Pasta from Scratch: Ingredients and Equipment

Introduction

Making pasta from scratch consists of ingredients and equipment you may already have in your kitchen. In Homemade Pasta Made Simple by Manuela Zangara, a maximum of five ingredients are used when making traditional Italian pasta. However, not all of the ingredients are necessary to use in your cooking. Also, there is a list of essential and non-essential tools when making homemade pasta. In this post, I will share the different ingredients and equipment you will need to get started when learning how to make your own pasta.

Personally, I am a big fan of pasta. I have been eating it my entire life and never gotten tired of it. I am excited to learn about how to make homemade pasta and share it with the class, especially since making pasta could be a fun activity with friends and family, a gift idea, or the start of a cooking career.

Book Cover

The Ingredients

Flour

   While there is a wide array different grains available to achieve a certain flavor or color in pasta, the most popular grain to use is wheat. The two types of wheat used are  common wheat and durum wheat. Common wheat is paired with eggs to make pasta, whereas durum wheat is paired with water. Manuela Zangara says, "Common wheat is perfect for making bread, but it doesn't have as much gluten as durum wheat. A flour made from common wheat is weak, and the dough made from it tends to break easily and become slippery when cooked. That is why pasta made with common wheat flour requires eggs, which provide protein that acts a bit like gluten when it comes to dough making," (Zangara, 4). Flours made from common wheat are All-purpose and 00 (zero-zero). Ribbon pasta and stuffed pasta are usually made with these flours because they are very pliable. Durum wheat is high in protein, which means it does not need eggs when being turned into pasta. Hand-shaped pasta is made from durum wheat since the dough is stiff enough to hold its shape.

Both of the recipes I will show you in later blog posts will be using All-purpose or 00 flour.

All-Purpose Flour

Eggs

  When using eggs, make sure they are fresh and break them in a separate bowl to ensure the egg has not spoiled and there are no eggshell pieces. They should be large eggs (about 2 ounces each) and bring them to room temperature before mixing with the flour. 

Water

  Once again, water is only used when making pasta from durum wheat. The water should be lukewarm.

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and Sea Salt

Both extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt are not required when preparing pasta. When putting salt in dough, Zangara recommends using the finest salt you can find. Only use 1 tablespoon of salt in pasta for four people. For olive oil, she says, "However, if you want to use it, choose a light and fruity extra-virgin olive oil so the flavor doesn't overpower the final taste of your pasta. Do not use more than 1 to 2 table spoons when making pasta for four people," (Zangara, 5).

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Sea Salt

The Equipment

Essential Tools

Here is a list of some of the most basic tools you will need to make the two recipes provided in  my later blog posts. While there are more tools for pastas of specific shapes and more difficulty, I will share only the ones needed for all types of pasta.

• Baking sheets: place the pasta you have already made on a baking sheet as you continue to make more before cooking them. Dust the baking sheet with flour so that the pasta does not stick.
• Knives and/or Pizza cutter: used to cut the dough.
• Pasta Machine: rolls out the dough to a uniform thickness.
• Rolling Pin: rolls out the dough (essential if you do not have a pasta machine).
• Plastic Wrap: keeps the dough from drying out. When the dough dries, it will crust and will be non-pliable.
• Kitchen Scale: weighs your ingredients. Zangara highly recommends using one if you are a beginner. 

Non- Essential Tools

• Big bowl, Food processor, or Stand mixer: for bringing your ingredients together.
• Dough scraper: used to manipulate dough and clean surfaces.

I will be using a stand mixer when I show you the recipes I make from the book.

Stand Mixer

Resource:

Zangara, Manuela. “Chapter 1: Ingredients & Equipment.” Homemade Pasta Made Simple: a Pasta Cookbook with Easy Recipes & Lessons to Make Fresh Pasta Any Night, Rockridge Press, 2017, pp. 3–9.