Basic recipe perfect Italian pasta

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

'Life is a combination of magic and pasta' was a quote from Federico Fellini, an Italian director and filmmaker. And I can always find that magic on my plate! In this blog I take you into the world of pasta! I explain step by step how you can best make fresh pasta, which pasta you can use best for which dish and treat you to the “basic recipe perfect Italian pasta”. We are going to make pasta according to a real Italian pasta recipe.

La vita and a combination of magic and pasta!

How do you get the perfect pasta? There are so many different types!

Penne, spaghetti, tagliatelle, gnochhi, strozzapreti, cavatelli, maltagliati, orrecchiette, pappardelle, ravioli, you name it! There are so many species, but not every species is the same. Although the ingredients are the same for many pastas, you cannot use the same type for every pasta dish.

Here are a few tips:

• Flat long pastes for meat sauces (ragù): Meat-based sauces are best used with tagliatelle or pappardelle. This is because these are wider pastas and your sauce stays better on this. Tagliatalle is often eaten with the traditional ragù and pappardelle often with game meat ragù, such as ragù di coniglio (rabbit) or ragù di cinghiale (wild boar). 
• Thin long pastes for fish and cream sauces: Fish-based sauces go best with spaghetti. There is no particular reason for this, but this is very common in Italy. Sauces that are thick and creamy, such as carbonara and cacio e pepe, are also best served with spaghetti. This is because the sauce sticks well to the spaghetti. At cacio e pepe they officially use 'tornarelli' in Italy, this is a thicker type of spaghetti.
• Tubes of pasta for casseroles: If you make pasta in the oven (pasta al forno) it is best to use tube pasta such as penne or rigatoni. This variety is easier to mix with a sauce, so it cooks better in the oven. When making oven pasta, be careful not to overcook it. The pasta also continues to cook in the oven.

Note the combination of stuffed pasta and the sauce

If you're making stuffed pasta like ravioli, make sure the filling you make matches well with the sauce that goes with it. It is in any case not smart to serve a very powerful sauce with stuffed pastas. Ravioli, for example, are best served with a simple tomato sauce or just some sage and butter. Simplicity is important here! pasta recipes

The beauty of fresh pasta

There are actually two types of pasta, namely the dried pasta (pasta scuitta) or the fresh pasta (pasta fresca). We all buy dried version in the supermarket and of course it tastes fine, but the best is still the fresh homemade one. Besides that it also tastes much better than the dried ones, it is also a lot of fun to make. You can vary enormously and you can literally put your own spin on it. By adding an extra ingredient to the dough you can go in all directions. From cocoa to saffron and from beetroot to spinach. The basis is the same for most pastas, after that you can choose how you want to proceed. Of course there are some steps to follow and rules to remember! In this example I am making tagliatelle. 

Basic recipe perfect Italian pasta: The right combination of flour

You need flour for pasta and there are different types you can use. I prefer to use two types, namely Farina tip 00 di grano tenero and Semola di grano duro. Farino recommends 00 di grano tenero is the finest type of ground flour. There are many who only use this type of flour for pasta, but I think it makes your pasta too elastic. That's why I also use Semola di grano duro. This is flour made from ground semolina and is somewhat coarser in structure.

In addition, it is also a bit yellowish and gives it the yellow color! Other than that, all you need are eggs and of course a pasta machine! This is essential for making pasta. There are different types of brands, but the best brand is Marcato. Pasta making recipe

The volcano

Fresh pasta is made from egg and flour, but you don't just mix that. This is done in a very special way. You turn the flower into a 'volcano'. This is where you break the eggs and then beat the eggs. You then take a little of the flour with you each time and this is how the dough is created.

The dough that "springs back"

At some point the dough becomes too thick for your fork and you continue to work by hand. In the beginning if the dough is crumbly and sticky, but it is important that you keep kneading until you get a nice smooth ball. If you then press the dough with your finger, it will slowly spring back. Then you know the dough is good! 

Basic recipe perfect Italian pasta: Turn it!

After the dough has rested for a while, you can start turning the pasta. You will start by making sheets first before making the shape of your pasta. Then you cut off a piece of your dough, roll it out a bit with a rolling pin and then put it through the pasta machine. Start at position 1 and continue (in this case) to position 6. This is the perfect thickness. Then you can start turning the mold. pasta making recipe recipes

Make sure that you occasionally trim the dough so that it remains a straight piece, otherwise it will be too wide for the pasta machine. 

Until you are ready to cook the pasta, let it hang on a drying rack. It is important that you do not touch or move the paste too much as this can break it. It dries quite quickly. Don't have a drying rack? Then you can also use a coat hanger. You only need to cook fresh pasta for a few minutes. See below for the full recipe! pasta making recipe pasta recipes

Here you will find the complete recipe with all the ingredients you need. I hope you have fun preparing the dish below.

This blog “Basic recipe perfect Italiaanse pasta” is a contribution by Tim from La Cucina di Tim, take a look at his website!

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Delicious Happen is a multi-media company, so you can also find me on various social media. follow me on Facebook, Pinterest en Instagram under @delicioushappen. If you make this recipe I would love it if you tagged me #delicioushappen. A comment below in the comments is also nice of course!

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