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Nanette
March 7, 2020
To this very day...some 50 plus years later, I vividly recall watching my nona make pasta on her long wooden table, with the afternoon sun streaming through her kitchen window. The flour dust floating in the air, caught on a ray of light...the soft quiet sound of her breathing as she rolled her dough with a long wooden rolling pin, and her perfect folding, slicing and fluffing small piles of pasta....to be placed on linen towels (made at the factory by nono). I still see that twin bed laden with neat little handfuls of egg golden pasta, drying and scenting her room with a lovely eggy smell. To this day, I have those very old linens, this wonderful, memory and of course the love of my nona fused into my pasta making and delicious homemade pasta. I always remember...the question that was most asked as we sat down to eat this beautiful meal, made by a woman who traveled to a strange country, at the young age of 18, to wed a man she barely knew and learned to love with time.
The question they all asked with an excited grin was..."how many eggs did you use???". AHHHH, that many???? You must be rich, Julia, "You must be rich!!!"
The question they all asked with an excited grin was..."how many eggs did you use???". AHHHH, that many???? You must be rich, Julia, "You must be rich!!!"
Lauren B.
March 7, 2020
My Grandma was from Poland but the story was pretty similar except that the board where they dried was in the living room, resting on the arms of a big upholstered chair. My brother and I were always happy when our Mom had a night time graduate course to attend on Tuesday nights since that was Lukshen night. After boiling them our Grandma would fry those noodles in butter and spinkle chunks of farmer cheese on top. I liked mine with salt but my brother would have his with cinnamon, raisins, and sugar sprinkled on top. And then she would stand over us with her arms crossed, watching us happily chomp away. Thanks for reminding me about this and yes, that eggy smell! ❤️😋
Ruth
March 6, 2020
I recommend the Pasta Grannies Youtube channel. Tons of videos of Italian grandmothers making pasta and explaining what they're doing.
Joanna
November 1, 2017
"Take pleasure in the fact that our hands have memories—they’ll remember the texture of perfect pasta dough and alert us if the dough is too wet or must be kneaded for longer." This is an amazing sentence...I took the liberty of quoting you on my Instagram. Hope you don't mind. I find making pasta therapeutic and love everything about it. Best, Joanna - Instagram culinaterrae
Katileigh
March 10, 2016
I use King Arthur flour mixed with semolina. You can get the Italian flour at Italian markets, or from Amazon.
Katie
March 10, 2016
Where does one find Italian 00 flour? I've not seen it at any of the groceries near me
Katileigh
February 23, 2016
Hi Cindy... I roll out and then dry mine on clean dish towels to a kind of leathery consistency so that when you roll and slice it, it doesn't stick together. Sufficiently kneaded dough will do this readily. If I'm using a machine to rolll and cut, I will sometimes cook it right away, but carefully. Fresh pasta doesn't require a long boil, though it can't be predicted as precisely as boxed pasta. Just be sure to have a full rolling boil (salty enough water so you can taste it) before you drop the pasta in, and the stir to keep the strands apart.. I tell my young friends that they should salt it like soup, because some recipes require the addition of some of the pasta water and you don't want to overwhelm the dish with brine. You must watch fresh pasta cook. When the pasta floats, check it for doneness. The finer the cut, the quicker it cooks. Less than 5 minutes, for sure.
Cindy H.
February 23, 2016
Do you let it dry a bit, or just cook like regular pasta in boiling water - probably for not that long I would imagine???
Thank you, Cindy
Thank you, Cindy
Josh C.
February 23, 2016
Hi Cindy,
I do not like to let it dry. I like to either cook it right away, or freeze it right away and cook it later. It cooks like regular pasta in boiling water. It will cook very quickly, and it will rise to the surface of the water when it is ready.
I do not like to let it dry. I like to either cook it right away, or freeze it right away and cook it later. It cooks like regular pasta in boiling water. It will cook very quickly, and it will rise to the surface of the water when it is ready.
jude1
February 23, 2016
My grandchildren love my pasta. 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour and 4 eggs from the chicken coop. I try to have some dried on hand. I dry fettuccini on a coat hanger hung on a kitchen cabinet. But fresh with almost anything on it..........
Lauren B.
February 21, 2016
Ooh, I remember when our Mom was going to graduate school at night we would always hope her class was gonna be on Tuesdays since that was luchshen night at our Grandma's. She would make her noodles in the morning and they would dry on the board under a tablecloth in the living room until she would boil them. Then she would fry them in BUTTER! Then serve with farmer or cottage cheese for me and raisins and cinnamon for my brother. The best....
Bob
February 21, 2016
My mom would give the extra dough to the kids to squeeze in our little hands. Then we'd toss the "ribbles" into her potato soup. Yumm!
Mona K.
February 21, 2016
My mom always made homemade pasta. After she made it, she'd dice up onion very finely and fry it until dark brown. Then she'd add the cooked noodles and a good amount of thick fresh cream and let it heat through (never boil). Salt and pepper and you had the best knudla ever....
Katileigh
February 21, 2016
Excellent explanation. The only thing missing is my 4'9" grandmother standing by, coaching me on when the dough was just right. She taught me about how the variations in egg sizes and the moisture content of flour was critical to having a perfect pasta every time. I could say that it was almost a badge of honor to not need a recipe (for anything in her repertoire), but that would seem too proud to her. She was a lovely lady who just knew how to cook. And had the most amazing patch of basil in her backyard. Memories...
Bob
February 21, 2016
After decades of teaching kids, teens, and new cooks to make something that seems impossible to get wrong, my emphasis is on kneading (ten minutes seems like an hour) and resting -- for longer than seems possible. Patience, grasshopper.
Anne B.
February 21, 2016
I echo Susan's question. I swear by my KitchenAid pasta attachment and tossed the hand crank with glee. For Papardelle is usually take it to number 5 but wonder if that may be too thin. Also, for the semolina flour is there a grind you would recommend?
Robert A.
February 21, 2016
My mother made homemade pasta regularly. She even had a special device to roll it out on, it was a piece of canvas, which came with two pieces of wood and two lengths of metal to stretch the fabric tight. Then she rolled the dough out on the fabric.
Susan S.
February 21, 2016
Hi Josh- if using the Kitchenaid attachment, what thickness do you recommend ending up with for Papardelle or Tagliatelle?
chefrockyrd
February 21, 2016
I grew up in a household where we made our pasta all the time. All kinds but usually fettucine, very thin large sheets for lasagna, tortellini for soup, corkscrew pasta that we wrapped around a metal wire and so many ravioli we put them on clean white sheets on the bed. There was no other place in the house that large and flat. One of my first cooking experiences as a small child kneeling on a kitchen chair, was to seal the ravioli with a fork, going very carefully around the edges or I got a dirty look. Punching holes in them where the filling is, makes them come apart or leak filling when boiled.
As far as drying them we did that with fettucine and twirled them into nests and dried them on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. My aunts even stored them in the warm attic. Once dried they went into clean recycled shirt boxes. No one ever got sick.
Now when I make them, I dry them overnite on a sheet pan with corn meal or semolina and when hard I put them into plastic boxes in the freezer so they won't get crushed.
Measuring to make pasta? It was never done. We made it as you said with a pile of flour on a big wood board, some salt and a bunch of eggs.
I hope that you try it, even once. Its easy, can be done quickly and you will get great satisfaction from it. Once you make it often you can try other types, and let me say one last thing- there is NOTHING like lasagna made with hand made lighter than air dough. We roll it till you can read thru it.
As far as drying them we did that with fettucine and twirled them into nests and dried them on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. My aunts even stored them in the warm attic. Once dried they went into clean recycled shirt boxes. No one ever got sick.
Now when I make them, I dry them overnite on a sheet pan with corn meal or semolina and when hard I put them into plastic boxes in the freezer so they won't get crushed.
Measuring to make pasta? It was never done. We made it as you said with a pile of flour on a big wood board, some salt and a bunch of eggs.
I hope that you try it, even once. Its easy, can be done quickly and you will get great satisfaction from it. Once you make it often you can try other types, and let me say one last thing- there is NOTHING like lasagna made with hand made lighter than air dough. We roll it till you can read thru it.
burns W.
February 21, 2016
I make homemade pasta about once a week & use the Kitchenaid mixer for it. There is one really important addition I would recommend here because what makes this successful is the correct hydration. Flour can be accurately weighed out, but eggs can vary in weight. My solution is quite simple: WEIGH your eggs. One per person. Divide the weight of the eggs by .6 and you will precisely get the weight of flour to use to give you a dough that is at its goldilocks point: not too dry, not too wet. My short blog on it is here: https://homecookexplorer.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/perfect-homemade-pasta-every-time/
Tina
February 21, 2016
Do you have any recommendations for making gluten free pasta? I use Better Batter or Cup 4 Cup gluten free flours as a substitute in recipes that require flour; do you know if these are viable alternatives?
Jessica
February 17, 2016
I'm wondering if aquafaba would work in place of eggs?
Josh C.
February 17, 2016
Hi Jessica,
I think that you could use aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas) to make fresh pasta, although I have never tried this myself. The truth is, you can make perfectly good fresh pasta dough using only flour and water, so I imagine that the chickpea brine would work similarly. The reason to make pasta dough using eggs instead of water has to do with the richness and texture that the eggs bring to the dough.
I think that you could use aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas) to make fresh pasta, although I have never tried this myself. The truth is, you can make perfectly good fresh pasta dough using only flour and water, so I imagine that the chickpea brine would work similarly. The reason to make pasta dough using eggs instead of water has to do with the richness and texture that the eggs bring to the dough.
Vinoo C.
February 16, 2016
Pasta/spaghetti that we buy is dry. So after making noodles how do we dry it?
Josh C.
February 17, 2016
Hi Vinoo,
If you make fresh noodles, I recommend either cooking them immediately, or freezing them and cooking them at a later time. I would not recommend trying to dry this type of noodle.
If you make fresh noodles, I recommend either cooking them immediately, or freezing them and cooking them at a later time. I would not recommend trying to dry this type of noodle.
Vinoo C.
February 16, 2016
Pasta/spaghetti that we buy is dry. So after making noodles how we dry it?
Kenn
February 18, 2016
Most dry pastas do not contain eggs, thus aren't as suceptable to bacteria and rot as a pasta made with eggs. Dry egg noodles are made with dehydrated (and pasteurized) egg powder to help eliminate these dangers. Freezing fresh, egg-based pasta is really the only way to keep it for any extended time.
Leslie
February 15, 2016
I was wondering if you specify the flour:egg ratio? The number of eggs it takes to get to the top of the mound, it seems, would depend on how deep and wide your "volcano" is, which might depend on the bowl circumference . . .
Thanks!
Thanks!
Josh C.
February 15, 2016
Hi Leslie, the article does mention that you can count on using approximately 1 egg and 100 grams of flour per person that you want to feed. However, if you follow the procedure in this article, you can make pasta dough without measuring anything. Avoid using any mixing bowls that are freakishly wide or deep (do these even exist?) and the recipe will work great.
702551
February 15, 2016
The flour:egg ratio really depends on your own personal preference. Some people like more whole eggs in their pasta. Others will use some whole eggs, then throw in some yolks (this will make the dough a bit "eggier" and a more vibrant yellow).
After years of playing with different variants, I have ended with 2 large eggs + 1 yolk for 280 g of flour (usually a 50-50 split between Italian "00" and all-purpose) and 4 g kosher salt (1 tsp.). If I want eggier pasta, I'd throw in one more yolk, but no more.
As it so happens, today I ran out of AP flour while making dough, so on a whim I decided to sub in a little bit of organic spelt flour. The final flour mixture was probably 60% Italian "OO", 20% AP, and 20% organic spelt. The latter is more coarse and brown, it definitely changes the appearance and texture of the pasta, giving it a more rustic look. It will be interesting to see how it cooks up.
After years of playing with different variants, I have ended with 2 large eggs + 1 yolk for 280 g of flour (usually a 50-50 split between Italian "00" and all-purpose) and 4 g kosher salt (1 tsp.). If I want eggier pasta, I'd throw in one more yolk, but no more.
As it so happens, today I ran out of AP flour while making dough, so on a whim I decided to sub in a little bit of organic spelt flour. The final flour mixture was probably 60% Italian "OO", 20% AP, and 20% organic spelt. The latter is more coarse and brown, it definitely changes the appearance and texture of the pasta, giving it a more rustic look. It will be interesting to see how it cooks up.
702551
February 16, 2016
The 20% spelt pasta is a keeper. Less assertive than pasta with semolina, but still with good texture and personality.
Smaug
February 15, 2016
The way I learned to roll pasta dough, the hands are used to stretch the dough across the pin while rolling; a 2' or so length of closet pole does an excellent job. You can use all sorts of combinations when making pasta. Most people add some salt, but more specialized noodles can be made- for instance, I make noodles for Stroganoff that contain dry sherry, olive oil and paprika. It should be noted that the dough tends to hydrate more evenly during resting- it generally ends up softer and damper than it seemed at the end of the original kneading.
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