Italian pasta recipes

First step to before we dish out authentic Italian pasta recipes we are going to teach you how to buy pasta and what you should be looking for on the packages. This is important to get great results with your Italian pasta recipes. You should be looking for bronze dye pasta which are rough to the touch. Not the smooth pasta, watching the video below explains why. What about the different types of wheat used? Yes they do make a difference to the texture when you cook them. We prefer those made in Italy for sure.

Boiling pasta has a technique to it too. It will ruin your pasta dish. Best place to start before you start on your Italian pasta recipes is from basics. Italian pasta recipes 101 as we say on this page. Watch video and listen to their wise advice.

 

 

DIFFERENT TYPES OF ITALIAN PASTA

There many different types of Italian pasta and they are called by different names. The basic ingredients in making them are the same. Different shapes are suited to different Italian pasta recipes. For e.g. you will always find spaghetti bolognese using thin rods pasta. They come in variable thickness. Some pasta are filled with meat or vegetable those are called ravioli and tortellini.

Italy has strict rules for dry pasta making (pasta secca) they can only be made from durum sticks wheat flour or durum wheat semolina. These are yellow in color. Outside of Italy dry pasta maybe made from other types of wheat flour. You can tell the different when you cook them. Italian prefers their pasta cooked 'firm to bite' or in Italian we call it al dente this made possible using wheat flour that has the right combination of gluten and protein. Pizzoccheri which are type of short flat ribbon pasta are made from buckwheat flour. Fresh pasta include eggs. For healthy reasons whole wheat pasta has grown popular.

 

MAKING FRESH PASTA

A simple fresh pasta recipes designed to make your first attempt a success. Many Italian homes still prefers to make their own fresh pasta because:

- it will taste more delectable

- it will holds onto sumptuous pasta sauce better

- it will not contain any addictive

- it will cook much faster than the dried ones

- always an occasion to gather everyone around the kitchen

 

Fresh pasta recipe

Ingredients: 250 - 300g all-purpose flour/plain flour 2 Eggs A little salt

Equipment Fork Rolling pin Pasta machine or knife

 

 

 

 

 

Step 1 - Dust a table top with flour from where you can kneed your dough. Pile your flour onto table top, make a hole in the center of flour. Break your eggs into the hole, add a pinch of salt, with a fork gently beat egg. When egg is beaten gently fold flour. Fold in flour slowly, This is tricky part. Do not allow the eggs to leak out onto the surface.

As the mixture thicken you won't find the eggs leaking anymore. Knead for 2 to 3 minutes until you can clump mixture into a ball of dough. Add flour to make it less sticky, if you need to. Use your palm to flatter the dough ball, then fold it in half. Flatten it again, turn and fold it in another direction and repeat a few times. This process places air inside the pasta dough. Repeating this about 5 to 7 minutes should be sufficient. Aim for 1mm final pasta thickness.

Step 2 - Cover your table top with flour again, flatten the dough into a thick circle with your hands, then use the rolling pin to roll dough out evenly. You may find this a little challenging as the dough is elastic and contract back to almost its original size. Just keep rolling and after a few minutes the dough will finally start to expand and keep its shape.

Step 3 - Now it is time cut your pasta into any shapes you like using a pasta machine. We recommend using an electric pasta machine, they are slightly more expensive but will save you lots of energy as rolling pasta is quite tedious.

Decide the type of pasta you would like to shape and choose the attachment that come with your pasta machine for that purpose. Cut your rolled dough into strips, if you are using a pasta machine it will help you to roll the dough into perfect thickness before you shape it.

Next put your dough through your pasta machine and voila you have fresh pasta. Your fresh pasta can be freeze to be used at a later date. Wrap them in aluminum foil sheets and stack them in the freezer.

 

BUYING FRESH ITALIAN PASTA

Demand for fresh pasta - as they are seen to be wholesome has created cottage industry in small towns to produce them. One such factory we visited is located in Merana, Alessandria. Tradizione e Sapori translated in English means traditional flavor was setup by an enterprising Italian woman named Ghione Annamaria who used to be a teacher. She started the business over 10 years ago specializing in making ravioli and sell them in half kg and 250 grams packs. Tradizione e Sapori is a cooperative the staffs working there are all friends who have grown up in the same village. Thus going to work is an everyday occasion of friends gathering together in a big kitchen catching up on the day happenings. When we were there we felt the closeness of everyone as friends and not work mates.

Ravioli is a typical product from this region and the recipe used by Ghione Annamaria was handed down to her by her grandmother who operated a restaurant for over 60 years thus this recipe is a time tested success. Everyday ravioli are made fresh in her kitchen/factory and distributed around Alessandria region. All ingredients used in producing Tradizione e Sapori ravioli come from neighboring farms located around Merana - eggs, vegetable, flour, meat Ghione Annamaria is supporting produce her cottage industry. Expanding from making of ravioli Tradizione e Sapori also produce pansotti, cappeletti and pasta al forno.

Ravioli made at Tradizione e Sapori are made the good old fashion way by people and not machines. Everyday production is just enough for distribution, never in large bulk quantity for freezing to sell later. Everyday supply is fresh. This make the meaning of fresh pasta that much more meaningful.

Ravioli made well do not require any sauce to complement them. You can eat them plain just mix with butter. In Piedmont Italy we eat ravioli in a bowl with red wine Barbera or dolcetto. It is unusual. Of course you can eat it with tartufo either black or white which is a favorite of this region or with any of our typical Italian pasta sauce. When you are next in an Italian village on your Italian holidays do look around for fresh pasta to try in your own kitchen.

 

 

 

For Quick and Easy Guide use Amazing North Italy sitemap to find information

 

 

 

 

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