Australian Gourmet Traveller - (05)May 2019 (1)

Toolkit

Most pasta can be made

by hand with tools found

in the kitchen, but apast

machine is a much simpl

way to stretch and cutth

dough. One of the besti

Marcato’s Atlas 150($119

from Peter’s of Kensingt

T

here are two types of dough for making pasta: the

first, made from durum-wheat semolina, a coarse

flour high in protein, is used for pasta such as

orecchiette, pici, fusilli, spaghetti, penne and

rigatoni. The second style of dough, as seen in the recipe below,

is one made of soft flour containing slightly less gluten and

more starch. Combined with eggs, it makes a soft dough that is

great for filled pasta like tortellini, agnolotti, tortelli and ravioli,

as well as silky ribbons of pasta such as fettuccine, pappardelle

and lasagne. The main secret of good pasta dough lies in the

quality of the ingredients: organic flour and eggs are best.

Masterclass

e

d

ta

er

he

s

9

on).

Step by step

4

Cut pasta into preferred

shapes (see below). Cook

immediately, or dust with rice

flour,thenstoreinanairtight

containerandrefrigeratefor

uptoa week,orfreezeit

(frozen pasta can be cooked

without defrosting it first). To

dry pasta, leave it in front

ofa fanfor4-5hours,then

storeit ina paperbagatroom

temperatureforupto1 month.

1

Pile 400gm plain or “00”

flour onto a dry (preferably

wooden) surface. Form a well

in thecentreandadd4 eggs

and1 tspoliveoil.Beatthe

eggsandoilwitha forkand

slowlyincorporateflourby

scrapingagainsttheflourwall.

2

Kneaddoughuntilsmooth

andelastic(15-20minutes).

Kneadingdevelopsthegluten

• thedoughshouldbounce
  backslowlyif youpresson
  it. Wrapit inplasticwrapand
  restatroomtemperaturefor
  15-30minutes,orrefrigerate
  forupto5 days.

3

Dividedoughintofour,then,

workingwithonepieceat

a time(coverremainingdough

with plastic wrap to stop it

drying out), flatten it with a

rolling pin or the palm of your

hand,dustlightlywithflourand

gentlyfeedit throughthepasta

machine,startingatthewidest

setting.Foldthetwoendsofthe

doughtowardseachother,then

rotatedough 90 degreesand

feedthroughthepastamachine

again(thisis calledlaminating,

andcreatesa strong,structured

dough).Laminateonceortwice

onthewidestsetting,then

continuetofeeddoughthrough

thepastamachine,reducing

settingsnotchbynotch,until

thepastais therequired

thickness(forthestandard

1.5mm,youshouldbeableto

seeyourhandthroughthe

sheetofpasta).

1

2

4

Shapes For fettuccine or capellini, feed 1.5mm-thick pasta through

pasta machine with required attachment fitted to cut. For pappardelle

or tagliatelle, dust 1.5mm-thick pasta with flour, fold in half four times

and cut into ribbons with a sharp knife. For farfalle, cut 1.5mm-thick

pasta into 2.5cm-wide strips, then cut at 4cm intervals with a fluted

wheel and pinch the centre of each rectangle so they resemble

butterflies. For lasagne, cut 2.5mm-thick pasta into sheets to fit tray.

Colours and flavours Depending on the desired colour and flavour,

add 10-15gm beetroot or broccoli powder (see note), or 5-10gm chilli,

charcoal or paprika powder to flour before mixing. For squid-ink pasta,

add 1⁄2 tsp squid ink (see note) to eggs before mixing.

Note Vegetable and charcoal powders are available from select

health-food shops. Squid ink is available from select fishmongers. ●

GOURMET TRAVELLER 33

WORDS AND RECIPE ANNA EOCLIDI. PHOTOGRAPHY WILL HORNER. STYLING LISA FEATHERBY. MERCHANDISING HARRIET DAVIDSON.