homemade pasta resources?

I just received a Marcato pasta maker as a gift and I'm so excited to start using it! I've made homemade pasta once (rolling it out by hand) - does anyone have suggestions for good homemade pasta resources? Online or cookbooks - any suggestions welcome! Thanks in advance!

Emily Love
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11 Comments

pierino August 18, 2016
Pasta the Italian Way: Sauces and Shapes by Oretta Zanini de Vita is very good. It's quite recent so it shouldn't be difficult to find. Giuliano Bugiali's books are excellent also and he does have an older one dedicated to pasta making.
 
pierino August 15, 2016
Keep in mind that all Italian pasta is regional. The many hundreds of unique shapes are most often typical of a single (sometimes very small) local. Marcella Hazan provides a useful overview but with a Venetian bias. She's great on risotto but not as great on pasta.
Spaghetti and lasagne are about as close as you will come to uniformity. Useful cuts to master are pappardelle and filled pastas such as ravioli and tortellini. But if there is a specific cut that you've especially liked than learn to make that and research how it was intended to be sauced as that's the thought process behind any pasta.
 
Emily L. August 17, 2016
interesting! I am not well versed in Italian regions and really appreciate the input. Just curious, anyone/anything you would suggest as a reference for a beginning pasta cook? Thank you! :)
 
702551 August 15, 2016
I agree that you should find a basic recipe and execute it many times with the goal on learning how the dough should feel/will react based on hands-on experience that the written word can never fully convey.

It should be pointed out that not all flour is equal, nor eggs. Today's commercial laying hens in the USA produce eggs with smaller yolks than those of twenty years ago, something an old recipe like Hazan's will not address.

In this particular case, I think repetitions and hands-on experience is far more valuable than any Internet resource for a basic understanding of pasta.

Remember, people have been making noodles for thousands of years; the World Wide Web is less than 25 years old, not old enough to rent a car in most US cities.

Good luck.
 
Smaug August 16, 2016
This- in particular the first sentence- is excellent advice for just about anything made with flour (and many things without)- any sort of bread, pastry etc. Once you know the feel, you don't need to worry about recipes, variations in materials and conditions etc. Well worth a few less-than-successful experiments.
 
Emily L. August 17, 2016
very good to note about flour and eggs I had not considered that. thank you!!
 
pierino August 18, 2016
The basic formula for making pasta from eggs and all purpose flour is pretty simple. Start with two cups of flour plus two large eggs. Allow extra bench flour for your hands. Make a well with the flour, break the eggs into the well. Using a fork beat the eggs together and gradually work in the flour from the sides of the well. The flour will absorb only as much egg as it "wants". DON'T let your well break or you'll have an awful mess to clean up because it runs everywhere.
 
Nancy August 15, 2016
Enjoy your new toy, I mean, tool...:)
Resources, for me, include a large work surface or pastry board, good rolling pin, dough scraper...all these to work with your new pasta maker. Avoid very specific-use tools (like a ravioli mold or pin) until you know you will use them often.
I would suggest finding what is for you a reliable basic recipe and make it many times until you master it, and can make it without referring to a page.
Important - as with bread - is to learn the properties of the dough, of the food itself.
Take a course (if there are some coming up soon in your area). Or practice with others. Knowledgeable people, if possible. Fellow enthusiasts, if not. Mistakes are funnier, success more delicious when cooking together. Also you can try more recipes, share out the results.
After you master a basic dough, then - if you want - branch out to flavored ones, flour variations, etc.
For sauces, to use on both homemade and commercial dry, sky's the limit.
My book recommendations (ones I've found reliable, educational, informative):
Marcella Hazan, Classic Italian Cookbook (1976) or or Essentials of Italian Cooking (1992). For this thread, see her basic pasta recipe. And the rest of the books for good reading and cooking.
Giuliano Bugialli - any of his books on Italian cooking. But he has one devoted to the topic, Giuliano on Pasta, 1988.
And a little know but much loved gem,
Jack Denton Scott, Complete Book of Pasta, 1968.
 
Emily L. August 15, 2016
ah thank you!! so many good suggestions!
 
Windischgirl August 15, 2016
Marcella Hazan's 'Essential's of Italian Cooking' is a classic on making and serving homemade pasta. I have also had good results from the fresh pasta recipe from Caz Hildebrandt and Jacob Kenedy's book 'The Geometry of Pasta', and they have some interesting recipes for filled pastas, fewer for regular stranded pastas. I have the preboggion recipe on my to-make list!
 
Emily L. August 15, 2016
thank you!! will definitely check that cookbook out
 
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