There may be a few more like me out there, so I thought I’d post this on our behalf…
Got a pasta “machine” for the holidays- the heavy duty silver thing that rolls out dough to dry (fettucine, spaghetti, ravioli, etc.). Anyone got any recipes or words of wisdom should I decide to use the thing before it goes into storage?
Well, here’s a dough recipe:
For one big serving:
1 egg
¼ cup semolina flour
½ cup AP flour
wee drizzle olive oil
enough water to make a ball-maybe none at all, try a teaspoon at a time.
Buzz in food processor until a doughball. Mold into ball.wrap in saran for 1/2hour.
Get semolina flour but do not use only semolina, it has a texture like cornmeal.
When rolling out the dough it can get very long-like a yard or more. If cranking by hand that’s too hard to manage. When it gets to be too unwieldly cut the dough ribbon in half. Roll it out 1 setting at a time to setting # 8 for delicate yummy noodles. Be prepared to fuck up the first batch.
Ooh! send it to me! I’m tired of rolling it out with a pin! I promise to send you pasta! (or knit you something)
one thing I discovered many years ago when I had one is that the dough has to be really dry. when you run it through the maker, it squeezes out moisture. Fun recipe experiments are to add tomato paste and herbs.
I have to admit that I don’t use mine much, but good home made pasta is wonderful. I’d advise a few practice runs, then using it for a dinner party. You could freeze the pasta, but in my experience it’s best made in the afternoon and eaten for entree that evening.
The stuff you make yourself is much better then the fresh stuff you can get at the supermarket (because it’s very delicate and doesn’t need to keep), and just different to dry pasta. Try cutting it for angel’s hair, cooking for about 90 seconds and serving with a warmed extra virgin olive oil, a few slivers of garlic, roughly chopped herbs and a little of the best parmesan you can get your hands on.
I come from an Italian family. I’ve been making pasta like this since I was a kid helping out my mom.
Flour is your friend in this process - it keeps the strips from sticking to the rollers. Don’t be afraid to use it, especially as it comes off the finished pasta when you boil it.
Steady steady steady. Keep an even pace while rolling and your pasta will be very even & regular.
Unless you’ve got a motorized one, of course, then it keep the right pace, I suppose. Mine is all manual.
Clamp it as tightly to the table/counter as you can!
Are they really that expensive? I use the one for my Kitchen-Aid (I like to cook alone), but I was the chief cranker of the older model in my Italian/Irish household.
Just try making your own raviolis. They are easy to do and you can really taste the difference. I suggest chicken with gargonzola and thyme or roasted squash with tarragon if you are in the non-meat way. Last week I made handmade pierogies and thought I would pass out they were so good.
For a quick sauce, use 1/2 TBSP butter, 2 TBSP of olive oil, some dried basil, thyme and garlic and heat in microwave. Finish with some nice kosher salt and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
The best advice I can give is sell it for $5 at your next garage sale.
I tried one once and no matter what recipe I used or how much care I took, the result was undistinguishable from commercial in taste. And a lot uglier to look at. And it sat all around the kitchen to be dried.
Instead, use your $5 profit to buy some tubs to store a variety of store-bought pasta. Available in amazing shapes! Sizes! Cheap! Uniform! Reliable! Easy to store!