Fresh Fettuccine Part I: The Pasta

Santa was very generous this year and brought me a stunning KitchenAid Professional Stand Mixer.  I
have always wanted one and am giddy at the new addition.  Santa's helper was also very well-coordinated and encouraged the addition of the pasta roller attachment set for the KitchenAid.  I am absolutely thrilled with these new tools, they're so beautiful and feel like such a luxury.  Today, I gave them their maiden voyage and decided it was time to try my hand at making fresh pasta.  I had never done it before today.

Wow, is it true that you learn from mistakes! It's been such a long time since I was trying something completely unchartered, that I felt uncertain as I progressed. I also have some very important things to convey to anyone else who may be toying with making fresh pasta for the first time.  Of course, I based my recipe on Mario Batali again, but had to improvise a little due to inexperience...

First, it takes time and is hard work! I expected two hours which was about right.  But, I completely ruined my first attempt, so altogether it took me about four hours because I had to do it twice.  (sheepish grin)

The next thing I'll say is that my first attempt failed for two reasons.  Firstly, my dough was too dry and even though I suspected it, I continued on anyway and persevered, figuring it would work itself out.  Secondly, I followed the booklet with the pasta attachments and actually used the mixer itself to work the dough the first 3 minutes.  I think that was a critical mistake and I could never get the dough right after that.  So, while I love, love LOVE my mixer I will boldly recommend this:  don't use it to actually mix pasta dough, unless you've done it so much you know how to get it perfect.  Even though I was wary of working the dough too much, I think there was just no way to avoid it.  I used the paddle hook beater for the first 30 seconds of mixing the eggs and flour and then switched to the dough hook and mixed for 3 minutes.  I then pulled it out and started kneading by hand.  I kneaded that dough for almost 15 minutes and it was still the consistency of old Play-Doh no matter what I did.  So, I chucked that batch in the trash and started over.  By hand.  Using the old-fashioned well method, much like I did recently for the gnocchi.  By the way, gnocchi dough is MUCH easier.  The pasta dough seems more temperamental and is also very intense work in the hands, wrists and forearms.  I feel like I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in just one afternoon! Also, I am about 5'5" tall and when I got tired, on my second batch the last 5 minutes of kneading, I actually pulled out a step-stool to get some leverage and body weight into the kneading of the dough.  Whew!

Chef Batali details his recipe in Molto Italiano, with a decent overview.  However, I found that if I literally interpreted his recipe, my dough still had problems.  So, I adjusted the recipe by including an additional egg and I added a little fresh black pepper for more flavor.  When it came to rolling out the dough, I followed his basic advice but again, developed my own rhythm and repetitions for sending the dough through the rollers.  Regardless, if you make fresh pasta for the first time prepare yourself for a learning experience and that you'll probably waste a lot of dough.  As you know I completely tossed out my first batch.  On my second batch, I probably only got good fettuccine out of half the dough and the other half either tore, wrinkled, ripped apart or had some other handling or thiness/rolling issue.  But, the next time I make it, I will definitely know what I'm doing!

So, in the successful method I did it all by hand up until rolling the dough and then, I used the stand mixer and pasta attachments.  The attachments are FANTASTIC, by the way.

Here was my recipe, adapted from Mario Batali.  Be aware that humidity, your flour and the size and quality of your eggs will really affect the dough.  You may use anywhere from 4-6 eggs for this, if you find the dough is still crumbling apart when you try to begin kneading with your hands, form the well again and add another egg.

Makes about 1 1/4 pounds of pasta

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
6 eggs (the recipe recommended 5, but my dough wouldn't hold together until I added a sixth egg)
2 T. freshly ground black pepper

Basic method:

1. Mound the flour in the center of a large wooden board or non-stick countertop.  Make a well in the center and crack the eggs into the well.  Beat the eggs together with a fork.  Add the black pepper to the eggs and beat with the fork again.  Now, begin to incorporate the flour, starting with the inner rim of the well.  As you pull more flour into the center well, keep pushing the flour up around the outside to retail the well shape.  Think of it as making a fortress and you're building from the inside.  When half the dough is incorporated the dough will begin to come together.  Start kneading the dough, using primarily the palms of your hands.  If the dough keeps breaking apart or flaking apart, you may need to add another egg.  If you do that, make a well again!  Beat the egg with a fork again, like the first time.  The well method is crucial to getting a little bit of the egg into the flour or dough at a time.  Thus, the reason I don't think a mixer can do it as good as the ol' hands. Once the dough is a cohesive mass, set the dough aside and scrape up and discard any dried bits of dough.

2. Lightly flour your work surface and continue kneading for at least 10 minutes, dusting the surface with a little bit of flour as necessary.  The dough should be pretty firm and elastic most of the time.  When you finally have it in one nice ball that is quite elastic, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.  This resting is critical, when you unwrap it the dough will have softened and that is what you want.  Do not knead it back into tension before rolling out.  You need it somewhat soft. If after 30 minutes, it still feels very tight, cover again and wait another 15-20 minutes.

3. Cut the dough into 4 pieces and wrap three of them again in plastic. Flatten the piece of dough into a burger shape that is somewhat thicker in the middle and about 1/4 inch thick at the edges.

4. Set the flat pasta roller attachment to the widest setting and dust rollers with a little flour to make sure the dough won't stick. Do not use more flour as you go along unless you dough does stick.  If you use too much flour, the pasta will become too dry.  Fire up the mixer and get the rollers cranking and begin feeding the dough into the slot between the rollers. For me, it worked best to feed in the top with my left hand and catch the dough from the underside of the rollers in the palm my right hand.  Make sure you don't tear it and don't pull the dough through.  You also may have to pinch it at the top to get it thin enough to continue through the rollers.  Too thick and it'll go nowhere.

Fold the dough in thirds, flatten it with your palms and roll it out again.  Repeat this process 5 times, then set the rollers to the next-thinnest setting and repeat about 6 times again on that setting.  Here's another place I diverged from the recipe.  It encourages the folding between each repetition.  I found that my dough was destroyed by the time I got through to the thinnest settings if I folded so much.  So, after getting the hang of it, I settled on folding just the first couple times through and then every other time, it fit perfectly in the rollers and I just shipped it through each time.  You will have to experiment with your own rhythm and reps.  Also, as I fed the dough in the top once it started going I folded it over the backside of the attachment as you see in the photos.  This helped keep it aligned and "between the rails" if you will.  Otherwise, it would get crooked and then wrinkle and tear.

5. After the first two settings, switch to the third setting and roll the dough through three times, since it's getting more delicate.  If the pasta sheet becomes too long to work with easily, cut it in half width-wise and continue rolling the pieces.  They will still work out to 10-12 inches long if your dough is right.  Roll the dough out through the progressively thinner settings without folding, until you have reached the thinnest or next-to-thinnest setting.  Support the sheets from underneath and let them lay along your forearm from elbow to wrist.  (This was my own discovery and worked like a charm, especially for those of us with small hands and arms. I am no Mario Batali!!!)

6. Trim the dough sheets to have even, uniform edges and let them dry on cooling racks or over the back of chairs, aerating the sheets as they dry.  Continue the steps above for the remaining three quadrants of dough that you originally divided.

7. When the dough is all rolled and dried, attach the fettuccine cutter attachment to your mixer and send each sheet through the cutter, catching it delicately with one hand as you feed it through with the other. Again, let the uncut portion lie over the back of the attachment for alignment and less pressure on the dough. If you don't have the cutter attachment, you can brush your sheets of pasta lightly with flour, roll them up and use a sharp knife to cut them into 1/4 inch wide strips.

 

8. After all the pasta has been cut, spread it out on the racks to dry a little more and gently bend them into a u-shape so that when you cook them, they don't snap in half. 

It a was tiring and fascinating experience, I haven't learned so much from trial and error in the kitchen in a very long time. But, ultimately, it was so much fun!  Sitting here tonight, however, my forearms and wrists are positively aching.  No wonder those Italian women have such thick and strong forearms!

Next post, I'll show you how I cooked the pasta...it was worth ALL the work and turned out exquisitely.

 

Comments

[Kuri]

I've also recently tried homemade pasta for the first time, but I had a different problem - when I had it all laid out (uncooked but not dried yet either) as you show in your second last photo the noodles stuck together quite hard. In fact there were a few clumps that didn't break apart during cooking (even with lots of water and lots of stirring, etc.) Perhaps my dough was actually a bit moist, meaning heavily noodles?

I was tempted to build some sort of 'tree' structure to hang the noodles so that they don't touch and won't stick next time and now I see yours all scrunched together....

[Brigitte]

Kuri - try using a baking sheet sprinkled with a good amount of white or semolina flour. I usually make a layer of pasta, then use either foil or a mildly damp dish cloth, and lots more flour to keep the pasta from sticking. The other method is by using a hanger to 'hang' the pasta. But I usually find that dries it out too much, and lends itself to broken pieces.

Also - Stephanie - Congratulations on making your first pasta dough. My first turned out much worst. Now, though, I use the food processor to make the dough. If you don't overprocess, it makes it perfect every time, and takes less than 15 minutes. I use one egg per cup of flour, a little salt, and a little olive oil... and process for about 15 seconds. Once you get the hang of it, it literally can be whipped up in no time.

Anyway, I wish I had been there to eat!! There's nothing better than fresh pasta.

[Stephanie Beack]

Kuri, mine didn't stick together because of step 6 above. I spread the sheets out on cooling racks and yes, over the back of two chairs BEFORE cutting them. They were good and dry before I ran them through the cutter and the strips on the outer edges were so flaky most of them crumbled. But, the strips in the middle were perfect. You could also spread them out as Brigitte suggests but I do warn against using too much flour-- then the pasta would be dry and doughy.

Brigitte, thanks for the idea. I will definitely try the food processor too. That's what the dough setting is for, I guess! :-) Since I'm new to big appliances, going manual after my first flop felt like putting on old jeans...

[Yvo]

Mmmm looks delicious! I've realized I'm anti-making-dough-products. =( I love pasta though. I saw on someone else's site that they didn't have (or didn't want to use?) pasta making things so they just made a basic (their words, not mine!) pasta dough recipe and rolled it out, then used a knife to slice it into a fettucine-like strip. it looked really rustic which worked for his recipe, mmm.

[aardvarknav]

I've tried making pasta by hand, using the mixer, and the food processor with many of the same results commented on. I finally went to making the dough in a bread maker using the dough cycle. I get good, consistent dough everytime. I roll it out using the pasta machine. I originally hung the strips over cabinet doors until my kids bought me a cheap wooden cloths drying rack. I usually make flat dumplings, so using a pizza cutter works better than a knife for cutting the dumplings.

[Stephanie Beack]

Yvo, you can definitely improvise and make it more rustic, use knives, etc. Sometimes fully manual turns out better results, I think.

Aardvarknav, Welcome to Scrumptious Street! That's a great idea too, thanks for sharing. I am maxed out on small appliances storage space but will keep it in mind. The clothes drying rack is a great idea, I have one but didn't use it. I certainly will next time. You and I have similar technique for dumplings, too.

[Helen Rennie]

Hi Stephanie,

Your pasta looks gorgeous. I love the idea of adding arugula!

One of the reasons your dough needed an extra egg might have been the way you measured flour. A standard "cup" is 4.5 oz, and I can never get that with dry measuring cups -- it always ends up being more. I use a scale to measure it, which seems to work better. When I used to measure flour with cups, Marcella Hazan's recipe seemed to be just right (she suggests 2 eggs per cup of flour), which is about what you ended up using. But as long as you found proportions that work for you, you are all set and can now make pasta any time (or any time you have an extra few hours ;)

Cheers,
-Helen

[Lisa (Homesick Texan)]

Play-doh is right! The one and only time I tried to make pasta (it was some fancy-pants recipe calling for saffron), the dough had the consistency and color of yellow Play-Doh. I rolled it out by hand and no matter how hard I pressed, I couldn't make it thin enough. It tasted good, but was quite toothsome. I need a Kitchen Aid mixer!

[Stephanie Beack]

Helen, thanks so much. Your notes about measuring are completely true as well. I got a great scale over the holidays and so will work this out using that instead of cups. The trick with the eggs is excellent!! THANK YOU for sharing that tidbit.

Lisa, it's definitely an art and science combination! The kitchen aid attachments are awesome and I love the kitchen aid for other things but didn't find it necessary for the pasta, specifically. You could just get the hand-crank pasta machine too and do it manual up to rolling out the dough if you're conserving storage/kitchen space. Even with my bigger than ever NY kitchen, that Kitchen Aid is HUGE. It's currently sitting on top of my wine rack since I have no where to store it... John Boos butcher block/cart anyone?? :-)

[Veron]

This looks great! Hubby and I used our Kitchen Aid for making pasta one time and it really turned out well. Nice looking mixer :).

[Stephanie Beack]

Veron, thanks. I'm definitely going to be using it for a variety of things. The mixer feels like an addition to the family, it's so.... large. But will bring us lots of fun and deliciousness.