by Leopold K. Schaeli, CMC

  The beginning of pasta’s current popularity dates from the 18th century, when mass production by machine was begun in Naples and English tourists developed a liking for it. Homemade pasta slowly declined, especially in southern Italy, and the factory-produced version became the basis for at least one or two daily meals in most bourgeois households. The peasantry took longer to accept the new variety as it was thought to be a luxury because of its status as the “industrial” food.

More Popular Than Ever

  Today, the average Italian eats something like 65 pounds of pasta a year, while Americans weigh in with about 8 to 10 pounds a year. But pasta is rising in popularity here, even as the consumption of bread declines. There are over 750 kinds of pastas available and still new varieties are produced every year.

Fresh Egg Noodles or Pasta Fresca

  Cooks and chefs today have again discovered what Italian home cooks knew all along: that fresh egg and flour pasta is incredibly easy to make from scratch. Whether you do it by hand or use a machine, you can have fresh pasta ready to cook and eat in minutes. Italians do not regard it as better than dried pasta, it is simply different in taste and appearance and it takes only a short time to cook, as opposed to the 15 - 18 minutes required to cook most commercial pastas.

Pasta Prep — Step by Step

The hand method:
  Heap the flour on the pastry board, make a well in the center and break the eggs into it. Using a fork, lightly beat the eggs with a circular movement. Gradually incorporate the flour from the walls and continue until all the flour is incorporated. Then, using the palm and heel of your hand, knead the dough as you would bread dough, pushing it against the board and turning it constantly until it is smooth and elastic and not too soft, about 5 minutes. Let the dough rest; cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Food Processor Method:
  Combine the flour and eggs in the work bowl fitted with the metal blade. Pulse briefly a few times to combine the ingredients, then process using long pulses, only until the dough forms a ball around the blade, about one minute. Turn the dough out onto a pastry board and knead with the palm of your hand until smooth and elastic.

Rolling Out the Dough:
  Dust a clean board with flour. Flatten the ball of dough with the palm of your hand and roll it out evenly, always rolling away from you and rotating the disk as it becomes thinner. It should be about 1&Mac218;32 inch for tagliatelle, lasagna and taglierini, and 1&Mac218;64 inch thick for filled pasta. Lightly sprinkle a dish towel with flour and leave the pasta to dry a while on it, about 10 minutes or less if the air is very dry. It should be left until it is neither sticky nor too dry.

Cutting the Pasta:
   For filled pasta such as ravioli, follow the recipe to learn how to cut specific shapes. For noodles, roll the pasta up into a cylinder. Flatten the top lightly with your hand and using a sharp knife, cut across the roll into strips 3&Mac218;8 inch wide for tagliatelle or fettuccini, 11&Mac218;4 inch for papardelle, 1&Mac218;8 inch for taglierini and 4 inches for lasagna. Lifting a few strips of pasta at a time, roll them into nests, about 2 inches wide and place them on a lightly floured dish towel.
Pasta can also be rolled out and cut with a hand-cranked machine. First cut the dough into 6 portions, then starting with the rollers set at the widest opening, roll each portion through all the settings, keeping portions you are not working with covered to prevent them from drying out. Fold the dough into thirds and dust with flour before putting it through each narrower setting, finally adjust the machine to the setting for cutting into desired width and pass the rolled out dough through the cutters. One pound fresh egg pasta serves six.

Filled Pasta:
  There are many ways to fill and form fresh pasta. Common to all of them however, is the need to seal the filling securely within its pasta packet so that it won’t fall out during cooking or serving. With a small brush dipped in water moisten the pasta along its edges and between each mound of filling. Place another strip on top and press around each mound of filling to seal. With a cutting wheel, cut between mounds to make individual filled pasta shapes.

Cooking Pasta:
  To cook pasta perfectly al dente, (tender, but still chewy), begin with enough salted, boiling water to let pasta circulate freely. For one pound fresh pasta use 5 - 6 quarts of water. Cooking time varies with the pasta’s shape, size and dryness; fresh pasta takes 1 - 3 minutes, dried may take 15 minutes or even longer. To test for doneness, remove a piece and taste. Always serve pasta in a hot dish. Do not rinse pasta under cold water, unless it is for salad.

Storing Pasta:
  Freshly made pasta should be left at room temperature until completely dry. It will keep for up to one week at cool temperature. The dry pasta may also be wrapped airtight and refrigerated for one week or frozen up to 3 months. Once cooked any pasta will keep 1 - 2 days refrigerated.

Diverse Colors and Flavors:
  Use chopped, fresh herbs or chopped, cooked spinach to add green pigment to your pasta; saffron or turmeric for yellow; beets (boiled and puréed) or tomato paste for red. Add cilantro leaves and cracked pepper for new and fresh flavors. When adding these extra ingredients add extra flour to the dough to compensate for extra moisture.