Pasta fresca is one of the most popular dishes in the Italian cuisine. The traditional
recipe from Emilia Romagna, says to use of one egg every 100 grams of flour with a
few drops of olive oil. However this recipe may change from plane pasta to pasta
ripiena (stuffed pasta), or coulored pasta. Also, the quantity of flour may change
from the size of eggs used.
Ingredients
To make the typical colour of the pasta, which is given from eggs, it is essential to
use very high quality ones. Also, eggs must be at room temperature. Another
ingredient that has to be very high in quality is the flour, in fact if the flour is old,
sheets may break during the cooking process. The best flour to make fresh pasta
is the “00” quality, a very finely sieved flour which is completely white and without
any trace of bran. In Italy it’s called farina di grano tenero, which means ‘tender’ or
‘soft’ flour. A bad or wrong quality of flour could compromise the success of the
recipe.
Ingredient- Serves 2 people:
- 200 grams tipo “00” flour
- 2 large eggs
Nutritional Information – Amount per serving:
Calories 426kcal Carbs 70.7g Sugar 1.5g Fat 7.5g Saturates 1.9g Protein 17.4g
Directions
- Place the flour on a board or in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the
eggs into it. Beat the eggs with a fork until smooth. Using the tips of your
fingers, mix the eggs with the flour, until everything is combined. - Once you’ve made your dough you need to knead and work it with your hands
to develop the gluten in the flour, otherwise your pasta will be flabby and soft
when you cook it, instead of springy and al dente. There are no secrets to
succeed! You just have to bash the dough about a bit with your hands,
squashing it into the table, reshaping it, pulling it, stretching it, squashing it
again. You’ll know when to stop – it’s when your pasta starts to feel smooth
and silky instead of rough and floury. - Then all you need to do is wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest for
at least half an hour before you use it. Make sure the cling film covers it well or
it will dry out and go crusty round the edges.
Dust your work surface with some Tipo ’00’ flour, take a lump of pasta dough
the size of a large orange and press it out flat with your fingertips. Set the
pasta machine at its widest setting – and roll the lump of pasta dough through
it. Fold the pasta in half, click the pasta machine back up to the widest setting
and roll the dough through again. Repeat this process a few time, this process
will make your dough very tender and smooth.
How to roll your pasta:
If you don’t have a machine to roll the pasta at home, it’s not the end of the world!
My granny always makes fresh pasta using a rolling pin. All you need if you don’t
have the machine it’s a bit of work! It’s quite difficult to get a big lump of dough
rolled out in one piece, and you need a very long rolling pin to do the job properly.
The way around this is to roll lots of small pieces of pasta rather than a few big
ones.
Instead, if using a machine to roll your pasta, make sure it’s clamped firmly to a
clean work surface before you start.
- Dust your work surface with some Tipo ’00’ flour, take a lump of pasta dough
the size of a large orange and press it out flat with your fingertips. Set the
pasta machine at its widest setting – and roll the lump of pasta dough through
it. Fold the pasta in half, click the pasta machine back up to the widest setting
and roll the dough through again. Repeat this process a few time, this process
will make your dough very tender and smooth. - Now it’s time to roll the dough out properly, working it through all the settings on the
machine, from the widest down to around the narrowest. Lightly dust both sides of the
pasta with a little flour every time you run it through.
Whether you’re rolling by hand or by machine you’ll need to know when to stop. If you’re
making a stuffed pasta like ravioli or tortellini, you’ll need to roll it down slightly thinner or
to the point where you can clearly see your hand or lines of newsprint through it. If you’re
making pasta like tagliatelle or lasagne you’ll need to roll the pasta a bit thicker.
- Once you’ve rolled your pasta the way you want it, you need to shape or cut it straight
away. Pasta dries much quicker than you think, so whatever recipe you’re doing, don’t
leave it more than a minute or two before cutting or shaping it. You can lay over a damp
clean tea towel, which will stop it from drying.
How to make coloured pasta
The most popular ingredients to make coulored pasta are vegetables, but very good results
can be given with the use of other ingredients like cocoa, or such as spices like saffron or
cardamom.
Green pasta 1
Prepare the dough with 100 grams of flour and one egg as said before and add 10 grams of
boiled spinach finely chopped.
Green pasta 2
For every 100 grams of flour add a little bunch of aromatic herbs (previously washed and
finely chopped with a spoon of extravergine olive oil).
Pink pasta
Every 100 grams of flour incorporate a spoon of concentrated tomato paste diluted in some
warm water.
Violet pasta
Every 100 grams of flour add a little piece of roast and mashed beetroot.
Brown pasta
Add a spoon of cocoa powder every 100 grams of flour.
Yellow pasta
Incorporate a little spoon of saffron every 100 grams of flour.
How to make potato gnocchi
Ingredients – serves 4 people:
- 750g potatoes, unpeeled
- 200g plain flour, plus a little extra
Directions
- Place potatoes in a saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil over
high heat. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until just tender when tested with a skewer
(don’t test too much as potatoes will become waterlogged). Drain well. Set aside
until just cool enough to handle. - While still hot, peel by hand and discard skins. Using a potato ricer puree potatoes
into a bowl. Season to taste with salt. Cool slightly.
Add flour to potatoes using your hands. If mixture is still sticky, add a little more
flour (the amount of flour added is crucial. Turn dough on to a lightly floured
surface. - Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Using your hands, gently roll each piece out to form a
log about 2cm wide. Using a lightly floured knife, cut each log into 1.5cm-long
pieces. Roll each ball of gnocchi over the tines of a lightly-floured fork, pressing
gently with your index finger or thumb underneath as you go, to form a dent in the
back of each one and fork marks on the other side (this creates a textured
surface, helping sauces to cling to cooked gnocchi). However there are a few king
of gnocchi that don’t have this texture on their surface. - Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add half of the gnocchi. As they cook,
gnocchi will rise to the surface of the water. Continue cooking gnocchi at the
surface for about 10 seconds then remove with a large slotted spoon and drain
well. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.Serve immediately, using your favorite sauce.