Fresh Pasta
Updated:
I’ve been making fresh pasta, now that I’ve bought the KitchenAid attachment. It’s not very difficult to start making pasta. I even got very decent results for a first try.
Here are some of my observations and learnings.
Ratio
The baker’s percentage is:
- 55% egg
- 5% oil
- 1.5-2% salt
Since egg are quantized unit, let’s convert this into numbers that are convenient to scale per large USDA eggs:
- 90-100 g flour
- 5 g oil
- 1.5-2 g salt
Since different flours will hydrate differently, you’ll need to adjust accordingly:
- If it’s too dry, spray on or sprinkle on some water as you knead.
- If it’s too wet, dust on more flour and knead away.
Technique
I used the recipe on SeriousEats for directions.
Making the dough
- Pour flour into a mound and make a well for the egg.
- Using a fork, beat the egg.
- Slowly incorporate flour, while continuing to whisk.
- Switch to a bench scraper and fold in remaining flour. The key is to do this gradually, so the flour is evenly incorporate and not clumped.
- Knead with palm of hands. Use this as an opportunity to adjust the dough, if needed.
- Rest the dough for 30-60 minutes. This allows the dough to hydrate and allows the gluten to relax.
Rolling
- Roll through thickest setting a couple times. Fold over and rotate a few times. You should try to get a neat book fold.
- Roll through progressively smaller settings. Fettucine is setting 5.
- Before cutting, dust the dough well to prevent sticking as it goes through cutter.
- Dust after cutting to prevent the exposed surfaces from sticking.
Cooking
Fresh pasta is straight-forward to cook. Toss it in boiling water for a few minutes.