Читать книгу Urban Farm Projects - Kelly Wood - Страница 7

Project 2: Homemade Pasta

Why would you want to do this? Fresh pasta cooks faster and is superior to its dried counterpart in taste and texture. Making pasta is a great medium for creativity in the kitchen once you’re used to making the dough.

Why wouldn’t you want to do this? It takes more time than grabbing a bag or box of store-bought noodles from the pantry.

Is there an easier way? A pasta rolling machine makes the process much more consistent. It usually comes with cutters for certain types of pasta. The machine and any additional attachments you may want are expensive.

How is this different from the store-bought version? Homemade pasta has a different “mouthfeel” and taste than dried pasta, and you need to cook it carefully so it doesn’t become overcooked and gummy (the recommendation of cooking pasta al dente comes from cooking fresh noodles).

Cost comparison: This recipe makes 1 pound of pasta (enough for our family of four) and the ingredients cost less than 1 pound of fresh packaged pasta.

Skills needed: A comfort level with cooking from scratch or a willingness to experiment and deal with a few initial failures.

Learn more about it: Making Artisan Pasta (Quarry Books, 2012) by Aliza Green offers inventive tips and tricks.

The Italians have been making pasta for countless generations. It doesn’t take as long as you might think, and it makes a huge difference in the taste of your meal. Store-bought fresh pasta is a high-end delicacy, but you can save yourself the trip to the market.

I’ve got to confess that pasta-making is my husband’s territory. I still occasionally rely on dried store-bought noodles, but when I’m putting together a special dinner or just don’t want to run to the store, I make the pasta from scratch and am always impressed by what it adds to the meal. With practice, you’ll discover how easy the process can be and how tasty the results are.

Traditional pasta is made from hard-grained wheat called durum wheat. The flour is a semicoarse grind called semolina; finer grinds are called durum flour. (Under Italian law, dried pasta must be made from semolina.) When making pasta from scratch, you can use either semolina or plain white flour—the latter is what we call bread flour—or a mixture of both. My husband uses whatever is on hand.

Semolina-only noodles will be chewy, more like a packaged dried pasta when cooked. Pasta made with bread flour alone can be gummy if overcooked, but when cooked properly, the texture of this pasta is more delicate than that of pasta made with semolina only.

Flat Noodles

Materials/Ingredients:

•Mixing bowl

•Rolling pin (or wine bottle)

•Knife or pizza/pasta cutter

•Optional: Mixer with dough hook

•3 large eggs

•2 cups flour

•2 tsp olive oil

•Water as needed

•¼ tsp salt

Step 1: Mix the flour and salt together. Make a mound of these ingredients on a clean countertop or in a bowl and then hollow out the top, like a volcano.

Step 2: Put the eggs and oil into the hollow and then mix them into the flour mixture; it is best to do this with your hands, but you can also use a mixer with a dough hook. Keep mixing until a ball develops and all of the dry crumbs on your fingers are incorporated into the dough. If the dough gets too dry, sprinkle it with a bit of water.

Crack the eggs into the top of the “volcano.”

Step 3: Knead the dough for five to ten minutes. Shape it into a ball again and let it sit for ten to thirty minutes, covered or wrapped in plastic, to allow the glutens to relax (which will help the dough roll out

more easily).

Step 4: Roll out the dough on the countertop to an even thickness, as flat and thin as possible, and then fold it over and over onto itself (alternating top to bottom and side to side) until it looks like a nifty little folded handkerchief.

After the dough has rested, you can start rolling it out on your work surface.

Step 5: Roll the dough out again and then fold it again in the same way; repeat this process several times until the pasta dough appears to be an even color and consistency.

Step 6: Roll out the dough one more time, but do not fold it; leave it very thin and flat. Use a knife or a pasta or pizza cutter to cut the dough into noodles of your desired size and shape (I used to use our kids’ Play-Doh cutters with curvy edges).

Keep rolling the dough until you’ve gotten it flat, thin, and even.

Step 7: Set the noodles aside after you cut them. When we make long, thin noodles, we drape them carefully across the backs of our kitchen chairs—and the banisters, and towel bars, and counter edges!

Either use the pasta noodles right away by cooking them rapidly in boiling water or leave them out to dry completely (they will be very brittle) and store them in a plastic bag or container.

Eccolo—homemade pasta! Enjoy!

Finished flat noodles, ready to be cooked or dried.

Filled Pasta

Once you’ve mastered rolling out sheets of pasta, you can make filled pasta, too. We’ve hosted parties where each couple brought a filling, we provided the sheets of pasta, and everyone had a boisterous evening of creating and cooking delicious filled pasta. Our guests got to take home big sealed plastic bags of pasta for their freezers.

Materials/Ingredients:

•Ravioli tray or ice-cube tray

•Small spoon

•Paintbrush or pastry brush

•Glass of water

•Pasta or pizza cutter

•Rolling pin or wine bottle

•Parchment paper

•Cookie tray

•Optional: Freezer bags or containers

•Fresh pasta sheets

•Filling of your choice (see Basic Ravioli Filling sidebar)

Ravioli

We’ve tried many different ravioli-making tools over the years and ultimately decided that the device resembling an ice-cube tray is our favorite. You can use a regular ice-cube tray to similar effect, or you can separate the ravioli with your pizza or pasta cutter; both methods are explained here. Either way, cut your pasta sheets to the same size, as one will lie on top of another. If using a tray, cut your pasta sheets so that they are slightly larger than the tray.

Put the completed ravioli on a parchment-lined cookie sheet to be frozen or cooked. If storing, leave the ravioli on the cookie sheet in the freezer until they are semi-frozen before putting them in a container or freezer bag (they should be firm enough to be stacked without getting mashed). To use them right away, cook them by dropping them individually into a wide kettle of boiling water.

The Tray Method:

Step 1: Lay a single sheet of pasta on top of the tray, and gently make indentations into the openings below. Be careful not to tear the sheet as you press down.

Step 2: Scoop a scant spoonful of filling into each indentation.

Step 3: Paint lines of water where the pasta is touching the edges of the tray—between the indentations and on the outside edges.

Step 4: Lay the second sheet over the first, matching up the outer edges. Roll firmly over the top of the pasta with a rolling pin (or wine bottle), sealing the edges.

Step 5: Lift the sealed pasta sheets out of the tray, and, if necessary, cut between each ravioli with a knife or wheel to separate them.

The Countertop or Tabletop Method:

Step 1: Dust your work surface lightly with semolina, and lay out one sheet of pasta.

Step 2: Place scant spoonfuls of filling on the pasta, spacing them out evenly and leaving at least one or two finger widths between each scoop.

Step 3: With the brush, paint water lines between all of the dollops of filling.

Step 4: Gently lay the second sheet of pasta on top of the first, lining up the outer edges. Carefully press the pasta down between the dollops; you want as little air in the pockets of filling as possible.

Step 5: Take your cutter and firmly roll between each of the dollops along the wet lines you painted. Be sure to cut all the way through both sheets. Although some cutters will seal the edges as they cut, we’ve found that it still helps to pinch the edges of each ravioli to make sure that they are sealed on all sides. If the ravioli are not sealed, they will spill their contents into the cooking water.

Basic Ravioli Filling

•15-ounce container

•ricotta cheese

•1 egg

•1/8 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated

•1/2 tsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped

•Cinnamon, pinch

Mix all ingredients together until well combined and smooth. Use a dollop in each ravioli pillow.

A cutter separates the ravioli and helps seal the edges.

Tortellini

Tortellini are ring-shaped, filled noodles whose shape, legend has it, was inspired by Venus’s belly button. Whether the Roman goddess of love had anything to do with it or not, this pasta is well loved and worth the time and effort involved in creating your own. Each noodle is made from a round or square piece of pasta, and the navel shape is formed after the noodle is filled and sealed.

Step 1: Decide whether you want circular or square tortellini. To cut circles out of the flat pasta sheets, you can use a clean tuna can, a cookie cutter, or a biscuit cutter—all work well. For squares, use a knife to cut the pasta into pieces of equal size.

Step 2: To fill the tortellini, center the filling on half of the circle or square, and then fold it in half (for the squares, fold diagonally into triangles). Pinch the edges to seal them.

Step 3: When your half-circles or triangles are complete, the filling bulge should be against the fold and centered between the sealed edges.

Step 4: To fold a sealed pocket into the navel shape, gently place the fingernail side of your index finger against the filling bulge. With your other hand, carefully wrap the corners around your finger, pinching the two ends together firmly with your thumb.

Step 5: Slide the folded pocket off of your finger and set it on a parchment-lined tray. (The square tortellini can look like little pointy hats when folded; you can fold the points down to minimize this effect, if desired.)

Freeze or cook as described for the ravioli.

Tortellini are hand-folded into the “belly-button” shape.