How to make the actual spaghetti pasta, not just cook it?

Question

Thanks and heil

Answer 1

first of all NEVER i say NEVER put salt when you do fresh pasta from scratch.
This are the step for regular pasta

4 cups flour
5 eggs
1 teaspoon nutmeg
some water keep one container with 5 cups of water on the table.
You add the water little by little until the dough is not elastic your finger are the best tools to know when its ready.

In center Italy and most pasta shop they add at the flour 2 cups semolina.Semolina make the dough very elastic and is used especially for ravioli and tortellini because is very stretchable.

But its fundamental that you do not put any salt in the dough.

The salt go only in the water.
If you want to make the dough more interesting, add when you mix the flour 1 table spoon of tomatoes paste to make it red, or spinach for green and curry for taste and yellow color.
you can do anything very different any time and flavor any time you like. Its important that before you refrigerate the pasta, let it rest at least 1 hour on the counter, and remember for not stick togheder use semolina instead than flour because flour tend to be absorbed from the dough.

Answer 2

Basic Pasta

1 cup flour for each portion
2 egg, or 4T. water, or 4T silken tofu for each portion

This is an art rather than a science. On a piece of waxed paper (we frugal use recycled cereal box liners) place enough flour for each portion. Make a hollow in the middle, and add the liquid. Mix until the ball forms a firm ball. You may need to add a bit more liquid. The dough should be stiff. If you have time let it rest for a half hour, but if you don't just proceed. Knead for five minutes. Roll out on a floured surface (just add more flour) with rolling pin (a jar if you don't have rolling pin) to 1/8th to 1/16 inch thick. Add more flour to dust it. Cut into noodle strips, or squares if you want to make filled shells.

Meanwhile boil a big pot of salted water with a dab of oil tosed in to keep the noodles from sticking.

Toss the finshed pasta into the pot and cook five minutes. It will rise to the surface when done.

Add sauce --and EAT!!!

Answer 3

BASIC PASTA RECIPE

INGREDIENTS
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water
Food coloring of your liking (drops)

DIRECTIONS
In a medium sized bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the flour, add the slightly beaten egg, and mix. Mixture should form a stiff dough. If needed, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water.
On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for about 3 to 4 minutes. With a pasta machine or by hand roll dough out to desired thinness. Use machine or knife to cut into strips of desired width
i know this from cookery classes

Answer 4

There are (at least) two paths you can go down. One involves flour and eggs and a very small amount of water. The other involves flour made from hard wheat and a small amount of water. I don't have a recipe for the latter, and there is the difficulty of obtaining hard wheat flour.

1 lb plain flour
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
4 - 5 tablespoons water

Sift the flour on to a large board or marble slab and make a little well in the centre to hold the beaten eggs, salt and 4 tablespoons of water. Bury these in the flour. Mix well and knead vigorously until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended, adding the remaining tablespoon of water only if necessary. [FROM EXPERIENCE, DO NOT ADD ANY MORE WATER THAN STATED IN THE RECIPE, THE DOUGH BECOMES TOO STICKY WHEN YOU TRY TO ROLL IT OUT] The dough should be firm and not sticky. Work it well for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic, sprinkling a little flour over the board and your hands occasionally to prevent the dough from sticking. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 pieces.
Roll each piece out as thinly as possible, working from the centre and sprinkling both the surface it is rolled on and the rolling pin with four to prevent the dough from sticking or tearing. Continue until it is extremely thin, like a very fine, elastic cloth. Lay that sheet aside and roll out the remaining pieces of dough in the same way. Let the pastry sheets rest and dry out for 40 minutes.

Roll each sheet up tightly like a swiss roll and cut into thin slices, making robbons of pastry. [OR: slice the sheets while they are flat, requires the ability to cut in a fairly straight line.] Spread these out on a floured cloth and leave them to rest for a little while longer.

Five minutes before they are to be served, throw them into boiling, salted water and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prvent them from sticking to the pan. Drain and serve immediately. [Fresh spaghetti like this cooks much more quickly than most of the packeted ones.]

DO NOT attempt to make this with a blender. The kneading process forms gluten in the dough:- and without gluten, the while thing will fall apart when you cook it.

This recipe comes from "A Book of Middle Eastern Food" by Claudia Roden. There is an identical recipe in "La Cucina" by Dona Petrona (but that's in Spanish).

Answer 5

Fresh pasta is often made with eggs instead of water; it can increasingly be found in many supermarkets and is always available in Italian markets. Because it's highly perishable, it must be refrigerated airtight and can be stored in this manner for about 4 days. It can also be frozen for up to a month. Fresh pastas cook in a fraction of the time necessary for dried pastas. When it comes to saucing pasta, a general rule is to use light sauces for delicate pastas like capelli d'angelo and chunky, heavy sauces for sturdy pastas such as fusilli.


Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
Generous pinch of sea salt


Method for making dough
Sift flour onto large flat work surface. Form well in center of flour.
Place eggs and salt in well; whisk lightly with fork to blend. Using fork, gradually mix flour from inside walls of well into egg mixture to form coarse dough. Knead until dough is satiny and surface is almost smooth, about 4 minutes. Form dough into ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rest at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours.

Method for kneading dough
Set rollers for pasta machine, on widest setting. Using dough cutter, cut dough into
eight equal pieces. Form each piece into ball; flatten into disks. Run one dough disk
through rollers, dusting lightly with flour if dough sticks
[keep remaining dough disks covered].

Working on lightly floured surface, fold dough into thirds as for business letter.
Pass dough, edges first, through rollers again.
Repeat process six times, keeping rollers at widest setting and
lightly dusting rollers with flour if dough sticks.

Method for forming pasta sheets
Adjust width of rollers to next smaller setting, and pass dough through rollers.
Continue adjusting roller width to smaller settings, running dough through each
setting without folding, and dusting rollers very lightly with flour if necessary
until long dough sheet forms, about 24 to 30 inches long.

Hang strips over pasta drying rack, just until pasta is slightly dry, about 10
minutes [pasta should not be brittle or wet]. Repeat kneading remaining dough
disks and forming them into pasta sheets.

Answer 6

http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/cookingtechniques/ss/freshpasta.htm

Step by step instructions