I cannot thank my family enough for the wonderful gift they gave me many years ago of the Kitchen Aid mixer. When I first recevied it, I was of the impression that this gorgeous machine will be my companion for all the baking I want to do. Over the last year or so I have purchased accessories that have transformed this machine to a staple in my kitchen. The pasta maker is one of those attachments. Ever since I have started making pasta at home, I no longer buy lasagna, spaghetti or fettucine from the supermarket. I do not purchase any readymade ravioli because I enjoy eating pasta made at home so much more. It tastes fresh, has no additives and the texture is simply wonderful.

I have tried 2 kinds of pasta so far. The first one is the most common pasta dough made with all purpose flour and eggs. I have also tried a dough made with whole wheat flour, spinach and eggs. Both results have been very good. The whole wheat dough pasta required a longer cooking time and was definitely not as smooth and silky as the dough made from all purpose flour. My recommendation from the experiemnts has been to use an equal ratio of all purpose flour to whole wheat flour.

There are some simple tricks to making an excellent pasta dough. There was a lot of research and experimentation involved in getting it right and thanks to this brilliant site, I now have a recipe that I don't need to open a recipe book for. It is as simple as 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 egg plus 1 yolk and salt to taste. This has delivered consistent results every time. To make the dough, you need to first mix the salt with the flour. Then, make a well in the center of the dough. Add the egg and the yolk and mix it into the flour with a fork. When the dough comes together, put it in the bowl of the mixer or food processor and knead it for about 10 minutes. You can of course knead it by hand also but I am always lazy when I have devices around.

When the dough is ready, wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for atleast 1-2 hours. This allows the dough to rest and relax which allows rolling of the dough much easier. If the dough feels very dry, I just add an extra teaspoon of egg white a little at a time. make sure, the dough is not very sticky but the egg white really helps to bring it together. This is especially necessary as you work with different brands of flour which require different levels of hydration.

There is also a specific techinque for rolling out the dough to ensure excellent results. Start with the widest setting of the pasta maker and pass the dough through it to make it like a wide elongated oval. Then fold the dough inwards towards the middle twice or thrice to give it an even shape. Start to roll again with at the widest setting. Use sufficient all purpose flour to dust the dough before passing it through the rollers. This will ensure that the dough does not stick to the rollers. The process of rolling and folding the dough before it is rolled again is called lamination. This does result in a very even shape of the rolled pasta sheets and also helps to patch up in case of any holes.

One the pasta sheets are rolled out, place them on a rack and cover with a kitchen towel. In Singapore I find that if I am working with a small batch of dough, the natural humidity is enough to keep the dough from drying out before it is cut into the shape you want. My favorites are fettucine and spaghetti when I am not trying to roll out pasta for lasagna or ravioli which are my first preference mostly. Now, in the kitchen aid pasta roller, you need to start with the smallest setting and move your way up one at a time. Depending on the final product you want to make you will choose the final setting of the rollers. For lasagna and ravioli, I like to roll it to number 6. For fettuccine, I like to roll it to a 5 and then use the cutter to cut the pasta.

Fresh pasta needs to be cooked very briefly. Drop it into salted boiling water and it usually cooks in a minute or less. So ensure you don't overcook the pasta else it turns very mushy. Toss freshly cooked pasta into your favorite sauce and enjoy. It is just as good paired with some olive oil and salt and pepper with freshly grated parmesan cheese or just ladle a couple of spoons of fresh pesto into a bowl of freshly cooked pasta for a wonderful treat.

All Purpose Pasta Dough

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 large eggs plus two egg yolks*

salt to taste

Whole Wheat Spinach Pasta

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 large egg plus one egg yolk*

1/4 cup spinach puree (blanch 1 1/2 cups spinach leaves, drain and squeeze excess water and grind to a fine paste)

salt to taste

* keep the egg whites separated from the yolks at standby and add to the dough in case it feels very dry

Method:

1. Mix the flour and salt together. Place the flour on a clean working surface in a pile. Make a well in the middle and add the egg and egg yolk to it.

2. Start to mix the egg with a fork and take in a little bit of flour at a time (for spinach dough, add the spinach puree along with the egg). When all the egg has been absobed by the flour, bring the dough together with your hands and work it into a ball.

3. Put this dough into a food processor or into the bowl of a mixer with the dough hook attached to knead it further. Knead for about 10 minutes till the dough becomes very smooth.

4. Once the dough is ready, form into a disk, cover it with a plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours atleast. Once the dough is ready to roll out, bring it out and cut it into 4 parts.

5. Flatten the dough 3/4 to 1 inch thick, dust with flour and pass through the widest setting of the roller. Pass it 2-3 times through one setting. Laminate this dough by folding it over 2-3 times. Pass it through the thickest roller setting twice or thrice. Repeat it through each bigger setting of the roller till you reach the desired thickness. Make sure the dough is well dusted with flour during the rollings.

6. Use the dough as sheets or cut it into desired shapes by passing it though the cutters. Once the dough is cut, dust with plenty of all purpose flour and allow to dry briefly before using.

7. Toss it with your favorite sauce and enjoy!