The key to success is good quality products: type 00 flour, i.e. very fine ground Italian flour with a high gluten content (or we can use type 550 wheat flour). Thanks to type 00 flour, the pasta is springy, it is also easy to cook it al dense. How to make pasta?
How to prepare pasta
Ingredients or 100 g of wheat flour, 1 egg and a pinch of salt and place in a mixing bowl, knead thoroughly. If the dough is too dry, you can add a little oil or water. Remove from the mixing bowl and knead by hand for 2 minutes. Cover the dough with foil and give it a rest for 20 minutes.
Divide the dough into parts. Working with one part of the dough (the rest remains under the foil), roll them out, sprinkling them minimally with flour, to a thickness of about 1 mm (or thicker if you like), cut into strips. You can do it manually, you can also use a special pasta machine that firstly rolls out the dough, then cuts it. At this stage, the pasta can be dried and (unboiled) stored for several months in an airtight container (the pasta should be very well dried).
Throw in salted boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes; if you like slightly harder, then shorter. Strain, pour cold water.
Rolling – an important stage
The rolling process is also important – a rolling machine is the most practical for preparing pasta (we can buy it for little money). If we do not have it, we will face tedious rolling – the dough must be thin, for dumplings. The razor has several rolling thicknesses (usually from 1 to 8). We start from the first level and increasing the value by one, we continue the repetitions to the sixth level (remember not to add too much flour to the dough, because it will stick during cooking).
We do not have to cook the rolled, dried and chopped pasta straight away – we can leave it in reserve for a while. Gently sprinkle it with flour and put it in the fridge, where we keep it for three days. Or freeze – tightly wrapped with food film can lie in the freezer for up to two months.
Types of pasta
There are many types of pasta, check the most popular ones:
- Fusilli – macaroni in their shape resemble spirals or augers. They are usually added to stews, stews, dishes with sauces, as well as soups and salads.
- Penne – is a pasta with the shape of small tubes, ending with a sharp cut tip. They are also often called feathers. They are perfect for sauces and casseroles. Thanks to space inside, the sauce surrounds the pasta on each side.
- Pappardelle – are wide pasta ribbons, wrapped in nests. They look impressive when served to soups, especially since after cooking they retain their unique shape. Pappardelles also blend well with the addition of seafood, asparagus or mushrooms. Wide ribbons are also suitable for thick and thick sauces based on cheese or cream.
- Ravioli – they are in the form of round dumplings filled with pasta. Stuffing is made of ricotta, meat or vegetables. In Italy, ravioli with ricotta and whole yolk is very popular, which comes out after cutting.
