Pasta - Homemade Pasta - Base Recipe

By SallySmo

Both fresh and dried pasta should be cooked al dente, tender but chewy. Use a large pot that is big enough to let the pasta float freely during cooking. Usually the rule is 5 quarts of water for each 1 pound of fresh pasta or water for each 1to 1 1/4 pounds of dried pasta. Bring the water to a full rolling boil, salt it, and then add the pasta. As soon as the water returns to a boil start timing the pasta and stirring during the boil. The time will vary depending on the pasta though fresh pasta usually takes from 2-4 minutes depending on the thickness and for dried pasta it usually takes about 8-12 minutes. Check for doneness at the earliest time noted. The importance for cooking with a rolling boil especially for fresh filled pastas such as ravioli, is that they are more delicate and risk breaking apart.

Ingredients

• 400 g. of flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 T. of white wine
• Pinch of salt

Preparation

Step 1

How to make the perfect Homemade Pasta:

1. On a work surface, preferably wooden, build the flour in a mound and make a well in its center. Break the eggs into the well and then add in the wine and the salt.
2. With a fork, lightly beat the eggs. Then in a circular motion, gradually incorporate flour from the sides of the well until combined.
3. With the heel of your hand knead the dough pushing it down and away and turning it repeatedly using a dough scraper if it sticks and continued until it is smooth and elastic for at least 15 -20 minutes. If it sticks to the surface or seems a little soft, sprinkle it with flour. Gather dough into a ball.


For hand-made pasta without the pasta machine, see below:

The next step is to decide on the preferred type of pasta such as lasagne, tagliatelle, ravioli, etc, roll it out (for noodle pasta see below) and buon appettito!!

Rolling and Forming Pasta (for noodle pasta)

4. On a clean surface dusted with flour, flatten the kneaded dough with your hand. With a flour-dusted rolling pin, roll it out to desired thickness as given in a recipe.
5. Loosely roll up the pasta around the rolling pin and unroll onto a flour-dusted kitchen towel, leaving it until dry to the touch but still flexible, about 10 minutes. And less if the air is dry.
6. On the work surface, roll the pasta into a cylinder. With a small sharp knife, cut crosswise into ribbons of desired width.