Home Made Pasta: Part I....Delicious When You Have The Patience

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Two






Three

Mini Roller Pin
Middle Cylinder Turns Freely
While Keeping Both Handles Steady.
When someone likes pasta, like myself, he will go through a lot of pain to have the best possible, and sometimes the best possible is made at home....you know what goes in it....and it is fresh.
Further my yesterday's recipe with the dry Tortellini bought off the rack of a supermarket, today we shall enjoy together the adventure of making pasta at home.
Picture No. 1 shows you the equipment you need to make home made pasta.
Picture No. 2 shows you the Ravioli maker which together with a mini roller pin Picture No. 3, will help you make 36 little raviolis just like that!
Five
Four










Picture No. 4, shows the cutters in different shapes to make bigger raviolis...square, round, big, smaller.
Tip: Put just enough stuffing, to fill the center of the square or circle. Do not put too much stuffing because it might go the edge of the circle and the pasta will not seal causing the ravioli to open while boiling. Picture No. 7 


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Seven
Picture No. 5 & 6:  Shows the main body of the pasta machine. You can see the two cylinder which rotate opposite each other to press the dough into a flat sheet, as for  lasagna, the sheets for the ravioli, the tagliatelle, the tagliollini, the Cannelloni, which should be cut with the pasta cutter Picture No. 8
at 8 cms by 10 cms. However this is not a rule you can make them any size you can.
Pictures No. 9, 10, and 10A:show how the attachment to the main body of the pasta machine which makes tagliatelle and tagliollini ( thin tagliatelle similar to spaghetti but flat ).


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Nine
Ten
Ten A
                                                                                   
 So now we shall go ahead and make a batch of Home Made Pasta.
You will need:
Serves 10:
-  500 gms of all purpose flour.
-  5 big whole eggs.
-  A pinch of Salt.

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Eleven
Method:
-  Use your usual mixer. Use the hook special attachment for dough. 
-  Add your flour and salt in the mixing bowl, and make a hole in the centre.
-  Break your five eggs and beat them slightly with a fork. Pictures No. 11 & 12.
-  Turn on the mixer, and blend to make a dough which will wrap itself around the hook special attachment.

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Forteen
-  This should take about 10 minutes.  The dough must not stick to the walls of the bowl, or be too dry. If dry add very little water, if sticky add very little flour. Picture No. 13.
-  Make the dough into a ball and let it rest for about 15 minutes Picture No. 14.
-  Cut pieces and start using the main body of your pasta machine. Picture No. 6.  Take off the accessory for the tagliatelle and the tagliollini.
Tip: Make absolutely sure that when you have prepared your sheet for any of the above types of pasta, that it is quite dry, and not sticky or else your tagliatelle and tagliollini or any other type of pasta will be sticky and form one solid mass. Your flat sheet must be left to dry as per pictures No. 15, 16 and 17.
FifTeen :Working Surface Must Be Well
Floured
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Seventeen
-  You would want to have a pot with about 5 liters of water and 3 Tbsp. Kosher salt already boiling.
-  Throw in 5 pieces of the flat pasta and boil for 3 minutes. Take out and extend sheet on wet kitchen towels to dry. The pasta should be al dente.
-  Repeat the same procedure for all the pieces of pasta, till all are boiled and left on the wet kitchen towels to dry. Pictures No. 18 and 19.

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Ninetee
By now you should have decided what you want to do with these flat pieces of pasta.
You can make Baked Cannelloni, Baked Lasagna, and plain lasagna in your plate. By superimposing one hot freshly boiled piece of flat sheet over the other and putting various fillings to your liking in between topped with parmezan cheese.
We shall meet again tomorrow for Part II. Have a nice Saturday night! And drive Safely.
Best
Stelio

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