8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (2024)

FAQs

How many types of homemade pasta are there? ›

Typically, there are 3 types of doughs: Egg yolk dough: Fettuccine, pappardelle, farfalle, garganelli, and ravioli are all examples of pasta shapes using egg yolks. Some recipes use just egg yolks, while others use whole eggs (more on that later).

Flour is the single most important ingredient for making fresh pasta, so choosing the right flour can make all the difference. The three most commonly used types of flour for pasta-making are all-purpose flour, “00” flour and semola (sometimes called semolina flour in the UK).

There are four classic Roman pasta dishes: carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana, and alla Gricia. Each uses slightly different techniques and ingredients and has its own place in the canon of Italian food. Here is a brief breakdown of these iconic Italian pasta dishes. 1.

For those on a low-fat diet, deciding whether to eat fresh or dried pasta is a no-brainer. Clearly, pasta made with water rather than eggs offers a better way for you to reach your weight goals, provided you pair it with an equally low-fat sauce.

Homemade pasta has eggs and more water. This means that it's fresher and has a unique texture, which is described as decadent. It also can be molded to whatever you'd like and has a fresher taste to it. Dried pasta is massed produced, so you aren't getting all the nutritional value of homemade pasta.

Semolina flour is good for pasta because it's a hard variety of wheat and has a high protein content. Both of these properties give more structure to pasta which provides that elusive 'al dente' quality to fresh pastas.

The pasta should be “al dente”, which means it should be “firm to the bite”, yet cooked through. It's better to taste the pasta before draining it. When it's ready drain the pasta but don't rinse it with cold water. The pasta should be hot when mixed with the sauce.

Once the pasta is in the sauce, add pasta water. This is the most vital step in the process. Starchy pasta water doesn't just help thin the sauce to the right consistency; it also helps it cling to the pasta better and emulsify with the fat and cheese you're going to be adding.

Are there 600 types of pasta? ›

There are over 600 different pasta shapes, each with a useful purpose. Long pasta, short pasta, stuffed pasta, pasta for soups- the uses for pasta are endless! Some pasta shapes and sizes are better suited for holding sauces in the ridges, while others are much better for baked dishes.

Both dried and fresh pastas come in a number of shapes and varieties, with 310 specific forms known by over 1,300 documented names. In Italy, the names of specific pasta shapes or types often vary by locale. For example, the pasta form cavatelli is known by 28 different names depending upon the town and region.

There are said to be over 300 shapes of pasta, each of which has a history, a story to tell, and an affinity with particular foods. These shapes have evolved alongside the flavours of local ingredients, and the perfect combination can turn an ordinary dish into something sublime.