Pasta questions

Puggles

Puggles

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I've been cooking for 20 years and I'm ashamed to say that I only just recently made homemade fresh pasta.
I used a combo of AP flour and semolina, eggs, olive oil and salt. I formed the dough, kneaded for about 5 minutes until it got difficult and wrapped in a ball in plastic wrap and let sit for a while on the counter. I rolled it out and cut into fettuccini-like shapes and let it dry for about an hour. I heard that fresh pasta only takes about a minute to cook, so I tested a noodle after a minute and it was nowhere near done. It went for about 4-5 minutes and the end result turned out more like a "thin spaetzle" than a pasta noodle and didn't care for any of it at all :(

I don't know what I did wrong. I've seen it made so many times and did what the recipe called for, but the results were not what I was expecting.

I need help :(
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Dried pasta and fresh pasta are quite different things due to the lack of, or presence of egg for starters, not to mention the manufacturing techniques, so it's no surprise that you found it similar to Spaetzle which is an egg pasta.

I enjoy fresh pasta with a ragu such as Bolognese, and you need it if you are going to make ravioli which I suggest you try.
 
Fresh pasta is usually rolled thin, and thinner pasta will cook more quickly. A pasta roller will make the job a thousand times easier, but if you're not planning on making pasta often a rolling pin and a knife will do.

Also if you're expecting the same result as dried pasta, they are different things.
 
Puggles said:
I formed the dough, kneaded for about 5 minutes until it got difficult and wrapped in a ball in plastic wrap and let sit for a while on the counter. I rolled it out and cut into fettuccini-like shapes and let it dry for about an hour.
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The recipe I use is basically 1 egg for each 100 gms flour and/or semolina.
You say you kneaded it until it got "difficult"? The pasta dough should be smooth and silky, not difficult.
Fine to have let it rest, but then you could have kneaded it again.
That moment is when a pasta machine comes in useful; it´s got 5 or 6 graduations and you simply pass the pasta through each one a couple of times until the pasta reaches the required thickness - which is actually very thin!
I´m always surprised how much fresh pasta come from a small amount of dough, so I pinch off a golfball sized piece and roll that out first, then continue with the rest of the dough.
I also think that when a recipe calls for rolling out the dough thin, we tend to underestimate "thin" (at least, I do). Thin for a pasta can be as little as 1-2 millimetres.
 
Puggles said:
I've seen it made so many times and did what the recipe called for,
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Do you have a link to the recipe?

It does look rather too thick. Its also very yellow in colour although that may be the egg yolk. I wonder if the olive oil is a problem? You don't need to add oil to pasta dough in my experience.
 
It is way too thick. And how much semolina did you use? And what kind, coarse or fine? The semolina is what probably made it difficult to knead. You don't really need semolina, or at least very much of it, for spaghetti or fettucini or linguini. Semolina gives the dough more structure for things like bow ties or orecchette or extruded pasta like rigatoni, macaroni, etc. And you don't have to let it dry before cooking either.
 
Puggles said:
I've been cooking for 20 years and I'm ashamed to say that I only just recently made homemade fresh pasta.
I used a combo of AP flour and semolina, eggs, olive oil and salt. I formed the dough, kneaded for about 5 minutes until it got difficult and wrapped in a ball in plastic wrap and let sit for a while on the counter. I rolled it out and cut into fettuccini-like shapes and let it dry for about an hour. I heard that fresh pasta only takes about a minute to cook, so I tested a noodle after a minute and it was nowhere near done. It went for about 4-5 minutes and the end result turned out more like a "thin spaetzle" than a pasta noodle and didn't care for any of it at all :(

I don't know what I did wrong. I've seen it made so many times and did what the recipe called for, but the results were not what I was expecting.

I need help :(
View attachment 86730
Click to expand...

Semolina's flour is very used in the South of Italy and it's definitely a staples when making fresh pasta like Spaghetti alla Chitarra, orecchiette, just to name a few, and also gnocchi. Same for biscuits, taralli, etc.

the first thing that jumps out at me is the total absence of water...I would avoid the addition of eggs, the oil is fine, the semolina flour must be the fine refilled one, and the resting time is usually 15 minutes when the dough is covered with cling film. I hope I have been helpful.
 
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