How Do You Make Pasta?
Just like pizza, pasta is also believed to originate from Italy. It’s an excellent comfort food — you can top it off with cheese, sauces and ingredients of your choice. It is widely available in multiple shapes. While most people prefer their recipes with store-bought pasta (because it’s pre-made), the taste and texture of self-made pasta are unrivaled.
Today, we’re bringing you two ways you can make pasta at home, and we’ll hook you up with our secret fettuccine alfredo recipe as well.
2 Ways You Can Make Pasta at Home
The traditional way to make pasta is to do it without a machine — at least that’s how the experts prefer it. There are, however, pasta machines that let you make various shapes. One of the simplest and most famous pasta is fettuccine, and that’s the one we’re going to help you perfect today.
With a Pasta Press
The best pasta maker will allow you to make various shapes with it, however, remember to check whether the pasta maker has adequate attachments in addition to the pasta press. Here’s how you can make pasta with just a pasta press and a basic fettuccine grater:
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- Pinch of salt
Preparation
- Start by pouring the flour on a flat surface, preferably a large counter. Make a mound and a well in the middle.
- Crack the eggs carefully in the middle and make sure the flour walls are high enough to not let them slip out.
- Sprinkle a generous pinch of salt and carefully start mixing the dough.
- It’ll take some effort and the dough will look uneven at first. Not all the flour will mix but you have to keep kneading it until you get an elastic and smooth texture.
- Pasta dries much quicker than you think, so make sure you start boiling water on the side as soon as you’re done getting the required dough texture.
- Wrap the ball of dough in plastic and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- Take out your pasta press and divide the dough into 3-5 parts.
- Flatten the first part and start feeding it to the roller in your pasta press.
- Once it comes out, fold one side of the dough to the middle and then repeat the same with the other side. Your dough will look like a letter. Press firmly to seal the shape.
- Feed the dough into the machine again. Repeat this process about 4-5 times with each part of the dough.
- Turn the dial of your pasta press to the narrowest setting once you’re done rolling all the dough. The goal is to convert the press into the thinnest setting so you can be ready to turn them into noodles/fettuccine.
- Get out the noodle-making accessory for your pasta maker, set it up and pass the flattened dough through it.
- Boil the pasta, and you’re done! Don’t worry, we’ll give you a quick alfredo recipe to sum it up.
Without a Pasta Maker
When you don’t have a pasta maker, you have to repeat the same recipe and same concepts. It’s just that instead of flattening and pressing the dough with the machine, you’ll have to do it manually. Follow these steps:
- Flatten it using a flour roller, and repeat the process 4-5 times using the same business letter technique.
- Once you’re done, flatten it by rolling it with higher force until it’s thin enough.
- Use a knife to cut long rectangular noodles (fettucini).
- You can also cut the fettucini into small 1-inch pieces, give them a press and a little curl to get the Orecchiette pasta. If you’re in the mood to get more shapes, don’t hesitate to look them up on the internet.
Summing It up With a Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe
Ingredients
- Parmesan cheese slice, grated
- Milk
- Seasonings (oregano, herbs, rosemary)
- Chicken boneless
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Butter slice
- Fettuccine pasta
Preparation
- Start by placing butter in a pan, and add chicken, black pepper and salt.
- Once the chicken is 90% done, add milk and seasonings.
- Add fresh parmesan cheese and melt it. It should take 2-3 minutes to fully blend. Keep stirring.
- Pour it on top of your pasta and mix it. Serve right away!