[0 - 1] - I'm Frank Proto.
[1 - 3] I'm a professional chef and culinary instructor.
[3 - 9] And today I'm gonna show you how to make fresh pasta. [dough thuds] [crew laughing]
[9 - 11] at home with eggs and without.
[11 - 13] This is how to make pasta 101.
[14 - 17] Boxed pasta is an everyday workhorse.
[17 - 19] Making your own pasta at home, or fresh pasta,
[19 - 21] makes the meal a little more special.
[21 - 23] It just takes a little time and technique
[23 - 25] in order to get it right.
[25 - 26] [text whooshing] [gentle upbeat music]
[26 - 27] [text taps] [gentle upbeat music]
[27 - 29] I'm gonna make two doughs today,
[29 - 31] one with eggs and one without.
[31 - 34] For my egg pasta, I'm using an Italian double zero flour.
[34 - 36] Double zero flour is more finely ground
[36 - 37] than an all-purpose or a bread flour.
[37 - 40] All that really means is that this flour is milled
[40 - 42] or ground up really fine.
[42 - 45] It supports that whole fine, delicate pasta
[45 - 47] that egg pastas make.
[47 - 48] But if you don't have double zero,
[48 - 50] use an all-purpose or a bread flour.
[50 - 51] If that's what you got, use it.
[51 - 55] And then I'm gonna take my hand and just make a big well.
[55 - 58] Make sure you make this well big enough to hold the eggs.
[58 - 61] If you have a tiny well and then crack two eggs in,
[61 - 63] the eggs overflow, and we don't want that.
[63 - 64] Make it big. Don't be afraid.
[64 - 66] Make a nice, big volcano.
[66 - 68] Whenever I make fresh egg dough,
[68 - 70] I usually do one egg per person.
[70 - 73] So here I have about two cups of flour to two eggs.
[73 - 75] So one cup of flour per egg.
[75 - 79] I'm gonna season this as well. A fair amount of salt.
[79 - 81] I'm scrambling this just for consistency
[81 - 84] and so that my dough is uniform throughout.
[84 - 88] So once they're whisked, I'm starting to bring the flour in.
[88 - 91] Try not to break your volcano at this point.
[91 - 92] If you put this into a mixer,
[92 - 94] you can just throw everything in, turn it on, and let it go.
[94 - 97] But I'm doing it the granny style or the nonna style.
[97 - 100] And basically I'm incorporating the flour a little at a time
[100 - 101] so that the eggs don't spill out
[101 - 103] all over my surface or my counter.
[103 - 108] So once we get to a point where it holds its own shape,
[108 - 111] now I start to kinda just mix a fair amount
[111 - 112] of flour in there.
[112 - 113] What's great about this technique
[113 - 116] is the dough only gonna take as much flour as it needs.
[116 - 120] So at this point, I usually get rid of my fork.
[120 - 122] I use my dough scraper.
[122 - 123] You can use your fingers if you want.
[123 - 125] Now I just start chopping in some of this flour.
[125 - 128] So I'm scraping up all the bits on the bottom of the board.
[128 - 129] Basically, what I'm looking for here
[129 - 131] is that my dough is not wet anymore
[132 - 134] and it's not gonna be sticking all over my hands.
[134 - 135] Now that my dough has come together,
[135 - 137] we're gonna start to knead it.
[137 - 140] Kneading the dough activates or works the gluten.
[140 - 142] And basically, gluten is a protein that gets stretchy
[142 - 145] and springy after you work it.
[145 - 147] Gluten is what makes your pasta chewy.
[147 - 149] If you don't work your pasta dough enough,
[149 - 152] you're not gonna get that nice, chewy bite to your pasta.
[152 - 154] And basically, what I do when I knead this
[154 - 157] is I push down with my body weight,
[159 - 162] push away from me, fold it in 1/2,
[162 - 166] give it a 1/4 turn, push down with my body weight,
[166 - 168] fold it in 1/2, give it a 1/4 turn.
[168 - 170] And I just keep doing that
[170 - 173] until I get a nice, elastic, and smooth dough.
[173 - 174] And this is what I'm looking for.
[174 - 177] Press down. It's gonna spring back.
[177 - 180] That's how I know I have some gluten formation in my dough.
[180 - 181] If you press down and it stays down,
[181 - 183] you either need to add more flour
[183 - 185] or you need to keep kneading.
[185 - 186] My dough is nice and elastic.
[186 - 188] I'm gonna wrap it in a piece of plastic.
[188 - 189] And the reason I do this
[189 - 192] is so that the dough doesn't dry out anymore.
[192 - 193] If it dries out,
[193 - 195] it's gonna get kind of like an alligator skin.
[195 - 197] It's gonna be really hard to roll out.
[197 - 199] If I try and roll it out at this point,
[199 - 201] I'm gonna roll it and it's gonna spring back.
[201 - 204] If I let it relax for about 20 to 30 minutes,
[204 - 207] when I roll it, it's gonna hold that nice, flat shape.
[207 - 208] I'm using plastic.
[208 - 209] If you don't wanna use that,
[209 - 212] you could wrap it in a clean towel or you could take a bowl
[212 - 214] and turn it upside down over the dough.
[214 - 215] That's my egg-based dough.
[215 - 217] I'm gonna let this rest for about 20 minutes
[217 - 218] and then we can roll it out.
[218 - 219] Pasta dough made with eggs
[219 - 222] tends to be a little more delicate, a little richer,
[222 - 225] whereas pasta doughs made with just water tend to be hardier
[225 - 227] and hold heavier sauces, a little more dense.
[227 - 230] I usually refer to the one without as a semolina dough
[231 - 232] because I'm gonna use semolina flour.
[232 - 234] It has a little more texture to it.
[234 - 236] It's a little more grainy than a finely ground flour.
[237 - 239] And most of the time that you buy box pasta,
[239 - 242] it's usually made from water, salt, and semolina flour.
[242 - 244] So I have about two cups of semolina,
[244 - 249] and about 2/3 cup of water, and a hefty pinch of salt.
[249 - 251] Don't break the walls of your volcano,
[251 - 253] and start working in your semolina.
[253 - 255] I love using bench scrapers.
[255 - 257] They cost about a dollar,
[257 - 260] and they're a great gadget to have to clean up surfaces,
[260 - 262] to cut doughs, and they're totally worth it.
[262 - 264] It's a super versatile piece of kitchen equipment
[264 - 267] that costs nearly nothing, okay?
[267 - 268] So now that it's coming together,
[268 - 272] I can see that the dough is just a little dry.
[272 - 275] So all I'm gonna do is add a little bit of water.
[275 - 276] You don't wanna go crazy here.
[276 - 279] If you have to add water, if you have to add flour,
[279 - 280] you do it in small measures.
[280 - 282] You might be wondering,
[282 - 284] can I overmix this and form too much gluten?
[284 - 285] Yes, you can,
[285 - 288] but by that time, you'd probably be passed out on the floor
[288 - 289] 'cause you're so darn tired.
[289 - 291] Your arms'll wanna fall off.
[291 - 292] And we're gonna wrap this
[292 - 294] for the same reason we wrap the egg dough.
[294 - 296] We don't want to form a skin.
[296 - 298] Put it aside, let it sit for about 20 minutes,
[298 - 300] and then we can roll that out too.
[300 - 301] [text whooshing] [gentle upbeat music]
[301 - 302] [text taps] [gentle upbeat music]
[302 - 304] We're gonna start with the semolina dough.
[304 - 306] I'm gonna put the egg dough aside.
[306 - 307] Forget about it for a sec.
[307 - 309] Just, it's gonna be okay. Just leave it alone.
[309 - 311] Cavatelli is basically a smooth outside
[311 - 313] with a shell-like interior.
[313 - 315] It looks kinda like an elongated sea shell.
[315 - 317] Cavatelli tends to be a little more dense.
[317 - 320] It tends to be a little more of a hardy and chewy pasta.
[320 - 323] That's why this semolina dough works really well for it.
[323 - 325] Cavatelli can be formed with just your hands.
[325 - 328] I have a couple of pieces of equipment I'm gonna use
[328 - 329] as, like, options.
[329 - 331] You can see different options for it.
[331 - 333] I'm gonna cut a little piece of the dough off
[333 - 335] and leave the rest covered
[335 - 337] 'cause I don't want this to dry out.
[337 - 338] What I'm gonna do here
[338 - 342] for the cavatelli is just roll this out into a snake.
[342 - 343] So I'm just gonna cut these
[343 - 348] into kind of a little long nuggets.
[348 - 350] I try and keep these at a uniform size
[350 - 352] so that all the pasta cooks evenly.
[352 - 353] They don't have to be exact.
[353 - 355] Just try and keep 'em as uniform as possible.
[355 - 357] Now, you could buy a gnocchi board.
[357 - 359] They're about 10 bucks online.
[359 - 361] But I had a tree go down in my backyard,
[361 - 363] and I made this one myself.
[363 - 364] You can see more projects like this
[364 - 367] on my other channel, @protomakes. [laughs]
[367 - 369] This, to me, is the best way to make cavatelli.
[369 - 371] Pasta shapes are basically made
[371 - 373] in order to hold or capture a sauce.
[373 - 375] So this method, to me,
[375 - 378] not only gives you the little cup that holds the sauce,
[378 - 380] it gives you some nice ridges on the outside.
[380 - 383] So you press your dough ball down and squeeze, right?
[383 - 386] So I'm pressing my dough ball down,
[386 - 389] pushing down and away from myself, and making that nice cup.
[389 - 393] Those ridges and that cup in the middle are the surface area
[393 - 394] that holds your sauce.
[394 - 397] So this, to me, is the more classic shape.
[397 - 400] If you want to use your finger, you can take your thumb,
[400 - 402] press down and roll away from you
[402 - 406] to form that nice kinda cavatelli shape.
[406 - 408] You can see there's, like, an interior shell,
[408 - 410] a smooth outside.
[410 - 411] So that's our nice shape we got there.
[411 - 414] That's our cavatelli with no special equipment,
[414 - 416] just to prove that it can be done.
[416 - 418] Grandmas everywhere been doing this for years.
[418 - 419] It's not complicated.
[419 - 421] Another way to do this is with a butter knife.
[421 - 423] And this one I'm gonna pull towards myself.
[423 - 425] Slight angle to the board,
[425 - 427] a little bit of downward pressure,
[427 - 428] and pull towards yourself.
[428 - 431] The downward pressure lets the pasta kinda stick
[431 - 433] to the board a little.
[433 - 435] It kinda squeezes the pasta out the other end.
[435 - 436] At the end of the day, there's really no difference
[436 - 439] between the knife and the finger technique.
[439 - 440] Some people just feel more comfortable with a knife.
[440 - 443] They get a knack for it. It's kind of a knack thing.
[443 - 445] The next method is a overturned fork.
[445 - 447] With the fork technique, I just take the fork.
[447 - 450] I'm not using it like I'm eating. I turn it upside down.
[450 - 452] I'm kinda giving these a little squish,
[452 - 457] and I'm pushing down into the fork and away from myself,
[457 - 458] just to kinda form that cup.
[458 - 460] What I'm accomplishing here with this
[460 - 461] is I'm making really fat ridges.
[461 - 464] So the sauce doesn't just sit inside the seashell,
[464 - 466] it grabs the outside as well.
[466 - 469] Let's put the cavatelli aside and work with our egg dough.
[469 - 471] For my egg-based dough, I'm making a pappardelle,
[471 - 474] which is a long, thick, wide pasta.
[474 - 478] It's kinda like fettuccine, but, like, triple as wide.
[478 - 480] This is a KitchenAid with a flat roller attachment.
[480 - 482] This makes it go fast and easy.
[482 - 484] I have my dough ball. I'm gonna unwrap it.
[484 - 485] I'm not gonna use it all
[485 - 488] because if you try and put all of this through the machine,
[488 - 489] it's just gonna shred it.
[489 - 492] I'm gonna do about 1/3 of it right now,
[492 - 493] and I'm gonna recover.
[493 - 494] I'm just gonna flatten it out,
[494 - 497] and I'm gonna dust it lightly with some flour.
[498 - 500] We didn't need flour for the semolina dough
[500 - 502] because it's a nice, dry dough.
[502 - 503] This has a little more moisture to it.
[503 - 505] So I'm just gonna put some flour on the outside
[505 - 507] so it doesn't stick to our rollers.
[507 - 511] I have my roller on one. Now, one is the thickest.
[511 - 514] Some people might think one is the thinnest, but no.
[514 - 516] I roll it through with one hand,
[516 - 518] and I get it with the other hand.
[518 - 520] One thing I like to do now is give it a fold.
[520 - 522] And all that this does
[522 - 525] is make my pasta a little more square and even.
[525 - 527] and I'm gonna leave it on that number one setting
[527 - 528] and have it go through again.
[528 - 529] I'm gonna a lightly dust,
[529 - 531] and then I'm gonna go up one number to two.
[531 - 533] Going from one to two makes our pasta dough
[533 - 534] a little bit thinner.
[536 - 537] As long as there's enough flour on here,
[537 - 540] you can go down another one to three,
[540 - 542] and make it a little thinner.
[542 - 544] My goal here is to go from number one to number seven.
[544 - 547] Number eight tends to be a little too thin.
[547 - 549] As you get faster with this and better at this,
[549 - 552] you can just go down the numbers.
[552 - 553] At this point,
[553 - 555] it's starting to get long and a little unruly.
[555 - 558] I like to use the backs of my hands, not my fingers,
[558 - 559] 'cause I don't want my fingers poking through.
[559 - 562] Now I'm down to seven, which is the number that I wanna hit.
[562 - 564] Roll it into the machine.
[564 - 566] If you're gonna do this by hand,
[566 - 567] you would basically roll this out with a little flour
[567 - 570] and a rolling pin, and then you'd need a nap afterwards,
[570 - 572] 'cause it takes a really long time to do.
[572 - 574] So at this point, we can cut this in 1/2,
[575 - 578] and we have two nice sheets of pasta.
[578 - 580] What I like to do to get my pappardelle at this point
[580 - 584] is to flour the inside really well
[584 - 586] so it doesn't stick to itself,
[586 - 588] and then we're gonna roll it up.
[588 - 591] And then I get some nice, even, clean cuts.
[592 - 594] Lay this out flat on a tray.
[594 - 595] I try not to stack it
[595 - 597] because I don't want it sticking to itself.
[597 - 599] You can put it really nice and close to each other.
[599 - 600] All right, maybe I'll stack a little.
[600 - 604] And that is my finished pappardelle.
[604 - 606] So now we have our finished cavatelli and pappardelle.
[606 - 608] Time to cook them.
[608 - 609] [text whooshes] [gentle upbeat music]
[609 - 610] [text taps] [gentle upbeat music]
[610 - 611] I'm gonna cook the pasta now,
[611 - 613] and I'm starting with the cavatelli.
[613 - 616] I have a pot of water here that I'm gonna salt.
[616 - 619] Some people would say sea salty. It's a good start.
[619 - 620] We salt the pasta water
[620 - 622] so that the pasta absorbs the salty water,
[622 - 624] hence our pasta is seasoned.
[624 - 625] If you salt the pasta at the end,
[625 - 627] basically you're gonna have a salty sauce
[627 - 628] with a bland pasta.
[628 - 631] This way, our pasta's seasoned, our sauce is seasoned,
[631 - 633] and it's magic.
[633 - 634] The water is seasoned,
[634 - 636] and I want it to be boiling before I add the pasta in.
[636 - 638] When I put the pasta in, it's gonna stop boiling,
[638 - 640] but I want it to come as quickly as possible
[640 - 642] back up to the boil so, first of all,
[642 - 643] the pasta doesn't stick together
[643 - 645] and it doesn't just sit on the bottom
[645 - 646] and start to get mushy.
[646 - 648] We want this pasta to have texture,
[648 - 650] and if it's not boiling and not moving around,
[650 - 652] it's just gonna mush out and get soggy.
[652 - 656] Water's boiling, water is seasoned. Pasta goes in.
[656 - 658] Give it a stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom
[658 - 660] and it doesn't stick to each other.
[660 - 662] How do you know when your pasta's done?
[662 - 664] For me the only way you know that your pasta is done
[664 - 665] is to actually taste it.
[665 - 667] People will say throw it against the wall.
[667 - 668] What does that prove?
[668 - 671] My pasta is starchy. That proves nothing to me.
[671 - 673] Eat it, taste it, put it in your mouth hole.
[673 - 675] While my pasta's cooking,
[675 - 677] I always have my sauce ready to go.
[677 - 680] The sauce waits for the pasta, and not the other way.
[680 - 683] Have your sauce hot and ready to go in a pan
[683 - 685] before you even start cooking your pasta.
[685 - 687] Now that my pasta's been cooking for a few minutes,
[687 - 689] I have this thing, it's called a spider,
[689 - 690] 'cause it kinda looks like a spider web,
[690 - 693] and it's just a great straining tool to have in your house.
[693 - 695] I usually let my pasta just cool a little,
[695 - 697] and then I give it a taste.
[697 - 699] Perfect. I have a little chew to it.
[699 - 701] The pasta is cooked all the way through.
[701 - 702] It's not doughy and gummy.
[702 - 705] It has some bite to it. It tastes cooked.
[705 - 707] So now, what I do is I take my spider,
[707 - 711] I get my pasta out, and it goes directly into the sauce.
[711 - 712] I don't drain it all that well.
[712 - 715] I want some of that pasta water in there.
[715 - 717] The pasta water has salt and starch,
[717 - 719] and that salt and starch
[719 - 722] is gonna help make my finished sauce a little more creamy.
[722 - 723] So my sauce looks a little thick.
[723 - 726] I'm gonna go into my pasta pot, get some of the water,
[726 - 729] and dump it in so it loosens my sauce.
[729 - 732] So in Italy, they'll cook it about 3/4 of the way
[732 - 735] and finish the cooking process in the sauce.
[735 - 737] So it's done cooking. Let's throw it on the plate.
[737 - 740] A little bit of our chiffonade basil on top.
[740 - 743] And that's my cavatelli with a semolina-based pasta dough.
[743 - 745] I have my pappardelle from our egg dough.
[745 - 748] My water is boiling. I'm gonna add some salt.
[748 - 750] I have my cream sauce here.
[750 - 752] And cream sauce generally gets paired
[752 - 755] with long, thin noodles 'cause it sticks really well.
[755 - 758] And we're gonna drop our pasta in.
[758 - 761] The pappardelle will cook quicker than the cavatelli.
[761 - 763] It's only gonna cook for about two or three minutes.
[763 - 765] I'm gonna swirl it around.
[765 - 767] The pappardelle's super thin.
[767 - 769] That's why it's gonna cook so quickly.
[769 - 772] I like to use tongs for long, thin pasta.
[772 - 774] A spider, usually it's kinda just problematic
[774 - 776] and they fall off the spider.
[776 - 780] So I feel like tongs are the best way to go with this.
[780 - 783] Let it cool off. Give it a quick taste. Ow.
[784 - 788] Smooth, silky, just a little bit of bite to it.
[788 - 790] I'm gonna take a little bit of that pasta water,
[791 - 792] swirl it around.
[794 - 795] It's important to have the burner on here
[795 - 798] because when we add the pasta water,
[798 - 799] now it's gonna be too liquidy.
[799 - 802] We want some of that liquid to actually cook off a little
[802 - 803] and cook onto the pasta.
[803 - 806] So you don't wanna just do this in a cold pan.
[806 - 808] You wanna make sure that it's cooking, okay?
[808 - 811] That looks great. So I get my plate.
[811 - 814] I'm gonna give this a little bit of a twist
[814 - 816] so it makes a little bit of a bird's nest.
[816 - 819] Just get my spoon under it so I don't drip everywhere
[819 - 821] and that's my pappardelle made with egg pasta
[821 - 823] with a cream sauce..
[823 - 824] So there it is.
[824 - 826] It's our semolina-based cavatelli
[826 - 829] with a nice rich, tomato sauce,
[829 - 832] and our egg-based pappardelle with a cream-based sauce.
[832 - 835] Yes, it's easy to use pasta out of the box,
[835 - 837] but when you make someone homemade pasta,
[837 - 838] they know they're loved.
[838 - 840] It feels like a big hug.
[840 - 843] Both of the pastas I made today have simple,
[843 - 845] humble ingredients and a little bit of technique.
[845 - 849] And if you follow the techniques that I laid out here today,
[849 - 851] you will be able to make professional-grade pasta at home.
[851 - 853] [gentle upbeat music]