Two Basic Pasta Doughs

This post is going to cover my favorite flour, and how I did the pasta from my manual pasta machine. Most dried pasta is made from durum wheat flour but this flour isn't available in many stores or supermarkets. I think properly due to this reason, some home-made recipes so use plain/all-purpose flour (from different wheat). Durum is the hardest of all wheat. Its high protein content and gluten strength make durum good for pasta (firmer). And durum has a yellow endosperm, which gives pasta a pretty yellow hue. Some Indian flat bread is also made from durum wheat (chappati flour), and I have seen chappati at supermarket. But since the Italian grocery in my town sells durum flour, I naturally buy it from him. About my pasta machine, the instruction states never use water to clean; the machine won't work properly once it gets rust. If your area always stays humid, you may like to store the machine in air-tight box with moisture-absorbing packs. After I done with my machine, I just dust off the bites with a brush or cloth, and keep it in pantry as the humidity here is always very low.

Fresh pasta always includes egg, I don't know if there's some kind of science laying behind, or just a tradition. If you have any clue, please let me know :D

1st Recipe: Basic Pasta Dough (yield 6 servings for the main course)

• 3 cups durum wheat flour (= fine semolina flour)*
• 1 cup bread/ unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt
• +/- 1 1/4 cup water

Combine the above ingredients, knead until it smooth. Rest dough for 1 hour at room temperature before rolling and shaping. Or you can keep it in fridge for 1 day. Please refer egg pasta's direction in the below for making pasta from pasta machine.

2nd Recipe: Basic egg pasta (yield 4 servings for the main course)

• 2 1/2 cups durum wheat flour/ all-purposed flour/ or mix *
• 4 eggs
• a pinch of salt
• a few dashes of milk as needed

Directions (note: always give your dough some rest between rolling)

• Well combine flour, egg and salt, the dough should be soft but not stick. Knead until it smooth. Wrap, rest for 1 hour in room temperature.
• Divide the dough into 4 portions. Always cover on those you aren't working on. Slightly dust the work table with flour, start from the small dough #1, use a rolling pin to roll it slightly flatten toward a rectangle shape, get the width as close to your pasta machine's as possible. Cover. Work on #2, and so on. You may repeat the same procedure again, starting from #1 if your dough didn't spread well enough. The idea of working in such sequence is to give each of dough a good rest (if the gluten in your dough too tense, it refuses to spread)
• Set your machine with the widest setting, start from dough #1, go through, cover, continue #2 and so on. Then proceed to next setting, the procedure the same, until you get your desired thickness.
• If I'm going to use noodle cutter, I like to hang the flat sheet dry for 3 minutes, this way the noodles will come out more easier. The egg pasta freezes well.

* The best way to learn the difference between durum wheat flour and all-purpose flour is to make dough from them respectively; to see, feel and taste the difference. In general, the former yields a firmer texture with a pronounced bite while the latter more tender and delicate. Feel free to experiment and accomplish versatility in the kitchen.