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I make pasta from scratch every once in a while. It's easy to do, and the results are delicious.
The process of pasta making is easier to show than to write about; so, this Instructable will mostly be pictures of the process with a little bit of written direction.
The kind of pasta I make has only four ingredients:
2 cups Flour
3 large Eggs
1 tsp Olive Oil
0-3 tsp Water
The process of pasta making is easier to show than to write about; so, this Instructable will mostly be pictures of the process with a little bit of written direction.
The kind of pasta I make has only four ingredients:
2 cups Flour
3 large Eggs
1 tsp Olive Oil
0-3 tsp Water
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Measure out two cups of flour and dump them on a clean work surface. Use your hand to create a depression in the flour. Crack your three eggs into the depression. Add 1 tsp olive oil to the eggs.
Don't worry if the flour walls begin to crumble. It won't affect the pasta, but it will make more of a mess.
Don't worry if the flour walls begin to crumble. It won't affect the pasta, but it will make more of a mess.
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I managed to get everything right up to the part where the pasta is cut. I was able to get the linguine setting to cut most of the pasta, but completely unable to get the pasta to feed into the spaghetti cutter.
How thick/thin (what setting) do you use on the rollers? How dry/wet should the pasta be? I sense my pasta was a little dry going into the spaghetti roller, but not sure.
TNW, the bowl of linguine I made was delicious! Thanks for a great article, and I look forward to trying again.
Regards,
Mac
The pasta shouldn't be wet or sticky. it should feel kind of like cool smooth skin. After you make pasta a few times you'll know when the dough feels right.
Unless your pasta was cracking it probably wasn't too dry for the spaghetti cutter.
Good luck and thanks!
I tried a few pasta recipes and didn't like the consistency or the flavour so much. Yours, however, was brilliant. Really good to work with and a great flavour.
I actually made up some farfalle with the pasta but it was really good. I just threw all of the ingredients in the food processor and it worked really well.
:0)
regards from italy
Luca
This recipe uses a pretty standard ratio of flour to eggs for pasta. Perhaps your eggs were a little small, or you were using a kind of flour that absorbs a lot of liquid. But in general, this recipe is what standard pasta recipes are like, so maybe your expectations aren't realistic.
You say you have experience making homemade bread -- what about very firm doughs, like bagels, for example? Not all bread is the same. And pasta (which is different in a number of ways) is generally made from a very firm dough. "Hard, elastic, unworkable lump" sounds about the texture you should aim for... pasta dough is really tough to knead by hand. If the dough really is impossible to work, cover it with a damp cloth and come back in 10-15 minutes after the gluten has relaxed a bit.
Moreover, instead of complaining here, if you really think the dough should be more wet, you could just add more liquid to the dough. It's a bit more difficult and time-consuming than adding more flour, but all it takes is patience to gradually knead it in.
Finally, I take issue with "you should have 2/3 c flour to 2 eggs, which would come out to something like 5 eggs." Not true. If this were the ratio (which is unusual for pasta), 2 cups flour = 6/3 cups, which is 3 times 2/3 c. Thus, you'd need 3 times the eggs or 2 * 3 = 6 eggs, not "something like 5 eggs."
"Instead of compaining, blah blah blah." Hey I tell you what. If I have a complaint or criticism I'll make it, and you can continue to be all indignant about it. Last time I checked, you weren't my boss and the comments were for comments, even if those comments get you all in a lather.
And by the way - the ratio that you "take issue with" is the ratio that - get this - ACTUALLY WORKED FOR ME.
So kindly go away.
If you notice, I gave you a bunch of practical tips -- pasta dough is firmer, like certain kinds of (firm) bread dough, you can actually knead in more liquid to existing dough, your formula for eggs actually had the calculations a little off, etc. I didn't "take issue with" the ratio -- if it works for you, fine -- I took issue with your calculation to convert the eggs from other version you found to the amount of flour in this recipe, which is a question of basic math.
The fact is that this is a pretty standard pasta recipe. Your other version should probably still make pasta, though quite eggy and perhaps a bit harder to work with on a humid day or if you needed thin sheets -- but if it's better for you, fine. That doesn't mean that this recipe is fatally flawed.
Jeez...
Eggs are actually pretty stable. You can leave eggs out unrefrigerated for two or so months before they become inedible ( http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Can-You-Really-Store-Fresh-Eggs-a-Year-or-More-Without-Refrigeration.aspx ).
Enjoy
Also, Kudos for mixing "in the well". I usually do it in a well that is also in a large bowl. I tried once straight on the counter top and lost control of it. I've been wary of egging running off the side and onto the counter. I also scramble the eggs a bit before mixing so I don't have to deal with the yolk being still intact.