Home Made Pasta - Excellent Food Rewards Patience

History of pasta...

Although we think of Pasta as a fairly modern dish it's history may date back 4000 years to the Qijia culture of China, where evidence of noodles made with millet has been discovered.
Pasta was a popular dish for the Romans in the 1st century, which resembled most closely the modern pasta we have today. The pasta was made with durum wheat, as it is today, it was called 'lagane' and was a noodle style dish favoured by the Etruscan Romans. Although It was baked in the oven rather than boiled to create dishes.

Why home made pasta?...

There are so many modern pasta dishes on the market and ready to cook pasta is widely available. It is therefore so tempting to think making your own is too much hard work and that buying ready made is preferable.  But don't be put off - excellent food rewards patience. And modern pasta maker machines are a boon for any chef who wants to make home made pasta.
As with any product we buy ready made versus home made pasta is tastier and more versatile when made from scratch and with the correct catering equipment utensils to hand the task becomes feasible.
A Pasta maker will allow you to work the homemade pasta dough into sheets or ribbons to use in pasta dishes. These utensils allow the simple handling of the dough to easily create all your favourite types of pasta from lasagne to ravioli, fettucini to spaghetti. Making home made pasta is most fulfilling and in a world where we are all increasingly aware of our food integrity it allows us to know the origin of our pasta dishes.

Pasta machines - equipment for catering ...

A popular brand for commercial catering equipment pasta machines are manufactured by Imperia. These machines can either be manual or electric operation and can be used in catering outlets where it is required that 'pasta home made' appears on the menu. These pasta makers are great for speeding up and simplifying the making of dough into pasta shapes for catering outlets or domestic homes.

Pasta Home Made - making and cutting

In order to make enough pasta for a starter for four people you will need 400 g fine white flour (grade 00 Italian flour is best as it is very fine), 4 eggs (you can increase the number of yolks / decrease the whites to make a richer pasta) and a pinch of salt. Put all the ingredients into a food processor and mix to a smooth dough. Turn out onto a well floured surface and knead lightly. take a piece of dough the size of an orange and set pasta maker to thickest setting and pass the dough through the machine to stretch and press it. Decrease the thickness setting each time and repeat passing the dough through as before. Ensure the pasta is coated in flour to stop it sticking. (You can make a smoother finished homemade pasta by folding pasta and passing it through the machine on the thicker setting numerous times if required before decreasing thickness down)
The pasta should be quite thin especially for ravioli. Once you've reached the desired thickness attach the cutting device and pass the dough through the pasta maker once more giving you the desired end result.
Here's a fantastic recipe for homemade linguine in a mussel and tomato sauce with pesto by James Martin.

The final word - pasta...

In 1874 the word pasta was adopted by the English from the Italian (along with the word caffe latte in 1927). So far from being a modern food pasta has a well rehearsed history. Pasta can mean the raw material made with wheat or a full dish made from the dough with sauces and meat or vegetables added. The latin translation of pasta being dough or pastry.

Whatever you create with your pasta enjoy it's history and a sense of achievement gained from knowing that excellent food rewards patience!

About the Author

My vast experience of jobs include working in catering and retail outlets. With my present company Cater For my insight into catering proves to be invaluable when supplying catering equipment to businesses. Having worked at the sharp end in these business arenas has given me empathy with the challenges faced.
A love of both food, catering and writing enables me to explore areas that may also interest other people with an interest in cuisine, either professionally or as an enthusiastic amateur.