Pasta Machine Recipe

Home-Made Pasta

marcato.it/en/academy/recipes/home-made-pasta

STEP 1 - Preparing the dough by hand

Pour the flour into a bowl, then the eggs and water in the middle.
Mix with a fork to thoroughly blend the ingredients with the flour. Do not add salt!
Knead the dough with your hands until it is completely smooth and consistent. If the dough is too dry, add some water; if it is too sticky, add some flour. Perfect dough should never stick to your fingers.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a table, lightly dusted with flour.
If necessary, continue kneading the dough by hand and break it up into little pieces.

STEP 2 - Preparing pasta sheets

Set the adjustment knob of the machine to number 0, so that the two smooth rollers are fully open. Feed a piece of dough through the rollers while turning the crank clockwise or after turning on the motor.

Lightly dust both sides of the pasta sheet with flour and fold it in half. Feed the pasta sheet through the smooth rollers several times, until it is long and regular in shape.

Cut the pasta sheet in two and dust each piece lightly with flour on both sides.

Set the adjustment knob to 1 and pass the pasta sheet through just once; then, set the adjustment knob to 2 and pass the pasta sheet through once more; then, set the adjustment knob to 3, and so on until you reach the desired thickness (the recommended thickness setting is no. 6 for fettuccine and no. 7 for tagliolini).

Cut the pasta sheet crosswise, into pieces about 25cm long (10 inches) and dust them with flour.

STEP 3 - Cutting the pasta

Insert the crank or the motor in the cutting accessory and feed the pasta sheet through the rollers to cut it. Pick up the dough with the stick and transfer it to the Tacapasta.

The pasta dries in about 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature and humidity and can then be stored in suitable kitchen containers.

Tips

Do not use cold eggs straight out of the refrigerator;
Do not add salt to the dough;
clean the rollers of the machine by feeding a little dough between them;
preserve home-made dried pasta for no more than 1 month;
you can freeze freshly cut pasta, but always consume it within 1 month;
cook the pasta in a large amount of hot water (4 litres for every ½ kg of pasta).

Pizza

I used to make pizza frequently, and seem to have lost my recipe. I found this when looking for pizza crust and pizza sauce recipes. I haven't tried it yet, but this looks like a good option. I omitted copying the personal stuff at the beginning of the post.

http://theharriedhomemakerpreps.blogspot.com/2010/12/using-your-food-storage-my-favorite.html

This recipe calls for instant yeast, but if you're like me and buy yeast in bulk, you might only store active dry yeast. No worries! It is simple to switch in between types of yeast.

If your recipe calls for 1 t. instant yeast --> substitute with 1-1/2 t. of active dry yeast

If your recipe calls for 1 t. active dry yeast --> substitute with 3/4 t. of instant yeast 

People generally say that active dry yeast should be dissolved in warm water before being incorporated into a dough.  The warm water does jump start your yeast. If you let your yeast/warm water mixture set for 5 minutes and make sure it gets bubbly, you'll insure that you only use lively yeast.  Here's a secret: you don't really have to do that. I keep my yeast in the freezer and it stays perfectly fresh. I may have to add a little rising time to my dough if I don't dissolve my active dry yeast first, but it otherwise works fine. 

Sheet Pan Pizza, originally published in Cook's Country Magazine

DOUGH:
Cooking Spray
1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1-3/4 cups water , heated to 110 degrees 
1 tablespoon sugar 
5 cups all-purpose flour 
2 envelopes instant or rapid-rise yeast (4-1/2 teaspoons)  OR about 5-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt 

SAUCE AND TOPPINGS:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
3 garlic cloves , minced 
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano 
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
2 tablespoons tomato paste 
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or use 2 t. dry or freeze-dried basil)
Salt 
1-1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese 
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 
Whatever meat or other toppings you like. How about a jar of home-canned ground beef, seasoned to taste? 

1. For the dough: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn off oven. Grease large bowl. Evenly coat rimmed baking sheet with 1/4 cup oil. 

2. Combine water, sugar, and remaining oil in measuring cup. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook, mix flour, yeast, and salt on low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium-low and slowly add water mixture until dough is uniform in texture, about 3 minutes. Transfer dough to prepared bowl, cover with plastic, and place in warm oven. Let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. (If you substituted active dry yeast for the instant yeast, it may take another 5-10 minutes to double.)

3. For the sauce and toppings: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Cook garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato paste and cook until just beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer until reduced to 3 cups, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in basil and season with salt.

4. On lightly floured work surface, use rolling pin to roll dough into a rectangle. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet and stretch dough to cover pan, pressing dough into corners. (I am lazy and usually just press the dough into the pan.) Brush dough with remaining oil and cover with plastic wrap. Set in warm spot (not oven) until slightly risen, about 20 minutes. Heat oven to 450 degrees.

5. Remove plastic wrap and, using fingers, make indentations all over dough. Sprinkle dough with 1 cup Parmesan and bake until cheese begins to melt, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and spoon sauce over pizza, leaving 1-inch border. Bake until sauce is deep red and steaming, 7 to 10 minutes. 

6. Sprinkle mozzarella and remaining Parmesan evenly over sauce your choice of meat/toppings and bake until cheese is golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.