The Vital Ratio To Keep In Mind For Making Fresh Pasta Like A Pro
If you're just starting out on the journey of making fresh pasta dough, there are a lot of things you need to consider. However, possibly none are more important than maintaining the right ratios. Pasta is a remarkably simple food that only uses a few ingredients, and the key to making it correctly is to keep those components in balance.
Whether you're using semolina, all-purpose, or 00, the most important thing is that your flour is matched appropriately with the amount of eggs going into the pasta dough. In the case of eggy pasta, that means you should have 3 parts flour to 2 parts egg being mixed together.
The easiest way to keep track of these ratios is to work in masses. Instead of trying to measure volumes with measuring cups, you should be weighing them out on a scale. For example, if you use 300 grams of flour, you should be using 200 grams of eggs as your starting point. Making pasta takes a lot of practice and instinct to get the final texture just right, but if you start with this ratio, it will at least get you closer to the ideal dough.
Building on this ratio
The 3-to-2 ratio is an excellent starting point, but it isn't always going to produce perfect results. When it comes to nailing homemade pasta, the key is to get the texture just right, and this often comes down to moisture levels. The ratio you use, the air's humidity, and the ingredients' quality can all affect the final balance between wet and dry. As Gwendolyn Richards writes for Food Network, it ultimately comes down to trusting your gut; "Making pasta from scratch is really more about a feeling."
In order to manage this, you must be able to recognize the desired texture of a good dough. The final product should feel like Play-Doh and spring back lightly when poked. To get there, you'll have to start the process of kneading the dough.
As the flour and egg mix, the dough will toughen up. If it feels too stiff after you've kneaded it, then add a tablespoon of water. Keep kneading and check back in with that texture. It might need more water as you go, but you should watch out to make sure it doesn't become wet and sticky, or you'll have to compensate for that with additional flour.
Ratio for eggless pastas
Nailing the texture of pasta is a balancing act, but with a starting ratio of 3 to 2 and a little practice, you'll nail it in no time. After that, there's nothing left but rolling and cutting the dough then cooking the fresh pasta. But what if you want to change the kind of pasta you're making?
That 3-to-2 ratio works great for the classic egg pasta. However, if you're making vegan pasta with just water and flour, then you'll need to make some changes. The best ratio for this style of dough is 2 to 1, meaning 2 parts flour to 1 part water. If you're making pasta for two people, you'll probably want around 200 grams of flour. This means you'll want 100 grams of water to balance the flour out and get the best possible starting texture.
Just like egg pasta, that doesn't mean you won't have to adjust slightly as the dough comes together. These changes are also due to environmental reasons, and it doesn't help to worry about them at the start. Once you get going, you can then decide how to adjust, and this ratio should help ensure those changes are kept to a minimum.