You can learn how to make Italian pasta at home, and serve up a pasta dish of your choice. The ingredients are things you probably have in your pantry. Most people cringe at the thought of working with dough, and believe it is very hard to make so they shy away from attempting to make Italian pasta. You will be surprised at how easy it really is, however, it is said that you should work up a sweat while kneading and working your dough.
To make Italian pasta you will need 3 1/3 cups of fine white flour, bread flour has a bit more gluten and will make a firmer pasta. Four (4) eggs, use more of the yolks and less of the egg whites for a richer pasta. A dash or two of salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. These ingredients will make enough pasta to serve four. At this point you can use a manual or electric pasta machine, but if you want to know how to make Italian pasta the old fashioned way then follow the steps below.
Take your flour and make a mound, remove the center leaving a hole in the middle, then add your eggs, salt and olive oil. Put it right into the hole. With a fork or your hands gently mix the ingredients together until you have a soft dough. If the dough is too dry add a drop of olive oil. Next, you will work up a sweat. Knead your dough for 10 to 15 minutes. Make sure to knead the dough enough or when rolling it the dough will tear. Cover your dough, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
Separate the dough into two parts to make it easier to roll. Lightly flour your working surface, then take one piece of dough, and with a rolling pin dusted with flour to avoid sticking start rolling from the center outwards. Some Italian’s and dough makers flip the dough during the rolling process. Continue to roll out the dough until it is very thin, the thinner the better, because pasta doubles in size when cooking. Cut according to the type of pasta you would like. For filled pasta, such as ravioli, do not let the surface dry, fill, cut, and cook immediately. However, for lasagna let the dough dry for about 30 minutes. To cook fresh pasta add salt to boiling water, then add pasta and stir. Fresh pasta dough cooks in approximately 3-5 minutes. Drain, but do not rinse cooked pasta. Learning to how to make Italian pasta is easy and rewarding.
