There are over 300 types of pasta recognised in Italy. Some are long, others are short, filled, flat, round, or even square. The same ratios or dough ingredients that work for one shape don’t always hold for another. Everything from the type of flour to the choice between water and egg matters.
Each region of Italy also has its own approaches. Understanding the different techniques and why they exist can elevate even amateur pasta-making into something that any Italian nonna would be proud of.
What Makes Traditional Italian Pasta Dough Unique
Of all the foods to try in Italy, pasta is perhaps the most important. What makes pasta dough unique is what makes so much of the country’s best foods unique: it’s deceptively simple, with roots and stories that stretch back centuries. The Decameron, a book from the 14th century, has lush descriptions of Parmesan, pasta, and the typical dishes that still have people flocking to Italy all these years later.
Pasta dough has been through countless iterations over the years, usually at the hands of home cooks with limited time and money to spare. The result is a tradition that is all about precision. Every ingredient and technique is chosen carefully to achieve different variations in texture, taste, and shape.
Essential Ingredients for Authentic Pasta Dough
It depends on which version of pasta dough you’re making, but as a baseline, these are the only ingredients you will need:
- Flour: No matter what pasta you’re making, flour is the foundation. Italians prize the finely milled 00 flour as it gives pasta dough a distinctively silky texture. It also allows the dough to be rolled out very thinly without tearing, which is crucial for pastas like tortellini and capellini. Some pastas, however, rely on Durum wheat flour, or semolina. It’s known to create a firmer texture, as you’ll find with orecchiette and other Southern Italian pastas.
- Eggs: Traditional recipes will call for either eggs or water to hydrate pasta dough, never both. The benefit of eggs is that they enrich the dough, make it more tender and add a beautiful golden colour. They’re a staple in most Northern Italian recipes, while Southern pastas tend to skip them in favour of water.
- Water: In the absence of eggs, warm water is used to bring dough together. It creates a chewier, sturdier pasta and is often the partner for semolina-based doughs. The reason it’s the more common choice in Southern Italian pastas is that eggs were simply too expensive for most households in the poorer region. The need for eggless doughs is what also turned the region to semolina flour, as it can hold its shape without the addition of fat.
Mastering the Techniques: Kneading, Resting, and Rolling
Whether you’re baking a tart or making pasta, how you handle the dough determines how well it behaves. Here are the three central techniques that bring pasta dough together and some quick tips on how to master them:
Kneading
This is where you build the structure of the dough. Once the flour and liquid are combined, it’s time to build the gluten. The gluten is what gives pasta its elasticity and strength. Push the heel of your hand forward into the dough, fold the dough back and then rotate and repeat. Don’t overcomplicate it. In Jamie Oliver’s words, “you just have to bash the dough about a bit with your hands.”
Within about 10 minutes, you should feel the stickiness of the dough ease as it becomes smooth and firm. That’s the sign that the gluten has begun to develop. If the dough sticks a bit to your surface as you’re trying to knead it, dust it lightly with flour. Do this sparingly, though, as overdoing it can dry out the dough.
Resting
Just like Italians themselves, pasta needs a “riposo” or siesta after the work of kneading. All dough should be rested for at least 30 minutes before it’s rolled out. This allows the gluten time to relax and the moisture a chance to distribute more evenly, making the dough less likely to tear when it’s rolled out.
If you’re only going to use the dough in a few hours, wrap it in clingfilm and pop it in the fridge. It will last there for 12 hours. Otherwise, just cover it and rest it at room temperature anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Stanley Tucci’s top tip for resting pasta is to use it as a cocktail-making opportunity. After all, the cook deserves a rest as much as the dough does.
Rolling
Start by dividing the dough into smaller portions. This will make rolling out much easier, especially if you’re doing it with a rolling pin (which can also be a wine bottle, if need be). Hand rolling just requires even pressure from your hands and rotating the dough regularly to achieve an even thickness. Dust a bit of flour on your surface, hands, and rolling pin to prevent sticking.
If you’re using a machine, start at the widest setting and work down to the thinnest. You’ll need to run it through a few times to create the sheet-like quality most recipes call for. Just remember to adjust your thickness according to the final shape you want.
Tips and Common Mistakes for Perfect Pasta Dough
The best pasta dough isn’t about having the fanciest tools or the nicest kitchen. It’s about quality ingredients and paying attention to the finer details of your technique:
- Pick your flour carefully. The choice between semolina and 00 matters.
- Focus on rolling out evenly, not just thinly. Unevenness will make cooking more difficult.
- Work in small batches of dough so that it isn’t left to dry out.
- Pay attention to how the dough feels. You may need to add a little more hydration if it’s feeling crumbly, for example.
Most importantly, take your time. Pasta dough takes a bit of practice to master, but the bragging rights and steaming bowl of deliciousness afterwards more than make up for the effort.
This guest blog post has been provide to us by eatingeurope.com.
