Pondering Pasta Preparation...

B

bklyn-joe

Active member
In January a Russian friend showed me how his mom made dumplings back in Siberia. It was so cool to actually start from as close to scratch as you can get in a modern city (mincing meat, making pasta). Read an article in the NYT this week on the confusing history of italian pasta and I thought "okay, the dumplings were easy - maybe for the holidays I'll make my own pasta sheets."

Thought I'd ask around for anyone who is similarly crazy/inspired to suggest flours (preferably available at stores in NYC) and/or pasta flavoring rules/tips.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14ency.html?hpw

 
Check out the recent thread on flour for pasta. All-purpose is fine for most, although there's

also a grade of 00 specifically for pasta.

You can flavor/color pasta with all kinds of things -- cooked spinach or other greens, squid ink of course, different flours like chestnut, or with wine (Chianti can be good with a game sauce), and there's even a chocolate pasta. One attractive presentation is to partly roll out two sheets, lay herb leaves all over one (make sure they're tender, rather than big tough parsley leaves that will tear the pasta), lay over the second sheet, and roll them together.

http://eat.at/swap/forum1/133778_I_finally_have_a_pasta_kit_for_the_KA_and_was_wondering_which_flour_to_use__I

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_StavqtF2c9I/SmAtHLH9x6I/AAAAAAAAC6M/slDOROmBIjA/s1600-h/DSC_9163.jpg

 
Joe, your own pasta sheets will be so rewarding, especially if you can buy or borrow a pasta roller.

I have an attachment for my KA mixer and I use it often. Lasanga is so good with fresh pasta, and easy because you just use the sheets as they are.

Fine Semolina should be easy to find in NYC. It makes a very firm pasta. You can use unbleached AP flour, which is softer but still good, or mix the two for a medium texture.

Here is a basic recipe from Anne Casale:

Put 8 oz. semolina flour and/or unbleached AP flour in a processor with 1/2 tsp. salt. Beat two extra-large or jumbo eggs (4 oz.) and add while machine is running. Process in 1 Tbs. olive oil and then 1 Tbs. warm water. The dough should form a ball on the blade in about 30 seconds. If not, scrape down the bowl and run again, adding another Tbs. warm water.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic and leave to rest at room temperature for at least an hour before forming.

I make green pasta with Swiss Chard leaves. Start with 8 oz. greens (the leaves from about 2 bunches). Blanch them in boiling water, refresh under cold water, drain, press out water with your hands, then squeeze dry in a towel. You will have a tight green wad. Put it in the processor and chop, then add two beaten eggs, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 Tbs. oil. Process until blended. Add 12 oz semolina and/or unbleached AP flour and process 30 seconds. The dough should be satiny and form a ball. If dough is sticky, add 2 more TBS. flour and process until dough forms a ball. Oil and rest as above.

Swiss chard is darker green than spinach. It's also easy to grow and I need to find things to do with it. If you follow the thread Shaun linked to above you'll find tips folks gave me on dealing with green pasta, and my recipe for Green Sage Ravioli.

Good luck!

 
nice article! did anyone else catch the Tony Bourdain episode in Sardinia? they were making

tube pasta too, and mentioned using a bicycle spoke. I always wondered how they shaped the tubes by hand. The dish they were making and eating actually looked like giant worms----fun for Halloween. It was delicious, I'm sure.

 
LOL

Actually that trip was a bit of a dud but just got back Wednesday from another trip to Paris. What a difference a year makes - Gave my current partner a ring on the top of the Eiffel Tower at sunset for his birthday. Did you know there's a champagne concession up there now? Pretty darn convenient.

 
I've been there. It's fantastic -- not just the food and wine and hospitality and location but what

they are doing with the land.

 
Kitchen Aid Query

Before writing this I decided to search first this time (LOL). Well thanks for the link and suggestions. I will definitely make use of them.

On a slightly different topic which Kitchen Aid would you recommend and is the pasta roller an extra attachment? I have visions of many other projects I've been mulling for some time (i.e. sausage making) and I've been putting off this investment for years.

After my recent trip to Paris and some renewed fears of what legally goes into our food these days, getting as basic with the the ingredients I use seems a smart healthy investment.

 
I don't have the Kitchen Aid attachment but the Atlas countertop model comes with a motor attachment

that rolls the pasta through at a nice slow pace and eases it out into your hands -- it doesn't come through faster than you can handle it. And it's a million dollars cheaper than a Kitchen Aid. I think the Atlas may also come as a plug-in already.

You don't need a Kitchen Aid for mixing the dough, although if you have a mixer already there's no reason not to. It's very easy to do in a bowl, or the traditional way on the counter with a volcno of flour, using a fork and then your hands.

 
Joe, I have always been a proponent of the highest power available!

And that is probably from watching too much "Tool Time"! I also have the KitchenAid pasta roller attachment, and I highly recommend it. The pasta is not an included attachment, but it works very well, and you can skip buying a separate motorized pasta machine.

 
Joe, my Kitchen Aid is so old I can't give you relevant advice, but they all take the attachments.

I got a pasta roller with two moodle cutters for about $100. They make extruders for spaghetti and such but I hear they don't work as well as the rollers.

I also have the hand-operated Atlas but find it clumsy, but it would be a less expensive way to get started if you don't already have a mixer. I think a motorized one would be better.

I have the food grinder attachment which I use for making pates mostly. There are a zillion other attachments available, inclucluding, I'm sure, a sausage stuffer.

Good luck!

 
Check Ebay for these. Maybe you'll get lucky. I have the pasta rollers but noticed many people are

not happy with the ravioli attachment. I have the grinder (good) and the sausage attach kit(never used it) You must have the grinder as the sausage is an add on for that. I bought the pasta extruder and hated the pasta made with it, tough.

 
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