' of pasta, which you then shape by putting three fingers into the top of the sausage, and then pulling the pasta towards you without tearing it. cut into the desired lengths, leave to rest and dry out a little before cooking

Hope this answers some of your questions and uncertainties.

By the way, Sofia Loren famously said ''making pasta made me the woman I am'' ! You can make what you like out of that remark!

All the best

di reston



Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

 

[dragnlaw]

I didn't really give quantities, so here is my version. Like Medtran I also use the fp. So fast and done ta da!!! If I feel the need to work with dough - I make bread!

2 cups flour, 3 eggs, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt.
Process all in fp til starting to come together.
Dump out the mass and grabbing walnut size pieces of dough, feed back in thru the tube.
If necessary add 1 or 2 tablespoons of warm water. (I find I need to add about 1 Tablespoon).
Work into large ball, cover and rest 30 minutes.
Divide into 2 pieces if going directly to rolling them out.
or Divide into 4 pieces (1 adult serving each) wrap in plastic-wrap, fridge or freeze.
or divide into 6 pieces (smaller servings) wrap in plastic, fridge or freeze.

It doesn't take very long at all to defrost. Perfect for last minute thoughts!

and the Pasta Roller is a favourite with the grandkids! "Look Dad Look! I'm a cook, I'm a cook!"

 

[dragnlaw]

di? isn't there a sort of formula... 3 eggs for 3 servings? 2 eggs for 2?
is that how you figure out how much you need for a certain number of guests?

 

[letscook]

Thanks everyone for your help. I will be taking on this challenge soon.

 

[larry_stewart]

What ever recipe you decide to go with, my suggestion ( if your using one of those hand cranked pasta machines).

My personal experience , is that when the dough was chilled, and floured, it ran through the pasta machine much better, and didnt stick.

Also, lightly flour the pasta after it goes through the machine to keep the individual strands separate ( from not sticking to each other and becoming a clump).

I haven't done it in 6 + months, and only do it 2 or 3 times a year, so I'm just basing this info on my limited memory. Others may have other tips or suggestions.

I never knowingly used the same dough recipe twice. I do it so infrequently, that when Im ready to go, i just do a search or thumb through a cookbook. Often, due to the variation of the size of the eggs ( I have chickens, so my egg sizes vary all the time), I have to play around with the flour ratio to get the desired consistency that passes through the machine.

 

[tenspeed]

Disclaimer: I've never made pasta by hand, only with pasta machines.

My latest is a Philips, which comes with measuring cups for flour and water or water / egg. Being a fully automatic extrusion machine, there isn't an option to adjust the ingredients while kneading, and it's pretty sensitive to the flour liquid ratio. In their efforts to make it as moron proof as possible, the measuring cup has lines for water alone and water / egg mix. The instructions call for adding a bit of water to the eggs to bring it up to the proper volume of liquid, as eggs vary in size. The required volume of egg / water is about 5% higher than for plain water. There is a measuring cup for flour, but the recommendation is to weigh the flour, rather than using volume.

My previous machine wasn't fully automatic, and a little judgment was required. I learned that it was best to start kneading a little on the dry side, then add water as required. It didn't take much water to change the consistency, and I would add a tablespoon or two at a time.

If I was to make pasta dough by hand or in a mixer, I would pick up a finely graduated measuring cup (metric), weigh the flour, and record the proper amounts for future reference.

Hope this helps.

 

[Suthseaxa]

My favourite thus far is just over 75g strong white flour and 25g semolina to 1 egg.

 

[Addie]

Don't plan on making pasta on the same day you want to use it. Like a good stew, it is always better the next day.

I always add some semolina to my white flour. It just comes together easier. Also make sure you let the dough rest in order to let it absorb the water/egg.

Making pasta can and does depend on the weather. Make it on a rainy day, and you just may find that you don't need as much water. Even a hot humid summer day can have a different affect than on a cold winter's day. Once you have all the dough pulled together, then you let it rest. Wrap it in plastic wrap, then sit for at least an hour. Letting it rest until the next day is even better. Resting is very important. It may seem dry and crumbly. But during that rest period, the dough is absorbing moisture from the air, and also any that is still in the dough that didn't get mixed in completely.

Start out with a small recipe. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't turn out right the first time. Having trouble getting it to come together? Wrap it up and come back to it later. It will be easier to work with. And Good Luck! Let us know how it all turns out for you and all about your adventure in learning about making your own pasta. Good Luck!