Fresh Pasta For Malefante Taccozze Recipes

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE PASTA

Steps:

• Place the flours on a work surface and create a hole with your hands. For those who are making homemade pasta for the first time we recommend using a bowl because the job will be easier. Split the eggs and put them in a bowl then pour the eggs into the hole.
• With the help of your hands, mix the eggs with the flours, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined. Knead the pieces of dough together.
• After ten minutes, make a big ball and wrap it in a cling film. Let it rest for 15/30 minutes.
• Make sure that your pasta maker machine is clamped firmly to a clean surface. Dust your work surface with some durum wheat flour. Take a lump of pasta dough the size of a tennis ball and press it out flat with the palms of your hands. Roll the lump of pasta dough through the widest setting of your pasta machine. Remember to dust the pasta dough with durum wheat flour if you feel it's becoming sticky.
• Fold the pasta dough in half and then again in half.
• Roll again the sheet of pasta dough through the widest setting of the pasta machine. Repeat the process for 3/4 times. You have to work the dough till it's smoother. Finally, you can start to roll the dough through all the remaining settings of your pasta machine, from the widest to the narrowest.
• So now you have long strips of fresh pasta dough that you can use for different types of pasta, like tagliatelle, tagliolini or lasagna.

FRESH PASTA FOR MALEFANTE & TACCOZZE

Steps:

• To make the pasta dough: Put the flour in the bowl of the food processor, and process for a few seconds to aerate. With the food processor running, pour in the water through the feed tube. Process for about 30 seconds, until a dough forms and gathers on the blade. If the dough does not gather on the blade or process easily, it is too wet or dry. Feel the dough, then work in more flour or ice water, in small amounts, using the processor or kneading by hand.
• Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface, and knead by hand for a minute, until it's smooth, soft, and stretchy. Press it into a disk, wrap well in plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for at least 1/2 hour. (You can refrigerate the dough for up to a day, or freeze for a month or more. Defrost in the refrigerator and return to room temperature before rolling.)
• To roll out the dough with a pasta machine: Cut the dough in six equal pieces. Keeping them lightly floured, roll the pieces at progressively thinner settings, gradually stretching them into strips about 2 feet long and as wide as your machine allows, usually about 5 inches. For easier handling, cut each strip in half crosswise, so you have twelve strips about a foot long. Lay them flat on a lightly floured surface, and keep covered with towels.
• To make malefante: One at a time, slice the strips lengthwise into long ribbons, about 1 inch wide or a bit more, using a rotary pasta cutter or a sharp knife and a ruler to guide the blade. You should get four such ribbons from each of the machine-rolled strips. Next cut the ribbons crosswise into 2 1/2-inch-long segments, the malefante. Sprinkle and toss the cut pieces liberally with flour, and lay them out flat, not touching, in one layer on floured baking sheets. Leave the malefante uncovered, to air-dry at room temperature, until you cook them.
• To make taccozze: One at a time, slice the strips lengthwise into long ribbons, about 1 1/2 inches wide, using a rotary pasta cutter or a sharp knife and a ruler to guide the blade. Next, cut across the ribbons with parallel diagonal slices, spaced 1 1/2 inches apart, forming diamond-shaped taccozze. Sprinkle and toss the cut pieces liberally with flour, and lay them out flat, not touching, in one layer on floured baking sheets. Leave the taccozze uncovered, to air-dry at room temperature, until you cook them.

FRESH TACCOZZE PASTA WITH SEA BASS

Steps:

• To make the sauce: Pour the olive oil into the big pan, set it over medium heat, and scatter in the onion. Cook, stirring, for 3 or 4 minutes, until it begins to soften. Toss in the potato cubes, stir with the onion, and spread them out in the pan; cook for 5 minutes or so, tumbling them over occasionally, until they start to caramelize and stick to the pan bottom. Clear a space in the pan, and drop in the tomato paste; let it caramelize and toast in the hot spot for a minute, then stir together with the onion and potatoes.
• Drop in the celery and bay leaves, sprinkle on the salt, stir, and get everything sizzling, then pour in the cold water. Stir up the vegetables, cover the pot, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Adjust the heat to keep it bubbling nicely, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes start to fall apart and thicken the sauce.
• Drop in the cubes of fish and tomatoes, stir to distribute them, and heat the sauce back to an active simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes or so, until the sea bass is cooked through and the tomatoes have softened and dissolved into the sauce.
• Before cooking the taccozze-right in the sauce itself-I shake the diamond shapes by handfuls in a colander or strainer, removing excess flour. Then I drop all of the pasta at once into the simmering sauce. Stir and lift the taccozze with tongs, separating the flat pieces if they are stuck together. Cover the pan, and bring the sauce to a boil over high heat; cook the taccozze for about 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until al dente. Serve immediately in warm soup bowls.

FRESH EGG PASTA - MARIO BATALI

Steps:

• Pile the larger amount of flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board or countertop. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, oil, and any flavoring agents you desire (herbs, spices, tomato paste, etc).
• Using a fork, beat the eggs and oil together, slowly incorporating flour from the walls of the well. As you expand the well, keep pushing the outside of the mound up to maintain the well shape.
• Once about half the flour is incorporated, the dough will begin to come together. From this point, start working the mass with your hands, using mostly the palms.
• Once the flour is fully incorporated and the mass is cohesive, remove the dough from the board and scrape the board clean. Dust the board lightly with flour and knead for 6 minutes, dusting when necessary. The dough should be elastic, and a little sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest for 30 min at room temperature.
• Roll out dough using a rolling pin or pasta machine. Cut into desired shapes and cook as required by the shape. Strand pastas like fettuccini, spaghetti and linguini only need to cook 2-4 minutes. For cannelloni, lasagne or ravioli, cook as per the recipe.

FRESH PASTA

Steps:

• Beat together the eggs, yolk and olive oil with a fork in a large spouted measuring cup.
• Combine the flour and a large pinch of kosher salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse briefly to combine. With the food processor motor running, gradually pour the egg mixture through the feed tube and let it run until the dough forms a ball around the blade. (If the dough is too sticky to form a ball, add a tablespoon or so of flour and process again. If it is too crumbly to form a ball, add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and process again.) Once the dough forms a ball, process until smooth and springy, 20 to 30 seconds.
• Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead several times, until the dough comes together in a smooth ball.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. (The dough can be made 1 day ahead, wrapped and refrigerated. Let it come to room temperature before rolling.)
• Anchor a pasta machine to your countertop or secure the pasta attachment to a stand mixer. Set the machine to the widest setting. Unwrap the dough and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Wrap 3 of the pieces while you work with the fourth.
• Flatten the dough into a rectangle and lightly dust with flour. Roll it through the pasta machine at the widest setting. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter and feed it through the pasta machine. Repeat the folding and feeding of the dough through the machine 2 more times. (Rolling and folding in this manner will help strengthen and smooth the dough.)
• Set the pasta machine to the next setting (one setting thinner than the widest). Flour the dough as necessary and feed it through the machine. Repeat, feeding it through one more time.
• Adjust the machine to the next thinnest setting and feed the dough through 2 times as above. Continue changing the setting and feeding the dough through 2 times for each setting until you have fed the dough through the second-to-last setting. The dough should be thin enough so that you can see your hand through it.
• If you are cutting your pasta into noodles: Stop rolling the dough through after you have gone through the second-to-last setting.
• If you are making filled pasta, like ravioli: Change the machine to the final setting and feed the dough through.
• Cut the dough in half crosswise and cover it with plastic wrap. Repeat the folding, rolling and cutting process with the 3 remaining pieces of dough. Cover each piece of dough as you finish. You should have 8 pieces of dough total.
• If you are cutting your pasta into noodles: Affix the cutting attachment to the pasta machine. Choose the desired setting and feed the dough through. Lightly toss the noodles with a little flour on a baking sheet to prevent sticking and cover with a dry kitchen towel while you process the rest of the dough. Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, 3 to 4 minutes.
• If you are making filled pasta: Proceed according to your recipe's instructions.