The DIY Pantry (33 page)

MAKE PASTA WITH A STAND MIXER

1. Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be just slightly sticky.
   
2. Add more flour by the teaspoonful if needed, but keep the dough as soft as possible. If the dough is too dry, add a little water.
   
3. Once the dough is cohesive, knead for another 5 minutes, either by hand or with the mixer. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let it stand for 20 minutes.
   

MAKE PASTA BY HAND

1. Mound the flour on a clean work surface. Make a well in the middle of the flour with steep sides.
   
2. Break the eggs into the well. Add the salt and olive oil and gently mix together with a fork. Gradually start incorporating the flour by pulling in the flour from the sides of the well, but try to maintain the integrity of the well as long as possible. Usually this finally gives way into a shaggy mess when about half of the flour has been mixed in.
   
3. With your hands or a bench scraper, continue working the dough until it comes together. If the dough is too dry, add a little water; if too wet or sticky, add a little flour.
   
4. Begin kneading the dough and keep kneading until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 8–10 minutes. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.
   

SHAPE YOUR PASTA

1. To roll by hand, divide your dough into two pieces, keeping one covered to prevent it from drying out.
   
2. On a large floured work area, flatten the dough into a disk. Working from the center at all times, use a rolling pin to flatten the disk out from the center to the outer edge. With each roll, rotate the dough one-quarter turn and flip the dough over once or twice to ensure the dough is not sticking.
   
3. Roll out the dough to about
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₁₆
   " thick (about half the thickness of a penny). If the dough springs back as you are rolling, cover it with a damp towel and let it sit for an additional 10 minutes.
   
4. Once the dough is rolled thin, dust it with flour; then fold it in half lengthwise. Dust and fold in half again in the same direction so you end up with a long rectangular sheet of pasta in four layers.
   
5. Using a very sharp, large knife, slice the sheet of dough into strips as wide as your desired pasta: for spaghetti, cut very thin strips; for tagliatelle, cut
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   " strips; and for lasagna, cut 3" strips.
   
6. Set the strips on floured tea towels or drape them over a long broom handle, being careful not to let the pieces touch if at all possible.
   
7. If you would like to use this dough for macaroni, penne, or other tube pastas, use a pasta extruder. After mixing the dough and letting it rest, extrude the pasta into your desired shape and lay on floured tea towels.
   

COOKING AND STORING THE PASTA

1. To cook the fresh pasta, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fresh pasta and cook for approximately 2 minutes. Fresh pasta reaches the al dente stage very quickly, so be ready.
   
2. To store the pasta, let the strips or tubes dry for several hours, turning them if necessary to dry thoroughly. You may also dry them in your food dehydrator for 2–4 hours at 135°F. When they are dry, place them in airtight packages and store for up to 1 year. Alternatively, flour the strips to keep them from sticking, place them in freezer-safe bags, and freeze them for up to 1 month.
   

Buckwheat is the true gluten- and grain-free flour, as it isn’t wheat at all. It’s actually a seed that’s in the same family as rhubarb and sorrel! The problem when making noodles, however, is that gluten is what makes any dough stay cohesive and elastic rather than crumble. Thus, one technique Japanese masters employ when working with 100 percent buckwheat dough is to use boiling water to gelatinize the seed flour to help it bind. Also, if you don’t need to have a gluten-free noodle, feel free to use 80 percent buckwheat and 20 percent all-purpose flour, as that will help the noodles soften and bind as well.

1. Place the flour in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook and whisk it once or twice to sift it.
   
2. Pour the boiling water over and turn the mixer on low. Knead it until it comes together into a rough and slightly crumbly dough. If the dough feels dry or you can still see dry flour after a few minutes of kneading, then add water a tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together. Conversely, if the dough feels wet or sticky, add more flour a tablespoon at a time until it becomes a workable dough and is no longer sticky.
   
3. Continue kneading until the dough holds together easily, does not crack while kneading, and becomes smooth, about 5–6 minutes. Resist the urge to add more flour at this point. The dough will be very dense, but should be soft, smooth, and not at all sticky.
   
4. Dust a flat work surface with starch or buckwheat flour and flatten the ball into a
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   "-thick disk. Dust the work surface and the dough again.
   
5. Roll out the dough out from the center into as thin a sheet as possible, preferably less than
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₈
   " thick. Dust with more starch or flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking and flip it over at times, if needed.
   
6. Once the dough is rolled thin, dust it with flour; then fold it in half lengthwise. Dust and fold in half again in the same direction so you end up with a long rectangular sheet of pasta in four layers. Using a very sharp large knife, slice the sheet of dough into thin strips; then unfurl them into noodles.
   
7. Cover your pile of finished noodles with a slightly damp tea towel as you continue to cut, as buckwheat noodles dry out very quickly.
   
8. To cook the noodles right away, bring a large pot of water to a boil; then toss in several tablespoons of salt and the cut noodles. Stir to prevent sticking and boil for about 1–2 minutes.
   
9. To store the noodles for later use, the uncooked noodles may be frozen for up to 3 months, or you may dehydrate them in a food dehydrator for 1–3 hours at 135°F; then store them in an airtight container for up to 4 months.