My wife and I are on a homemade pasta kick. We're thoroughly enjoying experiementing with different shapes and pairing it with different sauces (even adding different things to the dough). We use a basic recipe: unbleached flour, eggs, olive oil and salt. I got the recipe from the Joy of Cooking and, in the book, it says to, "Knead the dough for 10 to 15 minutes or until extremely elastic and satiny."

This 10 to 15 minute kneading session seems excessive, though I do it anyway (much to the dismay of my tired forearms!). So, when you make pasta, how long do you knead the dough? Is 10 to 15 mintes crazy?

Knead until it's done. That's about it. You can "feel" when it's ready.

Also, consider using half all purpose flour (bleached or unbleached) and half semolina flour as well.

Be sure to wrap in plastic and let rest in the fridge for 30-45 minutes before cutting in to pieces and passing through your rolling machine.

fut-

Thanks for the input about the flours. I'll give that a try. When you make your pasta, how long (on average) does it take you to knead until it's "done?"

I make pasta in a food processor. That way you can leave it running while you prepare the rest of the meal. I've never had a problem with over kneading.

quote:

Originally posted by Viognier:
I make pasta in a food processor. That way you can leave it running while you prepare the rest of the meal. I've never had a problem with over kneading.

Kitchen-Aid stand mixer for me. That dough-hook is a life saver!

I agree with the Kitchen aid mixer. saves a ton of time. My cousin is a friend of Mario Batali who uses this technique and recommends kneading as long as possible. He'll turn the machine on and let it run, greater than 15 minutes for sure. alet it rest for at least 30 minutes.

quote:

Originally posted by vino rosso:
I agree with the Kitchen aid mixer. saves a ton of time. My cousin is a friend of Mario Batali who uses this technique and recommends kneading as long as possible. He'll turn the machine on and let it run, greater than 15 minutes for sure. alet it rest for at least 30 minutes.

These numbers are a minimum. I leave it in my mixer for 30 min and let rest for 60. I have tried letting it rest for 30 and found that the gluttens do not relax enough to go through my roller.