I recently decided to take my cooking to a new level…hopefully to a higher, more refined level! Back in September, I enrolled in a series of four techniques cooking classes at a wonderful cooking school in Orlando called Truffles and Trifles. The proprietress is a delightful woman named Marci Arthur and she not only brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her classes and students, but also some very interesting stories of her life experiences. Marci also offers many hints and tips for the kitchen and shares copious amounts of recipes with her followers on her website at trufflesandtrifles.com and her Facebook page. She is indeed a very generous woman!
After completing the Techniques 1 class, Marci decided to offer a Techniques 2 class in October and November to those of us who had taken the first class. In the first class, there were nine students, and in this second class there are only five of us. We just completed our third of four classes this past Sunday afternoon.
Marci always has fabulous recipes for her classes, but the highlight of Sunday’s class for me was learning to make homemade pasta! I suppose I have always been a bit intimidated by the process, not knowing how to even begin…no one in my family ever made homemade pasta to my knowledge, so I did not have the pleasure or experience of watching my mother or grandmother make it, therefore I’ve never tried to make it myself.
Marci, with her vast experience and wisdom, showed us how to make pasta dough by using a food processor – as Marci would say, “Now how easy is that???” I always thought, and rightly so, that you had to knead it out by hand, mixing your flour, eggs, oil, and water just so until whatever the right consistency was supposed to be. Not knowing that because I had no one to consult is the reason I have never tried to make pasta before. No more! I now know what I need to know and all I need in my arsenal is a pasta roller! I have a beautiful Kitchen Aide mixer that I can buy a pasta attachment kit for, but before I invest (yes, invest is the appropriate word here as these kits run about $200) in this, I will first purchase a pasta roller that doesn’t cost quite as much. I want to be sure this is something I am willing to spend some time and energy on often enough to justify the cost of the attachment for the Kitchen Aid!
Ok…so I know you’re dying to know how to make homemade pasta with a food processor! So, you take 2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 2 large eggs, put them all in the bowl of the food processor and turn the machine on. Add a little bit of water at a time, letting the machine continue to run, until the dough forms a ball. This won’t take very long, so be prepared to stop the machine when the dough is all together on one side of the bowl. The reason I can’t tell you the exact amount of water to use is due to the atmospheric conditions present at the time you are mixing the pasta dough. The amount of water varies due to the humidity in your kitchen, as well as the temperature, and probably even the barometric pressure at the time. The amount of flour, oil, and eggs, however, are constant quantities. Cooking is a scientific process – I feel really smart…you know, like Einstein, or Tesla when I cook! Right!
Once you have the pasta dough in a ball, remove it to a floured surface and gently press it out a little flatter, then fold over, press again, fold again…do this four times. Be careful to not use too much flour, although you will need some to avoid stickiness. After you’ve done this step, roll dough out with your hands into a rope, or snake (yuck!), then using a sharp knife, cut the rope into about 6-inch pieces and wrap all except for one piece up in plastic wrap. You can either leave it out if you will be using it all right away, or you can refrigerate or freeze the pieces you will not be using.
With the reserved piece of dough, flatten it out a bit, then using a pasta roller on the widest setting, roll the dough through, lay it on the floured surface, fold it in half, roll it through the pasta roller again, repeating a total of four times. This is the kneading process for the dough. Beginning with the fifth time rolling your dough, turn the dial to the next narrowest setting each time you roll the dough through, until you have rolled it out using the narrowest possible setting. There is no need to fold the dough during this process. When finished rolling your dough, lay it out on your floured surface and allow it to rest for approximately five minutes before cutting into the shape you prefer. One of the main things to remember is that while you need flour in order to avoid having the dough become too sticky, you must take care to avoid using too much flour, which will cause the dough to become tough.
Marci was right – once you learn to make homemade pasta, it will be very difficult to ever go back to using the pasta you purchase at the grocery store in a box or bag on the pasta aisle! Homemade pasta is so much better tasting, is fun to make, and you could even turn making pasta into a fun and productive event by having a pasta making party!
After completing the Techniques 1 class, Marci decided to offer a Techniques 2 class in October and November to those of us who had taken the first class. In the first class, there were nine students, and in this second class there are only five of us. We just completed our third of four classes this past Sunday afternoon.
Marci always has fabulous recipes for her classes, but the highlight of Sunday’s class for me was learning to make homemade pasta! I suppose I have always been a bit intimidated by the process, not knowing how to even begin…no one in my family ever made homemade pasta to my knowledge, so I did not have the pleasure or experience of watching my mother or grandmother make it, therefore I’ve never tried to make it myself.
Marci, with her vast experience and wisdom, showed us how to make pasta dough by using a food processor – as Marci would say, “Now how easy is that???” I always thought, and rightly so, that you had to knead it out by hand, mixing your flour, eggs, oil, and water just so until whatever the right consistency was supposed to be. Not knowing that because I had no one to consult is the reason I have never tried to make pasta before. No more! I now know what I need to know and all I need in my arsenal is a pasta roller! I have a beautiful Kitchen Aide mixer that I can buy a pasta attachment kit for, but before I invest (yes, invest is the appropriate word here as these kits run about $200) in this, I will first purchase a pasta roller that doesn’t cost quite as much. I want to be sure this is something I am willing to spend some time and energy on often enough to justify the cost of the attachment for the Kitchen Aid!
Ok…so I know you’re dying to know how to make homemade pasta with a food processor! So, you take 2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 2 large eggs, put them all in the bowl of the food processor and turn the machine on. Add a little bit of water at a time, letting the machine continue to run, until the dough forms a ball. This won’t take very long, so be prepared to stop the machine when the dough is all together on one side of the bowl. The reason I can’t tell you the exact amount of water to use is due to the atmospheric conditions present at the time you are mixing the pasta dough. The amount of water varies due to the humidity in your kitchen, as well as the temperature, and probably even the barometric pressure at the time. The amount of flour, oil, and eggs, however, are constant quantities. Cooking is a scientific process – I feel really smart…you know, like Einstein, or Tesla when I cook! Right!
Once you have the pasta dough in a ball, remove it to a floured surface and gently press it out a little flatter, then fold over, press again, fold again…do this four times. Be careful to not use too much flour, although you will need some to avoid stickiness. After you’ve done this step, roll dough out with your hands into a rope, or snake (yuck!), then using a sharp knife, cut the rope into about 6-inch pieces and wrap all except for one piece up in plastic wrap. You can either leave it out if you will be using it all right away, or you can refrigerate or freeze the pieces you will not be using.
With the reserved piece of dough, flatten it out a bit, then using a pasta roller on the widest setting, roll the dough through, lay it on the floured surface, fold it in half, roll it through the pasta roller again, repeating a total of four times. This is the kneading process for the dough. Beginning with the fifth time rolling your dough, turn the dial to the next narrowest setting each time you roll the dough through, until you have rolled it out using the narrowest possible setting. There is no need to fold the dough during this process. When finished rolling your dough, lay it out on your floured surface and allow it to rest for approximately five minutes before cutting into the shape you prefer. One of the main things to remember is that while you need flour in order to avoid having the dough become too sticky, you must take care to avoid using too much flour, which will cause the dough to become tough.
Marci was right – once you learn to make homemade pasta, it will be very difficult to ever go back to using the pasta you purchase at the grocery store in a box or bag on the pasta aisle! Homemade pasta is so much better tasting, is fun to make, and you could even turn making pasta into a fun and productive event by having a pasta making party!
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