What Types Of Pasta Can You Make At Home?
If you have been on our site before, it’s possible that you have seen our post on How To Make Pasta At Home, which gives you the perfect run down on a lovely easy method to make basic pasta.
That said, what types of pasta CAN you make from the comfort of your own home? Well, the quick and easy answer is Any Pasta! Yes! You can make whatever kind of pasta you want to from home – if you can set your mind to it, you can make it!
What we will have a look at here is a handful of popular pasta styles that you can easily make at home to kickstart your thought process on what it is you want to make.
Tagliatelle
First up, we have a fairly standard form of pasta – Tagliatelle, or noodle pasta!
To make this shape, first off you need to have your dough ready, as standard. Then, roll it out into a nice thin sheet – to your preference. Next, you need to roll that back up into a loose log – like a big spiral without the sheet reforming into one solid log.
With your loose log, it is time to start cutting. Measure out your preferred width of noodle, and cut across the log, all the way down, until you have done the whole thing. Unravel each piece, and you have a whole series of Tagliatelle! Repeat as necessary, and either use right away in cooking, or leave them out to dry for another day!
Gnocchi
Second, we have Gnocchi, or Screw Pasta!
Again, with your dough prepared, you can get started. Separate and roll out your dough into thin logs – around 2cm or a little less thick is perfect. Then, cut each log into roughly equal chunks around 2.5cm or an inch long.
With each of these in place, now you want to grab a fork. Yes, a fork. Hold the fork backwards, with the prongs angled down. Take a piece of dough, and press it length-ways against the back of the prongs, and roll it down along the fork to the tip. You should find the grooves of the fork forming indents along the dough. Repeat for each piece, and you have your Gnocchi! Ready to cook or dry!
Penne
Third in line today is Penne, or Rolled Pasta.
Prep your dough, as standard, then roll it out into a thin sheet again. This time, you will want to trim off the edges so you have straight lines, baking a block sheet. Next, figure out the rough size you want each piece of Penne to be (you can go huge or small), and then divide your sheet into squares of this rough size.
Take each square one at a time, you can either do this by hand or use a wooden spoon handle – and just roll the square diagonally (one corner at the front, until the opposite corner has rolled over smoothly, leaving an opening in the middle. Repeat for each square, and that’s that! Penne is prepared! As always, cook now, or leave to dry.
Farfalle
Next up, Farfalle, or Bow Tie pasta!
With your dough to hand, this is very much like Penne – you need to get your thin sheet rolled out. Then, you can use a knife or pizza cutter for the straight edge, or a crinkle pasta cutter for that styled edge, to cut out your edges and squared grid.
Take each square one at a time, only this time you aren’t rolling over a wooden spoon – simple pinch together the middle of each one to create that Bow Tie shape! You can spruce out the wings or edges a little to your preferred flair, just as you may with a real Bow Tie, and that’s how to shape for a Farfalle! Ready to cook, or ready to dry!
Busiate
Finally for today, we have Busiate, or Spiral Pasta.
This time, take your dough, and separate it into short logs. Roll each log out into a thin, long, noodle like log. Arrange each of these into zigzag or slalom on your worktop, and cut each corner to separate out these short, thin lengths.
At this point, you are going to need something solid, round, and thin – like a chopstick or skewer – and with each of these new lengths, wrap around your rod in a cascading spiral, leaving a bit of a gap between each ring. This is because the next step is to roll that rod against your surface, flattening out the spiral into a wider plane, but still a spiral with separation between each ring. Slide each one off the rod as you go, and you are left with ready to use Busiate! Cook right away, or leave to dry as normal.
Final Thoughts
I hope that this mini guide on various forms of pasta shaping has been interesting or insightful for everyone reading at home! Feel free to comment on what you think, or with any styles you have chosen to get involved with! If you have more methods, you are welcome to share those here as well!
Want more from Showing You the Whey? How about having a look at different Types of Gardening? Or perhaps Taking Care of Chickens is more your speed?