Homemade Pasta Thread

[betarhoalphadelta]

I did a search but didn't see anything. I'm sure some of you dabble in pasta.

I'm writing because I need help. I've made probably 8-12 batches of homemade pasta now, and it just doesn't seem to be "perfect" in such a way that homemade justifies not buying either dried or fresh pasta at the store.

So here's a list of issues, and then I'll tell you what I've tried:

1. Thickness of the noodles: I use the Kitchenaid pasta maker attachment. Everything I see online/etc tells me to roll pasta out to the 5, 6, or 7 setting. But I find that when I do that, the sheets of pasta are SO incredibly thin that the noodles are like paper. A fettucini noodle should have a little thickness to it. And the spaghetti cutter should be more like spaghetti than angel hair. So I normally stop at 4, which seems fine to me but I don't understand why literally EVERY site seems to expect it to be rolled out thinner. Even ravioli ended up ultra-thin at a 4 or 5 rather than going to 6 or 7.
2. Color of the noodles: When I go out for pasta, or buy pasta (dry or fresh), the noodles finish a sort of pleasant off-white color. Mine finish stark white. I've tried all sorts of pasta recipes, including pastas based on ONLY egg yolk and no egg whites (i.e. 150g type 00 flour and 8 egg yolks). My pasta, prior to cooking, always has a nice beautiful yellow hue. After cooking? Stark white. I have to think I'm doing something wrong to cause this.
3. Texture of the noodles: To me, fresh pasta should have a nice bite to it without being tough. Mine is, well, flaccid. My pasta, that is. I'm not sure if this is due to it being not thick enough as mentioned in item 1. I don't think I'm overcooking it, but it's possible. But it doesn't have that firm bite that I expect from pasta.

Essentially, at this point I've experimented with all sorts of recipes. I've used pasta recipes from Serious Eats that call for a mix of whole eggs and egg yolks with a little salt, recipes that are entirely whole eggs, Thomas Keller's recipe that's 6 egg yolks and 1 whole egg, all the way up to a recipe I just saw on Ina Garten's show that was 150g flour (1/3#) and 8 egg yolks, and for that I used type 00 flour instead of AP.

I've rolled the pasta numerous ways. I've cut the pasta in thin spaghetti, in fettucine, and for ravioli. I even tried hand-cutting tagliatelle this past weekend.

Nothing seems to live up to what fresh pasta should look, taste, or feel like in my mind. And I'm getting frustrated...

Any thoughts?

 

[Redpappy]

This is basically what I do for my pasta. 1 cup flour AP, 1 egg, 1 TBSP olive oil, pinch of salt, and water as needed. After I knead it, I place in the fridge for about 30 min.

As you, I have the pasta attachment for my kitchenaid. When I roll it out I usually stop at the #5 setting, for the same reason you have described. I just did a batch of cheese ravioli. They came out nice, a little over cooked though.

Things that I have noticed with fresh pasta is that they do not take as long to cook. Just from a guess, fresh pasta takes about 2/3 of the time that store bought does.

Things to keep in mind when comparing fresh pasta to store bought. Store bought has all those preservatives in it. Those do change the taste and color of foods.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

This is basically what I do for my pasta. 1 cup flour AP, 1 egg, 1 TBSP olive oil, pinch of salt, and water as needed. After I knead it, I place in the fridge for about 30 min.

As you, I have the pasta attachment for my kitchenaid. When I roll it out I usually stop at the #5 setting, for the same reason you have described. I just did a batch of cheese ravioli. They came out nice, a little over cooked though.

Things that I have noticed with fresh pasta is that they do not take as long to cook. Just from a guess, fresh pasta takes about 2/3 of the time that store bought does.

Things to keep in mind when comparing fresh pasta to store bought. Store bought has all those preservatives in it. Those do change the taste and color of foods.

One thing I do is let it rest about 45 minutes on the countertop, not the fridge. I don't know if that makes any difference. I haven't tried olive oil.

I've found that fresh takes even less time... Barely 2-3 minutes tops.

How does your color come out? Is it stark white? I've been wondering if I should mix in a percentage of semolina into my flour mixture to add some color, as I think the inherent color of semolina will persist through the cooking process?

 

[Redpappy]

Color was a very light yellowish. What might be helping me with that color is the eggs I use, they are from Dads chickens. “Farm fresh Eggs” tend to have a darker and richer yolk than store bought.

I have read where some have done a mix of flour and semolina.

 

[passedpawn]

I've made a lot of pasta. I always get yellowish noodles, I usually gradually roll to 7, and they end up thick. I almost always make egg noodles, which (from memory) is 3 1/2 cups flour, 4 eggs, tsp salt and then a few tbsp water to get it just not quite sticky.

So, I'm perplexed why your experience is almost opposite mine. I'll try to find some pics, but that won't help your problem I know.

BTW, I've also just used flour and spinach in the food processor to make some awesome green dough for noodles. You should try that some time.

[edit] here's a pic of some pumpkin ravioli I made. You can see just how yellow it is compared to the flour on it. I'm pretty sure that was my standard egg noodle (pumpkin is inside).

 

[Redpappy]

I've made a lot of pasta. I always get yellowish noodles, I usually gradually roll to 7, and they end up thick. I almost always make egg noodles, which (from memory) is 3 1/2 cups flour, 4 eggs, tsp salt and then a few tbsp water to get it just not quite sticky.

So, I'm perplexed why your experience is almost opposite mine. I'll try to find some pics, but that won't help your problem I know.

BTW, I've also just used flour and spinach in the food processor to make some awesome green dough for noodles. You should try that some time.

Do you let the dough rest? If so, do you rest in the fridge or on the counter?

 

[passedpawn]

Do you let the dough rest? If so, do you rest in the fridge or on the counter?

No resting. It's getting folded and sheeted within minutes of kneeding in mixer. I can't say that's the best way, but it's my way People are hangry, must get it done.

 

[passedpawn]

Macaroni and sheeted spinach pasta

 

[passedpawn]

Here's some pasta I made with coconut milk, then turned into lo mein. Not sure why I put coconut milk in there or what the actual dough recipe was - might have been in my experimental (druck) mode.

 

[Redpappy]

Passedpawn, how do you like the macaroni attachment? Ive thought about getting the ravioli attachment, but not sure how well it work.(edited) - how thin do you make your sheets?

I have to do a batch of ravioli tomorrow, I’ll try to get some pics of the ravioli before and after

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Is that rolled to a 7 with the Kitchenaid attachment, and then cut with the spaghetti cutter? Those noodles look FAR thicker than mine.

 

[passedpawn]

Is that rolled to a 7 with the Kitchenaid attachment, and then cut with the spaghetti cutter? Those noodles look FAR thicker than mine.

I think I usually roll to the second-to-the-thinnest. Not sure what that number is. The egg noodles are pretty tough and hard to get down to the thinnest one. Why don't you just stop at 4 or 5 then? I start with the sheeter on 1 and run the pasta through it one way, then fold the sheet and run it through 90 deg turned, then fold/turn, and after 3 or 4 turns I can dial it down thinner until I get to the correct thickness. I do it so quickly now I don't even think much about it.

 

[Yooper]

@Pappers_ has made spaghetti for me and it's fantastic. He'd have to tell you how he does it- but it's perfect in my opinion.

 

[passedpawn]

When I was a kid we'd just roll it with a rolling pin and slice with a knife.

Is that rolled to a 7 with the Kitchenaid attachment, and then cut with the spaghetti cutter? Those noodles look FAR thicker than mine.

Oh yea, it is cut with the spaghetti cutter. I think my kit came with the sheeter and two widths (spaghetti and fettuccine).

 

[passedpawn]

BTW, if you ever shove a rubber spatula into the pasta cutter while it's spinning and something inside it breaks and then the rollers freewheel and don't work, you can fix it. I had to buy new shear pins from ebay. Here's what I got. Maybe there is better/cheaper available now, but this did the trick.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-PACK-Kit...Replacement-/273495021999?hash=item3fad92d9af

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I think I usually roll to the second-to-the-thinnest. Not sure what that number is. The egg noodles are pretty tough and hard to get down to the thinnest one. Why don't you just stop at 4 or 5 then? I start with the sheeter on 1 and run the pasta through it one way, then fold the sheet and run it through 90 deg turned, then fold/turn, and after 3 or 4 turns I can dial it down thinner until I get to the correct thickness. I do it so quickly now I don't even think much about it.

Yeah, that's what I don't get. I use similar ratios for the noodles. I've tried leaving them thicker, but even stopping at 4, they don't come out with the right color or texture or thickness after cooking.

And I do essentially the same as you. I usually actually start with the sheeter thicker than 1, but I do multiple passes, folding and laminating the pasta in between, before starting to turn the sheeter down to smaller thicknesses.

What speed do you run your kitchenaid on? I don't know if that makes much of a difference, but I usually have mine on the slowest speed.

 

[passedpawn]

What speed do you run your kitchenaid on? I don't know if that makes much of a difference, but I usually have mine on the slowest speed.

1 or two. I also typically use AP, but sometimes semolina if I have it. You might try that.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

1 or two. I also typically use AP, but sometimes semolina if I have it. You might try that.

Do you notice a difference in color when you use semolina?

 

[passedpawn]

Do you notice a difference in color when you use semolina?

I do not recall. Sorry. I'm probably going to make some spaetzle this weekend. I've got a bag of semolina, I'll use that and post pics afterwards.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I do not recall. Sorry. I'm probably going to make some spaetzle this weekend. I've got a bag of semolina, I'll use that and post pics afterwards.

Thanks, much appreciated.

 

[Redpappy]

Here’s a pic of my raviolis that I made up today, unfortantly I didn’t cook any of them yet. I also Run it on speeds 1 or 2

 

[passedpawn]

These pasta came out with some nice color It's carrot linguine. I served with homemade meatballs. To make carrot pasta, puree boiled carrots in food processor, add eggs and flour and pulse until a dough ball forms. These were sheeted to #6, then cut with the wide noodle attachment.

 

[applescrap]

I did a search but didn't see anything. I'm sure some of you dabble in pasta.

I'm writing because I need help. I've made probably 8-12 batches of homemade pasta now, and it just doesn't seem to be "perfect" in such a way that homemade justifies not buying either dried or fresh pasta at the store.

So here's a list of issues, and then I'll tell you what I've tried:

1. Thickness of the noodles: I use the Kitchenaid pasta maker attachment. Everything I see online/etc tells me to roll pasta out to the 5, 6, or 7 setting. But I find that when I do that, the sheets of pasta are SO incredibly thin that the noodles are like paper. A fettucini noodle should have a little thickness to it. And the spaghetti cutter should be more like spaghetti than angel hair. So I normally stop at 4, which seems fine to me but I don't understand why literally EVERY site seems to expect it to be rolled out thinner. Even ravioli ended up ultra-thin at a 4 or 5 rather than going to 6 or 7.
2. Color of the noodles: When I go out for pasta, or buy pasta (dry or fresh), the noodles finish a sort of pleasant off-white color. Mine finish stark white. I've tried all sorts of pasta recipes, including pastas based on ONLY egg yolk and no egg whites (i.e. 150g type 00 flour and 8 egg yolks). My pasta, prior to cooking, always has a nice beautiful yellow hue. After cooking? Stark white. I have to think I'm doing something wrong to cause this.
3. Texture of the noodles: To me, fresh pasta should have a nice bite to it without being tough. Mine is, well, flaccid. My pasta, that is. I'm not sure if this is due to it being not thick enough as mentioned in item 1. I don't think I'm overcooking it, but it's possible. But it doesn't have that firm bite that I expect from pasta.

Essentially, at this point I've experimented with all sorts of recipes. I've used pasta recipes from Serious Eats that call for a mix of whole eggs and egg yolks with a little salt, recipes that are entirely whole eggs, Thomas Keller's recipe that's 6 egg yolks and 1 whole egg, all the way up to a recipe I just saw on Ina Garten's show that was 150g flour (1/3#) and 8 egg yolks, and for that I used type 00 flour instead of AP.

I've rolled the pasta numerous ways. I've cut the pasta in thin spaghetti, in fettucine, and for ravioli. I even tried hand-cutting tagliatelle this past weekend.

Nothing seems to live up to what fresh pasta should look, taste, or feel like in my mind. And I'm getting frustrated...

Any thoughts?

Sounds like you are on the right path. Trying lots of recipes and reaching out. Lakeside recommended a pasta book, cant remember which one, but it might be worth finding. Iirc dry pasta is semolina or durum or something. Different than ap flour. I have seen recipes with semolina for fresh. I have found many of the same factors true that you have found. I find it different but wonderful. Thickness, a little later. Color. I have found the same. Bite. Similar. I really like the stuff. The cutter on my Italian hand crank is thin. Cant recall name right now. I have also hand cut them.

I go thick and thin, but mostly thin. Often 6 or 7 and it goes to 7 or 8. I loop it on itself and guide it with my forearm through each number a couple of times. Every number to 6. Its thin and heavenly. Thick will create a small batch I have found. Different experience for sure. If they aren't super enjoyable it could also be too little salt in the pasta water. Rarely, other than a pro, does someone serve me pasta seasoned and cooked correctly it seems. My kids chow them. They are more velvety and silky than dry. Cant wait to see where this leads. At Christmas I have been giving gifts. Making a ton has helped me.

 

[applescrap]

Wish I had an extruder btw. Also my recipe iiac from test kitchen is 2 cups flour to three eggs. I make it in processor till just comes together and put in gallon bag to scrunch together and keep log moist while I work. Frying the noodles in some good sauces like that dish from passed will give them some bite.
Man passed, beautiful pasta and creative ideas. I have to try the spinach noodles.