Personally, we believe that there is no wrong way to eat pasta. We’re obsessed. We could eat pasta every night and still be ready for pasta the next day. With that being said, we’re getting bougie. And by bougie, we mean we’re ready to perfect the art of making our own pasta. If you’re feeling like you could get down with that, here are our best tips for making fresh pasta at home!
Start Simple
If this is your first time ever making pasta at home, start with a recipe that is simple and allows room for mistakes. Trust us, no matter how simple or how complex, your pasta dish will come together and taste delicious. (If not, just order a pizza and try again!)
All About That Dough
If your dough is smooth and well-worked, you’re going to have zero trouble getting it through your machine. Having perfect dough will also keep you from having to re-fold your dough, saving you a little extra time in the kitchen. You’re probably wondering how to achieve such workable dough? The answer is by kneading it. It’s not unusual to have to knead your dough for a solid ten minutes, and you’ll be able to see the difference as you work with it. And we promise all that hard work will pay off because if you start with good dough, the rest is easy peasy.
Idle Hands
And while we’re on the topic of dough and kneading, make your dough by hand. It is possible to throw ingredients into your food processor and make it this way, but it can be difficult to tell what your dough may be missing as you go and it’s super easy to overwork your dough in these machines.
Time is of the Essence
In other words, once your dough is kneaded to perfection, don’t let it dry out. You’ll work with your dough in small batches and you’ll do this by rolling it into small balls and working with it one at a time. At this point in the game, it helps to have a few extra hands; one to roll balls into ovals for the machine, two to run the ovals through the machine, and one more to grab the dough once the ovals have been through. Someone will also need the job, the very important job, we might add, of laying out the pasta to dry.
Spritz It
If you find that your pasta is dry and crumbly as you’re working with it, give it a little spritz or wash your hands and skip the drying part and continue on with damp hands to add some moisture.