Don’t call pasta spaghetti, it’s just one type of pasta. Just as it is impossible to count all types of French cheeses, it is impossible to count all forms of Italian pasta. Tagliatelle, fettuccine, pappardelle, linguine, spaghetti, farfalle, orecchiette were once written with a capital letter and were the names of Italian families. Each family made a unique form of pasta, which later became known as the family name. They also came up with an industrial method of making pasta, so hundreds of workers can feed thousands of people. You can buy pasta in every store, but after you know the taste of fresh pasta, you will only look for it. And if you don’t find it, here’s a recipe for you.
Don’t call pasta spaghetti, it’s just one type of pasta. Just as it is impossible to count all types of French cheeses, it is impossible to count all forms of Italian pasta. Tagliatelle, fettuccine, pappardelle, linguine, spaghetti, farfalle, orecchiette were once written with a capital letter and were the names of Italian families. Each family made a unique form of pasta, which later became known as the family name. They also came up with an industrial method of making pasta, so hundreds of workers can feed thousands of people. You can buy pasta in every store, but after you know the taste of fresh pasta, you will only look for it. And if you don’t find it, here’s a recipe for you.- Prep time: 40 minutes + 1 hour’s resting
- Cook time: 2-3 minutes
- Serves: 2
- Difficulty: easy
- Course: pasta
- Cookware: pasta maker, pasta drying rack, rolling pin
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 100 g durum wheat flour
- 1 egg
- 2-3 g salt
- flour for rolling
For different colours:
- Red pasta: 10 ml tomato paste
- Pink pasta: 10 ml beet juice
- Black pasta: 1 ml black squid ink
- Green pasta: 20 ml spinach juice (pour boiling water over spinach leaves, drain off water, add ice water, drain off the water and grind the leaves in a blender)
- Brown pasta: 5 g cocoa, unsweetened
- Orange pasta: 5 g turmeric
The more intense colour you need, the more dye you add.
Cooking method
Step 1
Method 1
In a deep bowl, mix the egg and salt. Add flour. Knead the dough first with a spoon, then with your hands. Or use a stand mixer. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and silky. If the dough is too soft, add a little flour, if too dense, add water or yolk. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film, and let it rest for about 1 hour at room temperature. Take out the dough and divide it into pieces. Roll out each part with a pasta machine as follows: set level 6 (the widest setting), pass the dough through the machine, switch to level 4, feed through the pasta machine again. Fold the resulting strip 3 times, so it is as wide as the machine. Pass the dough again through level 6 and then level 4. Be sure to feed through the dough on the side with the folds so that the air can escape. Switch the pasta machine to level 2 and feed the dough through 1-2 times. The dough can now be cut as required. Put cut pasta on a kitchen towel or pasta drying rack and let it dry for 30 minutes – 1 hour. Fresh pasta can be stored either for 2-3 days in the refrigerator, or for 1-2 weeks in the freezer.
Method 2
Pour flour onto a smooth work surface (ideally a marble one), make a well in the flour and beat out an egg and add salt. Put your hand into the flour and start kneading the dough, moving your hand counter clockwise, gradually taking the flour from the walls of the well into the egg. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and silky. If the dough is too soft, add a little flour, if too dense, add water or yolk. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film, and let it rest for about 1 hour at room temperature. Take out the dough and divide it into pieces. Sprinkle the work surface with flour. Roll out the dough, do it quickly, as the dough may begin to dry out. Roll out with a rolling pin, pulling the dough in different directions. The resulting dough sheet should be thin, but not torn, about 3 mm thick. The dough can now be cut as required. Put cut pasta on a kitchen towel or pasta drying rack and let it dry for 30 minutes – 1 hour. Fresh pasta can be stored either for 2-3 days in the refrigerator, or for 1-2 weeks in the freezer.
Step 2
Boil the pasta in plenty of water. To do this, for every 100g pasta you need 1 litre water and 10g salt. Put a large pot with water on a high heat, add salt, and bring to boil. Add pasta. If you cook pasta immediately after cutting it, then it should be cooked in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Then put it in a colander, rinse under cold water, drain the water, return pasta to the pot, and pour over with olive oil. If the pasta has been pre-dried or frozen, it will take 1-2 minutes to cook it al dente. The cooking time for fresh pasta is much shorter than for dry one, and depends on the shape of the pasta.
My tips and tricks:
Remember a simple rule for pasta: for 100g flour, you need 1 egg and a pinch of salt. For the pasta, we need durum wheat flour. You can find it in three types of grinding, but be careful, the packaging should have the word “duro”, in Italian for “hard”. Farina – fine flour, semola – coarse flour, and semolina. It will be much easier to knead farina with your hands, the machine can handle even semolina, and you can use semola in both situations. Sometimes grinds can be mixed in different proportions. You can also use regular wheat flour, but then it will be noodles, not pasta.
- 100 g durum wheat flour
- 1 egg
- 2-3 g salt
- flour for rolling
- For different colours:
- Red pasta: 10 ml tomato paste
- Pink pasta: 10 ml beet juice
- Black pasta: 1 ml black squid ink
- Green pasta: 20 ml spinach juice (pour boiling water over spinach leaves, drain off water, add ice water, drain off the water and grind the leaves in a blender)
- Brown pasta: 5 g cocoa, unsweetened
- Orange pasta: 5 g turmeric
- In a deep bowl, mix the egg and salt. Add flour. Knead the dough first with a spoon, then with your hands. Or use a stand mixer. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and silky. If the dough is too soft, add a little flour, if too dense, add water or yolk. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film, and let it rest for about 1 hour at room temperature. Take out the dough and divide it into pieces. Roll out each part with a pasta machine as follows: set level 6 (the widest setting), pass the dough through the machine, switch to level 4, feed through the pasta machine again. Fold the resulting strip 3 times, so it is as wide as the machine. Pass the dough again through level 6 and then level 4. Be sure to feed through the dough on the side with the folds so that the air can escape. Switch the pasta machine to level 2 and feed the dough through 1-2 times. The dough can now be cut as required. Put cut pasta on a kitchen towel or pasta drying rack and let it dry for 30 minutes - 1 hour. Fresh pasta can be stored either for 2-3 days in the refrigerator, or for 1-2 weeks in the freezer.
- Method 2. Pour flour onto a smooth work surface (ideally a marble one), make a well in the flour and beat out an egg and add salt. Put your hand into the flour and start kneading the dough, moving your hand counter clockwise, gradually taking the flour from the walls of the well into the egg. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and silky. If the dough is too soft, add a little flour, if too dense, add water or yolk. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film, and let it rest for about 1 hour at room temperature. Take out the dough and divide it into pieces. Sprinkle the work surface with flour. Roll out the dough, do it quickly, as the dough may begin to dry out. Roll out with a rolling pin, pulling the dough in different directions. The resulting dough sheet should be thin, but not torn, about 3 mm thick. The dough can now be cut as required. Put cut pasta on a kitchen towel or pasta drying rack and let it dry for 30 minutes - 1 hour. Fresh pasta can be stored either for 2-3 days in the refrigerator, or for 1-2 weeks in the freezer.
- Boil the pasta in plenty of water. To do this, for every 100g pasta you need 1 litre water and 10g salt. Put a large pot with water on a high heat, add salt, and bring to boil. Add pasta. If you cook pasta immediately after cutting it, then it should be cooked in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Then put it in a colander, rinse under cold water, drain the water, return pasta to the pot, and pour over with olive oil. If the pasta has been pre-dried or frozen, it will take 1-2 minutes to cook it al dente. The cooking time for fresh pasta is much shorter than for dry one, and depends on the shape of the pasta.