Yet pasta prepared by a professional – or grandmother – has a flavour that you can’t recreate. You probably make some mistakes you don’t realize: let’s go and see what it could be and how to fix it.

Despite the difficulties, do you have a visceral passion for fresh pasta? You could turn this passion into a job. If you are looking for a possible career path, consider becoming a pasta technician or opening a fresh pasta franchise store. In the last paragraphs of the article, we’ll see what you need and how to do it.

3 common mistakes when preparing fresh pasta

The recipe for classic egg pasta is simple but full of pitfalls. Haste and inexperience can lead you to make small mistakes only in appearance. Let’s see how to manage and avoid them.

• Do not let the pasta rest. Haste is a bad counsellor. It is the first thing they teach you in any course for pasta makers worthy of the name. When kneading, you have to knead the ingredients for at least 10 minutes; afterwards, you have to let the dough rest for at least 20 minutes In this way a nice glutinous mesh is formed, which makes the dough elastic.

• Dry the dough. While the dough is resting, you must cover it with a damp cloth or wrap it in film. This way it stays moist and you can spread it out without it breaking. Only in one case is it good to dry the dough a little when you have to cut it and draw it by machine. If the dough is slightly dry, the machine cuts it more sharply.

• Spread the dough unevenly. Imagine that you have half noodles with one thickness and half noodles with another thickness: what is the right cooking time? Impossible to say, since each part of the tagliatelle will have to cook for a different period of time. Good equipment for fresh pasta can help you to spread the dough evenly, so as to avoid the problem.

3 errors when preparing fresh gluten-free pasta

Gluten is a fundamental ingredient in the preparation of good fresh pasta. What if a person is a celiac? La Casa Della Farina organizes a course for traditional fresh pasta, but also a course for gluten-free fresh pasta.

The subject is complex, so much so that it takes hours of study to master it. Here, however, we can analyze some useful points if you want to try your hand at the business. What are the most common mistakes when preparing gluten-free pasta?

• Do not denature the flour. Pour a layer of flour into ahead and leave it in the oven for about 3 hours at 90°C. The process is called denaturation and is used to modify the structure of proteins, creating something similar to gluten. It’s not always necessary, but if you work with legume flours it’s almost a must.

• Don’t keep the water on hand. The ability to absorb liquids varies depending on the type of flour. If you’re experimenting with legume and gluten-free flour, always keep some water on hand and pour it slowly. In this way, you can find the ideal balance between powders and liquids.

• Be not very delicate. Gluten-free, the dough is more delicate and it is easy for it to break while you roll it out or pull it. Also, for this reason, there is specific equipment for fresh gluten-free pasta. In addition, using a separate machine reduces the risk of contaminating the gluten-free dough with traditional dough residues.

Refine your technique with a course for pasta makers

With the above tips, you can prepare excellent fresh homemade pasta, even without gluten. But if you want to open a fresh pasta franchise shop, you need much more in-depth skills. You need to learn how to handle all possible variations, whether desired or not. This is the only way to achieve an impeccable result, even when you change flour or use eggs with more egg white than expected.

Talking about “pasta-making course” in the singular is wrong. There are many courses for fresh pasta, starting with the basic courses for egg pasta and dry pasta. In both locations, you will learn the main techniques and how to use the fresh pasta equipment of a real laboratory. Once you have finished the course, you are ready to take your first steps as a professional and work as a pasta technician. If you want to open your own business, you should take a few more steps.

A course in fresh gluten-free pasta is a great way to win an important market share. It teaches you which flours to use and how combining them to obtain different textures and flavours. Another growing market is that of organic pasta, which also affects the world of fresh pasta and requires further specialisation.

The House of Flour, the house of courses for fresh pasta

La Casa Della Farina organizes a wide range of courses for fresh pasta in Milan. With us, you will learn how to prepare tagliatelle worthy of your grandmother and much more. We will teach you how to choose the raw materials and how to recognize the quality ones. In addition, it will be an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the professional fresh pasta equipment, which is difficult to find in a normal home.