We make our own pasta dough and roll it out with a manual pasta roller and cutter; it's easy enough we can do it on a weekday evening, and good therapy after a busy day. The dough can be made ahead and frozen in dinner portions, then thawed fairly quickly.
One time we rolled it with a rolling pin, then floured it, rolled it into a loose jelly roll, and cut the noodles with a knife. We happened to let it air dry on the top of a warm fridge for a few hours while we prepped the rest of the meal. This turned out to be some of the best pasta we've made, with an excellent "bite".
Is there a difference between pasta that's been left to dry, versus just rolled and cut before boiling? We tried it out.
We cut the same lump of dough (equal parts AP flour and coarse semolina, and egg) into two pieces. I rolled one out and cut it into Fettuccine, dosed it with flour, and arranged it in a loose nest on a kitchen towel. We let it dry out for about 7 hours.
We got two pots of salted water boiling, then repeated the rolling and cutting with the second lump.
We then put both sets of noodles in separate pots, cooked until done, and served. We sauced some of it with pesto from our garden's basil, but left plenty exposed to try "naked".
The air-dried pasta was more toothsome, and seemed a bit more golden (possibly oxidized?); the freshly cut pasta had a softer texture. They both seemed to taste the same. Interestingly, as the meal progressed, sauced with the pesto, the dried pasta retained it's firm texture, while the just-cut pasta became a bit too soft -- at least in comparison.
Our take-away is that both are good -- we eat the just-cut frequently -- but if you have the time, it's worth air-drying. This also opens opportunities for pre-making pasta before friends come over, and letting it dry until they arrive, then just boil: you don't have to be throwing flour around on your friends as you make last-minute pasta.
No comments:
Post a Comment