Biba's Northern Italian Cooking - Biba Caggiano [15]
Factory-Made Pasta
Factory-made pasta comes in myriads of shapes and sizes.Years ago the only factory-made pasta available in this country were spaghetti, linguine and macaroni. Today we have many choices. Good factory-made pasta, imported from Italy and made with 100 percent semolina flour, is available all over the country.This pasta has the gold coloring of wheat and when properly cooked, it almost doubles in volume. The cooking time of dried pasta varies depending on the size, shape and brand you choose. Read the instructions on the label and taste it as it cooks. Leave the pasta slightly undercooked, so by the time you toss it with the sauce and bring it to the table, it will be simply perfect.
BASIC EGG PASTA DOUGH
Pasta all’Uovo
Altitude, humidity and the size of the eggs will influence the amount of flour needed to make pasta.
Put flour on a pastry board and make a well in the center. Break eggs into well; beat with a fork. Draw some flour from inner rim of well over eggs, beating constantly. Keep adding flour a little at a time until you have a soft dough. Put dough aside.
With a pastry scraper, remove bits and pieces of dough attached to board. Lightly flour board and your hands. Knead dough 10 to 12 minutes, adding flour a little at a time until dough is smooth and pliable. Insert a finger into center of dough. If it comes out almost dry, dough is ready for pasta machine. If dough is sticky, knead it a little longer adding more flour.
Set rollers of pasta machine at their widest opening. Cut an egg-size piece from dough. Wrap remaining dough in a cloth towel to prevent it from drying. Flatten small piece of dough, dust with flour and fold in half. Run it through pasta machine. Repeat this step 5 to 8 times or until dough is smooth and not sticky. Change notch of pasta machine to the next setting and run dough through once without folding it. Keep changing setting and working pasta sheet through machine until pasta reaches desired thickness. A good thickness for general use is about 1⁄16 inch. Sprinkle dough with flour between rollings if it is sticky.
BASIC SPINACH PASTA DOUGH
Pasta Verde
Once you have tasted homemade pasta, no substitute will do!
Cook spinach according to package instructions. Drain thoroughly. Squeeze spinach to remove as much moisture as possible. Chop spinach very fine. Put flour on a pastry board and make a well in the center. Break eggs into well; beat with a fork. Add chopped spinach and beat to combine. Continue as for Basic Egg Pasta Dough, page 40.
Classic Method for Making Pasta Dough
Prepare dough as directed on page 40. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Flatten ball of dough with a rolling pin or the palms of your hands. The ideal rolling pin should be 32 inches long and 1½ inches in diameter. Roll out dough, starting from center and moving toward edges. Rotate dough slightly and roll out again from center toward edges. Repeat several times. Dough should be rolled into a wide circle. Dust surface lightly if sticking. To roll out pasta to an even thinness, wrap the far edge of pasta sheet around rolling pin. Roll less than half of pasta sheet toward you. With the palms of your hands, gently press against center of rolling pin. Roll pin forward while the palms of your hands move toward ends of rolling pin. With this motion, pasta will be stretched forward as well as sideways. Rotate sheet of pasta slightly and repeat the motion. Dust lightly with flour if dough is sticky. Repeat this step until dough is thin and almost transparent. Try to work as quickly as possible to avoid dough drying.
For stuffed pasta, cut into desired shapes and stuff immediately. For noodles, let pasta circle dry on a wooden surface or tablecloth, 15 to 20 minutes. Fold pasta loosely