Pasta Perfection
My family is celebrating 2016's Christmas a little late this year, it's just when we could all get together, so this weekend, myself+ Kyle, my sister's family, & my brother's family will all be going to my parents' house in Texas to celebrate! As part of my dad's gift, we're giving him a lot of homemade pasta that he can make at his leisure with Serious Eats/ Kenji Lopez-Alt's Slow-Cooked Bolognese. We head out on Friday, so we're spending today making the second batch of pasta and the bolognese.
While visiting Texas over New Year's Eve, Kyle & I took a pasta lesson from my Grammy, who is 100% Italian, and we've made it 4 times since then! It's honestly so easy, about the same number of calories as dry, boxed pasta, (if not fewer), and is definitely worth the upgraded taste!
Gather your supplies & Ingredients!
Supplies:
KitchenAid Stand Mixer, I use the 5-quart Artisan series with the tilted head- mine came standard with the wire whisk and dough hook attachments. {{any hand mixer would work too, but you will need to do even more kneading}}
KitchenAid pasta attachments, we have this 3-piece set that comes with the roller and two different sized cutters, but you can buy them separate too. {{if you don't have a KitchenAid stand mixer, you can get a hand-roller, but I do not remember the brand of the one that I have used in the past}}
Rubber Spatula
Large surface
Ingredients:
3 cups flour + 1 cup flour
1/4 cup water
pinch of salt
4 large eggs whole (do not use small or medium eggs)
Prep your surface:
I am absolutely in love with Clorox Pump-and-Clean. It is a great product that cuts through grease, only requires a little bit of liquid to use, and is food safe!! This means that I can wipe down my kitchen table and trust that it's disinfected, but also trust that I won't be putting a ton of chemicals into my pasta. Starting with a clean, dry surface is very important since you'll be working directly on it (or on a pastry mat).
Step 1: Beat the Eggs, Water, + Salt
Thoroughly beat your eggs until they become fluffy. If you're' like me and have somehow made it to 24 but still can't crack an egg without at least a small piece of shell winding up in your bowl, crack your eggs into a Pyrex liquid measuring cup first and then pour them in to your mixing bowl.
Add in a heavy pinch of salt and the 1/4 cup of water to your bowl and mix for a few seconds.
Step 2: Add Flour
Switch out the wire whisk hook for the dough hook.
Add 3 cups of flour to your egg mixture, 1 cup at at a time. Pause the mixer every 30-60 seconds and use a rubber spatula to scrape the edges, ensuring that the flour and egg are combining. If you notice that the flour is being thrown out of the mixing bowl, you can use a KitchenAid pouring shield that snaps on to the bowl and keeps the loose flour in place.
Click through the gallery above to see how the dough should look as it pulls away from the edges of the bowl.
Step 3: Kneading the Dough
You might hear the bowl start to rattle, or like the KitchenAid is working extra hard, this is when it's time to turn it off, generously flour your working surface and turn your mixing bowl upside down.
Use the spatula to scrape the little bits left stuck to the inside of the bowl.
Sprinkle some more of the flour reserve onto your dough-ball and begin the kneading process.
Begin by using your fingertips to press the dough out into a circle. Add more flour, then just do what feels natural! Pretend that you're a little kid again with some super tough Play-Do. I like to stand on a step stool so that I can get some extra leverage over my dough.
Continue kneading the dough for 8-12 minutes, sprinkle flour over the dough every minute or so. The dough should need an extra 1/2-3/4 cups of flour. It will essentially continue absorbing the flour until it is full. The texture should resemble Play-Do. It should feel a little sticky, and rise back up quickly when poked. If you spend a solid 8-12 minutes kneading it, you're probably in a good place. You'll get a feel for it eventually.
Step 4: Wrap It Up + Let It Rest
Wrap your pasta dough in a large piece of plastic wrap. I like to mold it so that it's in as close to a square shape as I can get it. This makes it easier when it's time to cut it.
Place the wrapped dough in a cool, dry place. The dough needs to rest because we just worked it really hard and it's going to want to keep shrinking back up, which won't be very helpful if we try to roll it out right now.
Let your fresh pasta dough rest for 30 minutes up to 3 hours.
{{the time you let it rest doesn't matter so much, as long as it falls between that time frame}}
Step 5: Chunk It Up + Roll It Out
Chunk up your dough, I can usually get it in 3 vertical strips. Only cut small portions at a time though so that the remainder doesn't dry out before you send i through the roller.
Keep the remaining chunks covered in the plastic wrap that the dough was wrapped in to prevent dryness.
I like to cut off the rounded tips of the dough so that when it goes through the roller, the ends are more likely to have square edges and will eventually cut evenly.
I then squish the two rounded bits together before sending through.
Flour your chunk and send it through the roller on setting No. 1. Send it through No. 1 at least 3 times.
If it's looking a little wet, add more flour, rub the flour into the dough and send it through again.
On the pasta roller, as the dough becomes thinner, you increase the numbered setting on the roller. I prefer a thinner pasta, so when I make a spaghetti/ angel hair style pasta, I go all of the say up to an 8. When I do a linguini, I usually go to a 6. My dad loves a really thick, rich pasta, so I only went to a 5 and then cut it down to a pappardelle size.
As you increase the number on the roller, lightly flour the dough, it's important to prevent the dough from sticking to the rollers, else the pasta will rip.
Step 6: Hang The Sheets
{{photo from the last time I made pasta}}
I do it just like my Grammy taught me, I balance a broom handle between two chairs. Make sure your boom handle is clean, again, I use Clorox Pump-and-Clean to sanitize it.
As you roll out the sheets, hang them over the broom handle.
Step 7: Trim the Sheets + Cut Into Noodles
You might need to trim your sheets in half (at least), think about a standard box of spaghetti, it't not nearly as long as the sheets pictured above. If you're using a pastry mat, it's easy to check your length. Otherwise, just eyeball it. However long you want your noodles is the right length. Use a knife or your bench scraper to cut through the pasta
Run your trimmed sheets through your pasta cutter, whichever size cut you prefer.
Hold your hand beneath the cutter to catch the freshly cut noodles as they emerge.
Keep flour on hand, if you're planning on storing your pasta rather than cooking freshly, sprinkle flour over the noodles and gently toss to coat the noodles. This will ensure that the noodles don't stick or freeze together.
{{photo from the last time I made pasta}}
You can hang the noodles back over your broom, lay them flat and straight, or wrap them into nests (pictured at top).
That's it! you're done!!
Step 8: Package Or Enjoy!
To store your pasta, wait until it is dry and almost hard. Lay the pasta nest (or other shape) in a freezer Ziplock bag and seal tightly (or use a vacuum sealer). Lay the bag in the freezer and it should store nicely up to a month.
To cook your pasta, boil an appropriately sized pot of water, add LOTS of salt and test cook 1-2 noodles. Time varies by thickness and width of pasta. It has taken us anywhere from 2-5 minutes for al dente. So it's important that you do a test run.
I hope your family enjoys pasta as much as mine does! We love making this and it has definitely become a staple in our cookbook.
Let me know what your favorite sauce is to pair with fresh pasta, tonight, we're pairing it with rotisserie chicken, pesto, & parmesan.