How to make homemade pasta: 3 original recipes with the chef’s secrets

We tell you the tricks of professional cooking to prepare delicious homemade pasta dishes with vegetable ingredients. Get ready to knead!

• Types of pasta you can make at home
• How to prepare fresh pasta at home
• How to cook fresh pasta
• To preserve excess dough
• 3 recipes to prepare with fresh pasta
• 1. Ravioli stuffed with olives
• 2. Spinach rolls with mushrooms
• 3. Sweet ties: pasta salad and orange fruits

Long or short, fresh or dry, stuffed or filled, wheat, rice, quinoa, whole or refined, white or colored: pasta offers so many possibilities that you never run out of recipes or the desire to eat it. And no wonder.

Pasta, highly valued in both oriental and Mediterranean cuisine, is a nutritious food and a delicious gift for the palate.

It belongs to the group of foods rich in carbohydrates that should be consumed daily, because that is what it contains mainly: healthy carbohydrates that provide the energy necessary to maintain physical and mental activity.

It is usually recommended to athletes because it is easy to digest, provides constant energy and keeps blood glucose levels stable, but it is suitable for most people.

Mediterranean pasta is usually made with durum wheat flour or semolina, water and salt, although other cereals or legumes such as rice, quinoa, corn or soy can be used. You can also add oil or enrich the dough with egg or vegetable purees that give it a striking color and a delicate flavor.

The more the cereal is refined, the lower the nutritional quality of the pasta. Along the way, some of the fiber, protein, minerals, and vitamins of the original grain will have been lost. That’s why wholemeal pasta is more nutritious, healthy and satiating.

A myth that should be banished is that pasta is fattening. Although it is rich in carbohydrates, it has very little fat. Whether fattening or not depends on the ration and, above all, on the sauce.

TYPES OF PASTA YOU CAN MAKE AT HOME

Pasta allows for so many variations that it is difficult to cover them all. Each manufacturer and each craftsman incorporates new creations that play with composition, color, shape and filling:

• Depending on its preparation, the pasta can be fresh or dry. The first is prepared and boiled shortly after to eat it at the moment. Its cooking is fast and preserves the properties of wheat better. The second is dried once cut, so it is kept longer before cooking
• According to its form, we speak:
  • Long pasta: papardelle, spaghetti, linguini, noodles
  • Short pasta: galets, shells, bows, spirals
  • Small pasta: pistons, stars, noodles, seeds, marigold
  • Flat pasta: lasagna, cannelloni
  • Hollow pasta: penne rigate, macaroni
  • Pasta to fill: ravioli, tortellini, capelleti, crescents).

HOW TO PREPARE FRESH PASTA AT HOME

The fresh pasta, tender and tasty, absorbs the flavors well and cooks quickly. To make it, four usual ingredients in the pantry and sometime are enough.

INGREDIENTS

To make fresh pasta you need flour, salt, eggs and oil. The proportions are as follows:

• per 100 grams of flour,
• an egg
• a teaspoon of dessert filled with oil
• a good pinch of salt.

With 500 grams of flour about 750 grams of pasta are obtained.

To color homemade pasta, a concentrated puree of vegetables of the desired color (tomato, spinach, roasted peppers, beetroot …), aromatic plants, saffron or cuttlefish ink is usually used. These ingredients are added at the beginning.

UTENSILS

You only need a smooth surface or bowl if it’s a small amount of dough, a rolling pin, and knives or pasta cutters.

For rest, a clean cotton cloth and. if you want to air dry, a hanger or any support that allows hanging the paste already cut.

A machine to smooth the dough is useful, but failing that a roller and a little patience also serve.

PREPARATION

1. A volcano is formed with the flour on a table, salt, oil and beaten eggs are added.
2. Knead with your fingers until you get a homogeneous mass. The dough should not be sticky; therefore, when kneading, the flour that you ask for must be added.
3. Once formed, it is worked until it becomes hard but flexible (about ten minutes is usually enough).
4. It is left to rest for an hour covered with a canvas and then stretched on a floured surface until a thin sheet is obtained that is cut into the desired shape.
   1. To prepare thick and long noodles, roll the dough and cut it transversely, flouring the noodles so that they do not stick.
   1. Lasagna plates or pastes can also be formed for filling; To close them, the edges are moistened and sealed with a fork.

HOW TO COOK FRESH PASTA

The cooking of fresh pasta is very fast.

Put a pot full of water to heat and, when it boils, salt, pour the paste and let it cook 1-3 minutes.

Drain and add a little oil.

TO PRESERVE EXCESS DOUGH

If too much dough has been prepared, it can be frozen. With the remains you can also form pinches and use them in soups.

3 RECIPES TO PREPARE WITH FRESH PASTA

1. RAVIOLI STUFFED WITH OLIVES

Ingredients (for 4 people):

For fresh pasta:

• 250 g flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the filling:

• 1 medium zucchini
• 100 g ricotta vegetable cheese
• 2 teaspoons green olive pate
• 60 g roasted and peeled almonds
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan vegetable cheese
• olive oil, pepper and salt

For the sauce:

• 20 g pine nuts
• 2 branches of parsley
• 4 basil branches
• 1 tablespoon cold Vichy water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• pepper and salt

Preparation (35’+6′ cooking + 15′-60′ rest)

1. Mix the flour with the salt and form a volcano. In the center pour the oil and eggs, and mix inwards, kneading until a homogeneous mass is left and a ball is formed. Let stand between 15 minutes and an hour.
2. Peel the zucchini and reserve the skin. Chop the pulp and sauté it in oil slowly. Salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Mix the ricotta with the chopped almonds, parmesan, pate and zucchini; Correct salt and pepper, and add more almond if you want to thicken it.
4. Split the pasta dough in two, sprinkle with flour and stretch until you get two thin sheets, with a pasta machine or a roller. Cut each sheet into eight squares of about 8 cm on each side (if the ravioli are large, just one pair per person, but they can be cut smaller). In the center of the squares place the filling, moisten the edges with a brush dipped in water, cover with another square and seal the edges with a fork. Click lightly and set aside.
5. For the sauce, blanch the zucchini skin for a minute and cool. Then crush it with the rest of the ingredients until it is a thin and soft sauce,
6. Pour the ravioli into a saucepan with boiling water and salt. Lower the heat and, when ready, remove and season with the sauce. You can decorate them with parmesan and basil.

2. SPINACH ROLLS WITH MUSHROOMS

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 8 sheets of fresh lasagna
• 500 g fresh, cleaned and chopped spinach
• 200 g mushrooms
• 200 g vegan goat cheese
• 2 red onions
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 2 cloves of peeled garlic
• 100 g Parmesan vegetable cheese
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• nutmeg, oregano, pepper and salt
• tomato jam to accompany

Preparation (25′ + 23′ cooking):

1. Heat a wide pot with water and, when it boils, brown and pour the lasagna slices. Remove them al dente and cool, keeping them between two cotton cloths until it is time to fill them.
2. Peel the onion and cut it into slices, lightly brown and sauté in olive oil. Add the spinach, grated lemon peel and oregano. Once cooked, mix with crumbled curl cheese, salt and pepper and season with a little nutmeg.
3. Wash the mushrooms, remove the trunk and cut them into slices. Chop the garlic. Sauté the mushrooms in oil; When they lose the water, add the garlic and let them soften. Drizzle with the juice of half a lemon, rectify salt, let the liquid evaporate and remove.
4. Preheat the oven to 170º C. Spread a little filling at each narrow end of the lasagna slices and, on top, the mushrooms. Roll the slices, heat lightly in the oven and sprinkle with the Parmesan. You can also accompany them with tomato jam.

3. SWEET TIES: PASTA SALAD AND ORANGE FRUITS

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 200 g-colored loops
• 200 g fresh vegan cheese Burgos type
• 1 apple
• 1 peach
• 1 kiwi
• 4 apricot apricots
• 30 g raisins
• 4 sprigs of chopped mint
• currants to decorate

For the coulis:

• 1 orange
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 60 g sugar

Preparation (15’+18′ cooking):

1. Boil the pasta al dente, drain and cool under the tap to stop cooking. Drizzle with olive oil and set aside.
2. Wash and peel the orange and cut the skin into very thin strips. Bring it to a boil with 100 ml of water and sugar until caramelized, and set aside. Squeeze the juice and pour over the paste.
3. Dice the cheese and apricots, into strips. Peel the rest of the fruits; Cut the apple and peach into cubes and the kiwi, half sliced.
4. Mix the pasta with fruit, cheese, apricots, raisins and mint, and serve cold. Garnish with currants.

Variant

This recipe is delicious if accompanied with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a splash of orange liqueur.