If you are familiar with my recipe for Pie Dough in 60 Seconds, then you will be happy to know that you can do the same thing with pasta dough. I make this dough in a food processor and it takes about 60 seconds. I'm going to give you step by step photos to show you how to make a pasta shape called garganelli and even a little video to make it easy (scroll to bottom of post for video). All you need are two ingredients - flour and eggs. You could make it today!
Garganelli is a tube shaped pasta and it resembles penne but there are two big differences: penne is extruded, so there is no seam. This pasta is rolled and so there is a seam. Also, the ridges in penne run parallel to the length of the pasta and with garganelli, the ridges run perpendicular to the length. This pasta is just a little more rustic. Garganelli is rolled on a gnocchi board, which gives it wonderful ridges for sauce to cling to. You will also need a little dowel - I've used ¼ inch dowel and I like the size pasta that gives me.
You just need flour and eggs to make this easy dough. I use large or extra large eggs and I use Caputo Italian 00 flour, which is a high protein but finely milled flour. If you don't have it, you can just use regular unbleached All Purpose flour.
Making the dough is a breeze in your food processor - simply crack the eggs into the bowl of the processor, pulse a couple of times, add about three quarters of your flour, pulse and then keep adding flour until the dough gathers up into a nice ball. That's about 60 seconds. Super fast and my favorite way of making pasta dough. If you prefer to do it on the counter or a bowl or a mixer, you can certainly do that also.
It just takes 60 seconds in the food processor to make pasta dough
Homemade Garganelli Pasta
for a printable recipe, click here
You will need a gnocchi board and a small dowel - I used a ¼" dowel.
makes 55 - 60 garganelli, about 12 ounces of pasta (enough for 4 people). How many you make depends on how thinly you roll out the pasta and how large you make them.
2 whole large eggs
2 egg yolks
1½ cups of Italian 00 flour (use regular unbleached AP flour if you cannot get this)
My favorite way to make the dough is in a food processor: Place the eggs in a food processor and pulse twice. Add about ¾ of the flour and pulse until blended. Keep adding the rest of the flour until the dough gathers up into a ball. If the dough is still sticky, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time and pulse, until the dough comes together and gathers up in a ball and is not so sticky. It should be moist but not sticky enough that it comes off on your hands. Place in a floured piece of plastic wrap and let rest on the counter for at least 20 minutes.
Flour two rimmed baking sheets and have them ready for the assembled pasta.
Roll the dough out using pasta rollers. I do mine with my KitchenAid pasta rollers but you can use a hand crank machine also. Roll one sheet out at a time so that the sheets don't dry out. Keep the remaining pasta dough wrapped in plastic. Roll the sheet out, starting at the widest setting. Pass the sheet three times through this widest setting then just once on the other settings. Keep passing the sheet through and narrowing the rollers every time you pass the sheet through. I rolled my sheets out to the #6 setting on my KitchenAid rollers. Flour the sheet a little if it sticks to the pasta rollers. Do not overflour the sheet though and dry it out.
With a sharp knife, cut the sheets into 2 inch squares. Keeping the squares under plastic wrap so they don't dry out, take one square and place on your gnocchi board so it lays in a diamond shape. With the dowel, press on either the bottom or top point of the square and start rolling it around the dowel. The gnocchi board will press ridges into the pasta. After the pasta square is completely rolled up, remove from dowel and place on the floured baking sheet. You do not have to cover the finished garganelli.
Continue until all the garganelli are made. The pasta can sit on the baking sheets until you are ready to cook them. All you need to do is boil them in salted water for a couple of minutes - taste one and see if the tenderness is to your liking. Serve with sauce of your choice.
