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elleng

(130,156 posts)
Fri Sep 11, 2015, 01:20 PM Sep 2015

When in Rome, Learn to Cook Italian.EDIT

Last edited Fri Sep 11, 2015, 06:02 PM - Edit history (1)

If you go to Rome to dine, you’re getting only a taste
of Italian culture. For a full immersion, you’ve got
to make some pasta and traditional sauces yourself.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/travel/rome-italian-recipes.html?

MISTAKE! After seeing this article, I wanted Italian for dinner, and as not IN Italy and not cooking much these days, picked up a frozen at grocery. Bertolli, NOT good! Suggestions, for better frozen Italian? I do like Stouffer's French Bread pizza.

Thx

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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When in Rome, Learn to Cook Italian.EDIT (Original Post) elleng Sep 2015 OP
I will give you some recipes for proper Italian pasta and sauces. Fortinbras Armstrong Sep 2015 #1
I really have time to give you only one sauce recipe, Pasta With Gorgonzola Fortinbras Armstrong Sep 2015 #2
Thanks. elleng Sep 2015 #3
You want a Pasta and Sausage recipe? Fortinbras Armstrong Sep 2015 #4
Thanks. Made my own last night, elleng Sep 2015 #5

Fortinbras Armstrong

(4,473 posts)
1. I will give you some recipes for proper Italian pasta and sauces.
Sat Sep 12, 2015, 04:33 AM
Sep 2015

First, a few words about fresh pasta.

Some say that fresh pasta is better than dried pasta. These people are wrong; it’s like saying that a Russet potato is better than a Yukon Gold. However, avoid “fresh pasta” sold in grocery stores. Fresh pasta should be eaten within a day or two of its making, and the stuff in the grocery case may have been there for weeks. Besides, home-made fresh pasta tastes better.

The first rule of pasta dough is you do not talk about pasta dough – sorry, that's another set of rules. The actual first rule is flour should be measured by weight, not volume. If you do not own a scale, the rule of thumb is a pound of flour is 3½ packed-down cups, and half a pound is 1¾ cups.

Making fresh pasta is much easier if you have a pasta rolling machine. They cost about $50, and will last for years with proper care. I regularly use the Atlas I bought about 35 years ago. Do not put the machine in water, as the gears will rust. If you don't have a pasta machine, you can roll it by hand – which is a good way of developing the muscles in your forearms.

Some put olive oil in pasta dough, some put in salt. I do neither. For example, if I’m making fettuccine alfredo, I don’t want the taste of olive oil. Cooking the pasta in salted water will salt it properly.

There are several types of flour used to make pasta. The first is doppio zero (“00” or “double zero”). This is very finely ground, relatively low protein (11.5-12.5 percent) flour which yields smooth dough. You can find imported doppio zero at some specialty stores, and King Arthur sells it as “Italian Style” flour.

There is all-purpose flour, which has about the same protein percentage as doppio zero and can readily be substituted. Use unbleached flour, because it tastes better.

The third type is made from high protein wheat, which Italians call farina Manitoba “Manitoba flour” – a name unknown in Canada; or “strong flour” in Britain; or “bread flour” or “semolina flour” in the US.

Any one of these three will give you excellent pasta. I like to use a half-and-half combination of all-purpose flour and bread flour.

There are some other flours used in pasta making, but I shall not do more than mention buckwheat flour, which I associate with Japanese soba noodles, not Italian pasta. Chestnut flour is sometimes used in extreme northern Italy.

The flour and the eggs should be at room temperature, so if you refrigerate either one, take it out half an hour or so before you make the pasta. Warm flour absorbs warm liquid better, and room temperature eggs are easier to separate.

The first ingredient list makes a small amount, satisfactory for one pot of chicken noodle soup. The second list will give you somewhat more than ½ pound of dough. The third makes somewhat more than a pound.

First ingredient list
5 ounces flour
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks

Second ingredient list
8 ounces flour
2 whole eggs
3 egg yolks

Third ingredient list
16 ounces flour
3 whole eggs
5 egg yolks

Keep the extra egg whites. If the dough is too dry, you have some liquid to add. If it's too wet, add flour. The exact ratio of egg to flour depends on mainly on two things: The humidity of the air and the size of the egg (the USDA defines large eggs as weighing between 2 ounces – 57 grams – and 2¼ ounces – 64 grams). Incidentally, egg whites freeze very well.

Put the flour in a mound on the table and make a well in the center. Put the eggs and yolks in the well and start mixing them together. When the dough has formed, knead it for at least five minutes, ten would be even better. The second rule of pasta dough is that it is impossible to over-knead it.

You can cheat and use either a stand mixer or a food processor. If you use a stand mixer, start with the flat beater until the dough comes together and then switch to the dough hook. With a food processor, if I were making a pound of dough, I would make it in two batches to avoid burning out the motor. In either case, mix the dough for at least five minutes.

However, I prefer to knead by hand, since the way the dough feels tell you if it is too dry or too wet, and if it is kneaded enough. When it feels smooth and all (or almost all) the flour has been taken into the dough, it is kneaded enough.

Wrap it in plastic film or put it into a covered bowl and let it rest for at least 15 minutes; half an hour is better, and two hours is not too long. You may read that this rest is to “relax the gluten,” but the real reason is to allow the flour to absorb the liquid. The dough will be far easier to work after it has rested.

Assuming you have a pasta machine, cut the dough into two or more pieces and run it through. The first few times through, fold the dough on itself and keep running through the number 1 setting until you have a smooth dough; three or four times should do. If it sticks to the rollers, dust it with some flour. Then increase the setting and run it through each one in turn. Number 6 should probably be the last setting.

If you do not have a pasta machine, take out the rolling pin and start rolling. You want to end up with dough so thin that if you hold it up and put your hand behind it, you can see what looks like the shadow of your hand.

Cut it into pieces appropriate for your use – for example, lasagna should be as long as the baking dish and three or so inches wide. I use a pizza cutter with a plastic wheel to cut pasta, as it will not scratch the surface I am cutting on.

To cook fresh pasta, put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Have a large bowl of ice water next to it to shock the pasta after it cooks. Put the pasta into the boiling water, and cook it from 30 seconds to no more than a minute. Shock it in the ice water, and then put it on a towel or some other cloth (I have a tablecloth made from what is essentially thin canvas that works perfectly) to drain.

Uncooked fresh pasta will keep in the fridge for no more than a day. On the second day, it will turn a muddy yellow, although it will still taste OK. I don’t know if it will last longer than a second day without starting to go bad, and I don’t think I want to find out.

Fortinbras Armstrong

(4,473 posts)
2. I really have time to give you only one sauce recipe, Pasta With Gorgonzola
Sat Sep 12, 2015, 04:58 AM
Sep 2015

The title is a bit of a misnomer, since while gorgonzola is traditional, you can use any blue cheese in it. I don’t make this one very often, because my wife doesn’t like the taste of blue cheese. It is, however, very simple to make, and delicious if you like blue cheese. The parsley is there merely to give color to what would otherwise be a completely white dish, so fresh parsley would be preferable.

2 cups half-and-half
4 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, smashed (or more if you really like garlic)
1 small onion or shallot, minced
½ cup crumbled gorgonzola or other blue cheese
½ cup grated parmesan
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon minced parsley
1 pound dried pasta, such as penne rigate

While the salted water for pasta is coming to the boil, melt the butter in medium heat in a saucepan large enough to hold all the pasta and the sauce. Add the onion/shallot and sauté for a couple of minutes until it begins to soften. Add garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds. Pour in half and half, cooking until it starts to simmer. Whisk in the cheeses until they melt (the blue cheese will take longer). Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat down to a low simmer.

Cook the pasta to a minute less than the directions on the box tell you, since the pasta will cook further in the sauce. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and put it in the pot with the sauce. Add the parsley. Toss the sauce and the pasta together for a minute. Serve immediately.

elleng

(130,156 posts)
3. Thanks.
Sat Sep 12, 2015, 01:40 PM
Sep 2015

HATE blue cheeses! And sure as hell not making PASTA! DO have decent sauce recipes, and may cook this weekend. Have a good Ital sausage w pasta recipe stored in my memory bank. Going to see if neighbor's garden still has basil.

Fortinbras Armstrong

(4,473 posts)
4. You want a Pasta and Sausage recipe?
Sun Sep 13, 2015, 07:53 AM
Sep 2015

This will sauce about half a pound of pasta; I would choose either penne or fusili. You can use ether hot sausage or sweet sausage, I have even used bratwurst.

¾ pound Italian sausage
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped or a 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes with juice
1 small yellow onion, sliced thinly
¼ pound mushrooms (crimini if you have some), sliced thinly
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup dry marsala
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
Parmesan, grated

Split the sausage casings open and crumble the meat. Heat a large skillet with a tablespoon of the oil. Put the sausage in the skillet and lightly brown over medium heat. Remove the sausage from the skillet and put aside.

Sauté the onions until they brown, then add the mushrooms and sauté for another minute or two. Return the sausage to the pan and add the tomatoes. Pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Pour in the tomato juice and enough water to equal about a cup. Season with salt, pepper and marjoram. Bring back to a boil, then cover and simmer covered for about 20 minutes. Remove the cover, raise the heat and reduce the liquid until the sauce thickens.

Cook the pasta until almost al dente. When the pasta is nearly done, drain it, then add to the sauté pan with the sauce. Toss the pasta in the sauce until well coated. Remove from heat, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the pasta. Top with grated parmesan and serve.

elleng

(130,156 posts)
5. Thanks. Made my own last night,
Sun Sep 13, 2015, 11:21 AM
Sep 2015

with fresh basil which is even now discernible through the house. Friend's on her way!

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