Pasta Alluovo Recipes

PASTA ALL'UOVO

Steps:

• Pile the flour in a mound on a work surface. Break the eggs into the centre and add the salt. Stir the eggs into the flour, with a fork at first and then with your hands, until it forms a coarse paste. Add a little more flour if too moist.
• Now the pasta dough has to be kneaded. It should be smooth and workable, not too soft but not too hard. Do this in the machine or by hand.
• If the latter, clean your hands and the work surface first. Lightly flour the surface and your hands, and knead the dough with the heel or palm of one hand, pushing it away from you and folding it back towards you. Collect all the bits from the work surface and incorporate them into the dough. Flour the surface and your hands from time to time. After about 10 - 15 minutes the dough should be ready. Allow it to rest for 15 - 30 minutes before rolling, but cover with a cloth.
• Once again, dust the clean work surface and the rolling pin with flour. Take a part of the dough (leaving the rest still covered), and begin to roll it out gently. Always roll away from you, each time rotating the dough by a quarter turn.
• The thickness required is dependent on the type of pasta: 1.5 - 2mm (1/16 inch) for stuffed pasta, and 3 - 4mm (1/8 inch) for lasagne and cannelloni. If you are making stuffed pasta such as ravioli, then use the pasta straightaway. If you are making lasagne, cut the sheets and place them on a floured cloth to dry a little. If you are cutting ribbons, fold the sheet of pasta into a loose roll and cut it into ribbons of the desired width. Open out the rolls gently and allow them to dry for a further 10 minutes or so before cooking.
• If using a machine to roll the dough, you have to force a section of the pasta dough through at a time until the dough becomes smooth. Then you decrease the gap each time through the rollers, so that the dough becomes thinner and longer. Repeat this until you obtain the desired thickness. Then either put it through the cutting rollers to make various sizes of ribbon, or cut into sheets.
• Cook fresh pasta in a large saucepan, preferably with a rounded base. Use one litre (1 3/4 pints) water per 115g (4 oz) pasta, plus two teaspoons of salt. When you put the pasta into the pot, give it a quick stir to prevent it from sticking together (it is only with lasagne, which must be immersed one sheet at a time, that it is necessary to add a few drops of oil to the water). Cooking time varies according to the kind of pasta, its thickness and whether it is stuffed, but home-made noodles and ribbons will take between three and five minutes. Stir the pasta while it is cooking, preferably with a long wooden fork. Always test the pasta when you think it should be almost done: it is ready when it is al dente, and slightly resistant. A little before it reaches that stage, take the saucepan off the heat, add a glass of cold water, and leave for a couple of seconds. Then drain the pasta and return immediately to the saucepan or a preheated dish, mixing it with a little sauce and perhaps some grated cheese. Serve it immediately.

RAVIOLO AL' UOVO

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, Parm, parsley and 2 whole eggs; mix well and season with salt.
• Dust a clean work surface lightly with all-purpose flour and lay out two sheets of pasta about 12 inches long; brush them lightly with water. Equally space 4 dollops of the ricotta mixture on each pasta sheet; then use a spoon to make a "nest" or small hole in the center of each dollop. Carefully separate the remaining eggs (reserve the whites for another purpose) and put a yolk in each ricotta "nest"--the ricotta should lovingly nestle each yolk (if a yolk breaks, scoop it out with a spoon and don't use it).
• Cover the ricotta nests and egg yolk with another sheet of pasta. Use your index fingers to press around each ricotta nest to seal the edges, then use a fluted ring cutter or dough roller to cut around each ravioli (they should be 3 to 4 inches in diameter). Reserve the ravioli on a tray generously dusted with semolina.
• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. In a large saute pan, melt half the butter and add half of the chicken stock (you're going to use the remainder for your next batch); season with salt and toss in half the sage. Bring this to a boil (BTB) and reduce to simmer (RTS).
• Add 4 of the ravioli to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Using a spider or slotted spoon, carefully transfer the ravioli from the water to the pan with butter and chicken stock and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. If the sauce reduces too much, add a few drops of the pasta cooking water. The sauce should cling to the ravioli in a buttery hug.
• Transfer the ravioli to serving plates, spoon a little extra sauce over each one, and finish with a sprinkey-dink of grated Parm. Repeat with the remaining ravioli.
• Mound the flour on a clean, dry work surface. Make a big hole (called a well) in the center of the flour pile--bigger is definitely better here. Crack the eggs into the hole along with the extra yolk, olive oil, and 2 tablespoons water; season with salt. Using a fork, beat the eggs together with the olive oil, water, and salt and begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture. Be careful not to break the well or the egg mixture will run everywhere and you'll have a big fat mess on your hands (and your board). When enough flour is incorporated that you can handle the dough, use your hands to combine everything really well. If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands a bit. When the mixture is homogeneous, start kneading...
• To knead the dough, it's VERY important to put your body weight into it, to get on top of the dough, and really stretch it. Be careful not to tear it--the idea is that you stretch the dough, not rip it. Use the heels of your palms and roll the mixture over itself. When it's done it should be smooth, supple, and velvety and look like the head of a preemie Cabbage Patch Doll. Kneading will take anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes, depending on how experienced you are. (Don't hold back: This is where the perfect, toothsome texture of your pasta is formed. Get in there and work it!)
• When the pasta is ready, wrap it in plastic and let rest for at least an hour at room temperature before rolling. If you're making the dough ahead of time, wrap, refrigerate, and bring to room temperature before using.
• To roll out the pasta, you need to run the dough through the pasta roller a bunch of times to get it long and thin. To start, cut off about a quarter of the dough (remember, the bigger the piece you start with, the longer your dough is going to get), keeping the rest wrapped up so it doesn't dry out. Squish the dough to flatten it--this will help it run through the pasta roller more easily. Where do we start? We start at the beginning! Run the dough through the pasta roller starting on the widest setting, number 1. Then dust the dough with flour, fold it into thirds, and put the dough through this setting two more times. If the dough ever feels sticky or tacky, give it a little dusting of flour. Now adjust the setting to number 2 and repeat the process again--changing the setting each time until your dough is the desired thickness. Once the dough is rolled out, be sure to keep the pasta sheets covered so they don't dry out. Depending on what I want to use the pasta for, I usually stop around number 5 or 6. For long noodles, I keep it thicker, and for ravioli or stuffed pasta, I keep it thinner. All pasta machines are different, so you need to judge how your pasta machine works and adjust your rolling accordingly. Once you get the thickness you want, repeat this process with the remaining pieces of dough.

RAVIOLO AL'UOVO

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, Parm, parsley, and 2 whole eggs; mix well and season with salt.
• Dust a clean work surface lightly with all-purpose flour and lay out two sheets of pasta about 12 inches long; brush them lightly with water. Equally space 4 dollops of the ricotta mixture on each pasta sheet; then use a spoon to make a "nest" or small hole in the center of each dollop. Carefully separate the remaining eggs (reserve the whites for another purpose) and put a yolk in each ricotta "nest"-the ricotta should lovingly nestle each yolk (if a yolk breaks, scoop it out with a spoon and don't use it).
• Cover the ricotta nests and egg yolk with another sheet of pasta. Use your index fingers to press around each ricotta nest to seal the edges, then use a fluted ring cutter or dough roller to cut around each ravioli (they should be 3 to 4 inches in diameter). Reserve the ravioli on a tray generously dusted with semolina.
• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. In a large sauté pan, melt half the butter and add half of the chicken stock (you're going to use the remainder for your next batch); season with salt and toss in half the sage. Bring this to a boil (BTB) and reduce to a simmer (RTS).
• Add 4 of the ravioli to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Using a spider or slotted spoon, carefully transfer the ravioli from the water to the pan with butter and chicken stock and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. If the sauce reduces too much, add a few drops of the pasta cooking water. The sauce should cling to the ravioli in a buttery hug.
• Transfer the ravioli to serving plates, spoon a little extra sauce over each one, and finish with a sprinkey-dink of grated Parm. Repeat with the remaining butter, stock, sage, and ravioli.
• Save the leftover egg whites for another purpose. You can even freeze them if you like.