I gave making pasta my first shot today. It tasted delicious, but it wasn't without problems. :-) I incorporated all ingredients using the food processor method. Once I had turned it out to knead it, I got the same "tearing" effect that another person posted about. I stopped to let the pasta "rest." Once I was ready to run it through the pasta machine, I had a great deal of trouble getting long, clean sheets of dough. I ended up more with weird, oblong pieces that did not resemble a rectangle in the least. Once cut and cooked, it was not able to be seen, but the process was frustrating. Any suggestions? :-)

I think this may just be a case of practice. I suggest making it again and perhaps adding a bit less flour so the dough has a bit more moisture. If the dough sticks as you roll it out you can sprinkle the machine with a bit of flour to help prevent it from sticking.

Good for you for following through and finishing the process. At least you had some tasty pasta after your hard work. Hope this helps. Cheers!

I mean what do they do to make the pasta hard or dry like that? I can store it more than the fresh one.

Good question, the difference between extruded and laminated pasta is quite significant. This is covered in the lesson in the Cooking School called Selecting Pasta" (in particular topic 3). Cheers!

Thanks Dawn that was so helpful :)

I have tried to make pasta by hand a few times with varying levels of success. Still I haven't got it right or easily enough to make me think it's worth the trouble. I'm sure it is and I know it takes practice, but here are my recurring problems.

1) When kneading the dough, it gets tough really quickly and starts to fold into layers.
2) When cutting the pasta in the pasta machine, the pasta starts to back up in the rollers. This has happened more than once and even after I made sure that there was no dry pasta bits left in the rollers.
3) The pasta that I have been able to cut lumps together when I store it in the fridge before cooking.

I'm wondering how to trouble-shoot these - especially (3). Should I lay out the pasta a certain way or mix with cornmeal or something?

Thanks for the help.

3) Yes, lots of cornmeal in-between sheets, to be brushed off before cooking.

2) Make sure to grab the pasta from under, pull and roll at the same time; dough may be a bit too wet, but based on 1) sounds like the dough is not coming out freely through the rollers and catching on to the flap underneath.

1) If folding into layers this means dough needs a bit more liquid.

None of my students, who had similar pasta issues, would ever buy "fresh" pasta now. They had no choice but to practice and solve their issues. Pasta is not as simple as it looks, but once you get it, you got it for life.

My husband loves pasta but is allergic to wheat. Would King Arthur's Gluten-Free Multipurpose Flour be a good substitute for the flour on its own or would I need to add something like xanthum gum as well.

I have not worked with this type of flour before but pasta dough needs gluten or another product to give it elasticity. King Arthur's website for this flour indicates that xanthum gum is used in pizza dough, bread, etc., so you will have to experiment with adding some to make the pasta dough. Would be interested to hear how it works for you. Cheers!

How many servings are in the basic pasta receipt I have a large family so how much will I have to make? can they recept be increased or should ir be made in small batches

The recipe indicates that this amount will serve 2 to 4 (2 main servings or 4 small appetizer servings). You can double (even triple) the recipe but it just depends on how much you can handle kneading as the dough is quite dense. Depending on how much you want to make, you might want to do 2 large batches. Cheers!

Hello:

Today I tried making pasta in the food processor for the first time. However, I used the recipe I got at a fresh pasta cooking workshop - 1 cup AP flour, 1 cup semolina, 3 eggs, 1 TBSP olive oil, and a 1/4 TSP salt - and it was really hard to bring together to knead. I got to the couscous stage, and it felt nice when I pinched it between my fingers. But when I tried to clump it into a big ball and start to knead, it was tearing, folding over itself, and generally hard to hand. In general, I would say "more liquid," but it seemed to be plenty wet given the "food processor" criteria. Could it be that I used semolina? Something else?

I'm a little frustrated because I wanted to put my brand new food processor to work, but alas . . .

Some semolina is a lot coarser, which will not only require a touch more liquid, but also some resting time to give the large granules a chance to hydrate and soften - which explains why the dough is tearing. Wrap and rest the dough, then knead.

Equal parts semolina to flour is not my recommendation, I'd use more flour. Also, 1 TBSP of olive in my experience is too much and can also lead to kneading and rolling difficulties.

I have a very similar (possibly the same) question as Robert S:
3) The pasta that I have been able to cut lumps together when I store it in the fridge before cooking.

Tony M said "3) Yes, lots of cornmeal in-between sheets, to be brushed off before cooking."

My main issue is when I've actually cut the pasta into fettuccine or spaghetti or something. The first cut strands end up sticking together by the time I've finished cutting the last strands. Even if I only have 4 sheets to cut. They mostly come back apart if I agitate them in the boiling water, but not quite as nicely as I'd like.

The lesson suggests tossing with a dusting of flour for the hand cut style. Would this also work for thinner, machine cut? Can I toss the floured pasta in the water?

To prevent the strands from sticking together, whether hand-cut or machine cut, you can toss the strands with a bit of flour (as per the lesson). This is especially important if you are not cooking the pasta immediately.

And yes, the floured pasta can just be added to the water (like we did with the freshly cut pappardelle noodles in the lesson).

Also note, when cutting pasta be sure you do not stack it. Also, if you are storing the freshly-cut pasta in the refrigerator before you cook it, this will also add moisture to the pasta, which, in turn, can make it stickier. Cheers!