Buon Appetito: The Basics of Italian Noodle Making

Let’s talk about making flats, or noodles.

The flour classically used is soft wheat flour “00”. Not all wheat is the same and not all wheat is milled the same way. This particular flour is super-fine, like talcum powder; that’s where the silky feel of real noodles starts.

This flour is mixed with either pure egg yolk or a ratio of pure yolk and whole egg. Chemical reactions occur and, if the process is done correctly, a dough ball is created. (Correctly means drizzling the egg slowly and, most importantly, giving it enough time.) Dough wants 20 minutes or so to mix.

A hand mixer can be used to start the mixing process if you don’t have a stand mixer to knead the dough. After successfully mixing flour and liquid, you will have a nice, finished ball of pasta dough. It will be hard and dense and want a minimum of 30 minutes to rest.

When your dough is rested, you are ready to roll. Get out the scale. It will help you to produce sheets (sfoglia) that are consistent in length and width. Cut the dough into equal amounts, right around 125gm is optimal for a counter-top or stand mixer roller.

Flatten the dough with a rolling pin (materello), but don’t roll it out; you are preparing it to be rolled. Feed the dough through the roller, widest setting first. After the first roll, fold the strip of dough and recite, “one, two, three for four.” You will be folding the pasta three times to end-up with four layers. Carefully roll it so all the layers stick with each other.

Feed the dough through the rollers, adjusting the setting after each roll. Stop rolling when you have a strong sheet about 4 inches long that you can read through. Cut this sheet into thirds.
Feed each sheet into the cutter attachment while either turning the hand-crank or with the mixer attachment set-up on. Viola! Noodles. Don’t forget to catch them. This step is far easier and faster with a second person handy, so pasta-making is a great activity for couples, mother-daughter get-togethers, or something fun for grandparents and grandkids. Remember, if you don’t cut the sheets, you have…lasagna.

Now, you have pot-ready pasta. You can either boil immediately or dry. Fresh pasta cooks very quickly. Not only have you had a fun experience in the kitchen, but you can also eat the fresh fruits of your labor.