Hand Made, Rolled, and Shaped Pasta

Hi friends!
Italians have made an art out of food and eating. The atmosphere, leisurely approach, multiple plated meals, the aperitif combine to leave a person sated in every possible way.
I thought, to develop the setting a bit, I'd include a picture of me enjoying an Italian meal in Siena (ten years ago now, but I remember this day like yesterday!). Take a close look behind my shoulder to see how these meals are meant to be enjoyed-- with lots of company and wine, if you drink wine, otherwise refreshing sparkling water.
(waves hi at my ATS friends)
You can see, I was very happy to be enjoying this Italian meal.
And this was the view right outside the patio of the restaurant:

Buonissimo!
I've started paying more attention to how much craftsmanship and creativity goes into cooking and by doing so, developed an interest in learning new cooking/baking skills.
Breads are so satisfying to make. So far, I've made some white bread loaves, olive loaves, challah, Samoan coconut rolls, and croissants, and it's been a delicious experiment.

I'm ready to move on to some more precise artisanship. I want to make my own pasta! Today I'm off to buy some semolina flour (already have the 00 that is called for in the video I'm linking) and I'm planning to make my first attempt at homemade pasta. I know the results are likely to be ... interesting. But maybe I can pull it off! I won't know until I try.

Any advice, friends? I found two differing recipes-- one calls for only 00 flour, mixed with a 100 g to 1 egg ratio. The other calls for 75% semolina and 25% 00 flour, same ratio of 100g flour to 1 egg.

I'm also doing everything by hand, including shaping the pasta. I don't have any tools for pasta (other than rolling pin).

Luckily for me, this video exists. If you like pasta (and honestly if you've made it this far you probably do) you will probably really enjoy watching it being made by this master. He demonstrates how to hand make 9 different varieties of pasta, from different regions in Italy. It's really cool to see this maestro at work. And it really makes me want to try it out myself. I hope you try it out, too!

Wish me luck, friends!
Let me know if you get a chance to watch the video... isn't it lovely to watch?



If you have pics of a great meal, feel free to share here... would be great to see my ATS friends enjoying life!

a reply to: zosimov

Cool good luck. I've only had handmade pasta a few times. It's awesome, so much better in every way than the stuff you buy in the bags.

a reply to: dug88

Thanks!
You're right, everything is just so much better homemade (the breads in particular) and I've found the same about food from the garden.
My goal is to limit what I get at the grocery store as much as I can.

Have a good one dug88!

originally posted by: zosimov
a reply to: dug88

Thanks!

You're right, everything is just so much better homemade (the breads in particular) and I've found the same about food from the garden.
My goal is to limit what I get at the grocery store as much as I can.

Have a good one dug88!

Yeah homemade stuff is always better. I wish I could bake better. I'm pretty good at cooking, but baking and stuff always kinda thrown me off. It's never really come out very well.

And thanks you too.

a reply to: zosimov

That video of hand rolling pasta was very therapeutic, however now that I have arthritis in my hands I am looking to have machines do most of the work for me.

I just purchased a stand mixer and I've been on the lookout to buy a pasta machine, preferably electric.

With St. Paddy's Day approaching, I thought you and others here might enjoy watching a video on how to make green (spinach) pasta.

a reply to: InTheLight

You're right, the video really is theraputic. It's almost like watching a skilled potter at work, or any skilled artist for that matter.
I can guarantee you that a video of me making the pasta would be more comedic than anything.. lol. Stuff tends to get kind of messy and chaotic when I do it.

Very cool about your new equipment! Enjoy and hope you find the pasta machine you're looking for.

Thank you for the how-to on green pasta! I would definitely be interested in trying that recipe out.

After some research, decided to go with the 00 flour, and reserve the semolina for sprinkling on the rested dough before shaping.
www.seriouseats.com...
www.chowhound.com...
I'll be starting soon--I'll report back to this thread with the results. And maybe pics if they either turned out really good or really bad. lol.

a reply to: zosimov


Did you make this thread for me? You know this is right up my alley.

What are we making? Pronto e presto.

originally posted by: InTheLight
I just purchased a stand mixer and I've been on the lookout to buy a pasta machine, preferably electric.

If you have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer you can get an attachment that fits in the front that has a pasta roller. Here's a pic of one of mine.

a reply to: zosimov

Wish me luck, friends!
Let me know if you get a chance to watch the video... isn't it lovely to watch?

Good luck! But practice would probably be more appropriate.

The video shows a person quite comfortable with the tools.

There's that phrase, "Jack of all trades; master of none", I've always been "Jack of few trades; master of none."

Watching skilled concrete guys ply their craft spreading and floating a driveway. Then my boss shows up "What you doing just standing there? That's it. You're fired!"

If you do it nicely, maybe make your own video.
You probably only need a few tools. If you get something like Phillips Pasta Maker it could quite possibly sit around gathering dust. I've seen it happen.

a reply to: zosimov


And here's a couple gadgets for you. The one on the left is a garganelli maker, you use the roller to hold and roll the pasta so you get little ridges. It's great for butter-based sauces.

The one on the left is from Tuscany and is a pici pasta maker. It cuts the pasta into long noodles which are great with ragus like wild boar.

a reply to: zosimov

I've only made pasta Grandma style (a few times), I threw down some flour (75/25) made a mound, and made kind of a bowl in the mound....

I slowly mixed in the flour until the dough had an elastic push back if you will when I poked it (after a few test batches, you know exactly what you're looking for, and the ingredients are cheap so play around).

If you don't have any tools, you can use your rolling pin, and once you have it as uniform as you can get it, you can get something at a desired thickness to guarantee it's the same thickness throughout, say for instance a wooden kabob skewer, put two on either side of the dough to keep the rolling pin from making irregularities.

Then just use a knife to hand cut, voila!

It takes no time to cook, I like to let my noodles air dry just a little so I can get them a little more al dente'.

Also, thank you for the gorgeous pictures

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: InTheLight
I just purchased a stand mixer and I've been on the lookout to buy a pasta machine, preferably electric.

If you have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer you can get an attachment that fits in the front that has a pasta roller. Here's a pic of one of mine.

I did not buy a KitchenAid, what do they sell for $600 or something like that? Nope, I bought a door crasher mixer and I will also buy an electric door crasher pasta machine. The hunt is on. Thanks any way.

I did not buy a KitchenAid, what do they sell for $600 or something like that? Nope, I bought a door crasher mixer and I will also buy an electric door crasher pasta machine. The hunt is on. Thanks any way.

a reply to: InTheLight


Sub-$200 on eBay, they're worth the money and very rugged.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: zosimov


Did you make this thread for me? You know this is right up my alley.

What are we making? Pronto e presto.

Ahh ha, yes, I was sure hoping to hear from you!!
Wild boar ragu sounds delicious-- after I work on my pasta technique, I'll try to perfect this Italian specialty.

--Those pictures of your kitchen are gorgeous!

a reply to: zosimov


Thanks Zosi.

Tomorrow I'm making orecchioni with nduja, eggplant, onion and passata. I'll try to remember to take some pics of the pasta. It's going to be semolina only since it is a dish from Calabria and Puglia and this is the preferred pasta.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: InTheLight


Sub-$200 on eBay, they're worth the money and very rugged.

The cost $400-600 here 'new' and I don't doubt they are rugged. How long is the warranty on yours? Was it new on ebay?

a reply to: CriticalStinker

Thanks for the pointers!!!

a reply to: InTheLight


I purchased my units from the store, they are both well over 15 years old and they get used regularly. Never had an issue with either.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I had to look the dish up, and just have to say... yum! Yes, if you do get pictures, please post.