Twenty-seven

pasta dough
Chef Thomas Keller Chapter Twenty-seven

pasta dough

“Pasta is something I really enjoy making

because it gives me an opportunity to
kind of play with the food.”

chapter review assignment

Chef Keller makes a simple egg pasta dough that Every time you make pasta dough, note the
can be used for a variety of filled and cut pastas. conditions that affect your dough, such as the tem-
He also uses “00” flour, which is milled to the perature in your home and the weather. Then note
finest consistency and has the right amount of how your dough turned out. Refer to your notes in
protein for pasta-making. He urges you to do order to achieve consistent results.
the same. Achieving the right consistency in your
dough is more important than following exact
measurements since there are so many variations
in the moisture of the flour and in the air around
you, as well as in the quality of the eggs. When
Chef Keller worked in Italy, he made pasta with
an Italian grandmother who knew the dough was
done when it had the same suppleness of her ear-
lobe. She would touch the pasta dough, and then
touch her ear to compare.

masterclass
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Chef Thomas Keller Chapter Twenty-seven

pasta dough

mise en place method

Ingredients In the center of a large cutting board or pasta board, place

500 grams Tipo “00” flour
250 grams egg yolks (ide-
ally from Jidori hens)
1 whole egg
15–30 grams milk
25 grams extra-virgin olive oil
Equipment
Large cutting board or pasta board
Bench scraper
Sealable plastic storage bag
the flour in a mound. Use a bench scraper in hand, set aside
about 1/6 of the flour. This flour is reserved for if your dough
is too wet, as it is easier to add flour to a wet dough than to
add liquid to a dry dough. Make a large well in the center
of the mound. Pour in the yolks, the whole egg, milk, olive
oil, and salt. With two fingers, begin swirling the ingredients
together, incorporating in flour a little bit at a time, until it
becomes a thick paste. Use the bench scraper to fold flour
over the paste and cut in the flour. Once the flour as been in-
corporated, knead the dough until it resembles a smooth ball.
If the dough is very sticky, add a small amount of the reserve
flour as needed. It takes practice to know when the dough
has reached the right tightness. Put dough into a sealable
plastic storage bag and refrigerate at least 4–5 hours so that
the gluten has time to relax before rolling out the pasta. The
dough can also be made a day ahead.

masterclass
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