Recognising handmade pasta
Fresh pasta reveals itself in its surface, its cooking time and its bite. We show you what to look out for while eating – and what happens in our kitchen on Marlesgrube to make it possible.
Fresh pasta and dried pasta are two different foods, even though both are called noodles. The difference starts with the dough and only ends on the plate: in the surface that takes up sauce, in a cooking time of just a few minutes, and in a bite that gives softly instead of snapping.
In our kitchen
Dough, eggs and rollers
We prepare the dough in the morning, before lunch service begins, and work it through in small batches – large quantities at once can't be rolled out evenly.
The dough
Semolina and flour, eggs, a little salt, nothing else. The dough is kneaded until it feels smooth, and rests covered so the flour can fully absorb the moisture. Only then can it be rolled out thin without tearing.
The eggs
Eggs give the dough its colour, binding and flavour. An egg-rich dough turns yellowish and soft after cooking; a plain water dough stays paler and firmer. If you look closely, you can already tell from the raw sheet.
The roller
Instead of a steel extruder, our dough runs through the roller in stages until the sheet is almost translucent. Cutting is done by hand – which is why not every strand is exactly the same width.
The pairing on the plate
Shape and sauce belong together
No shape suits every sauce. In Italy, it's not taste alone that decides, but the question of how much sauce a surface can hold without the rest being left behind on the plate.
Scroll table sideways
| Shape | Surface and cut | Pairs best with |
|---|---|---|
| Tagliatelle | wide, rough ribbon made from egg-rich dough | ragù and creamy sauces that cling to the ribbon |
| Tagliolini | narrow cut, rolled out very thin | light sauces with butter, lemon or herbs |
| Pappardelle | two to three centimetre wide strips with a wavy edge | long-braised sauces with chunks |
| Ravioli | filled pockets, sealed by hand at the edge | little sauce, usually just butter and sage |
| Gnocchi | soft potato pieces with fork ridges | tomato or gorgonzola, which settle into the ridges |
| Strozzapreti | twisted rolls with a rough surface | chunky sauces with vegetables or sausage filling |
We roll fresh for every service
What's on the plate at lunch was cut that same day. That's why our pasta menu is short – we only make what we can use in a single service.
View the kitchenIn our kitchen
From dough to plate
Once you know how fresh pasta is made, you'll recognise it on the plate too. For us, the day starts in the morning with the dough, long before the first lunch guests arrive.
Five steps lie between durum semolina and the moment the noodle is tossed into the sauce – and each one leaves a trace you can see, smell and taste.
The base is durum wheat semolina, known as semola: coarsely ground wheat that gives the dough its bite. Eggs are added for ribbon pasta, while the egg-free varieties such as orecchiette use only water and salt. It's kneaded by hand until the surface is smooth and no longer sticky.
The dough rests wrapped in film, kept cool for at least 30 minutes. During this time, the moisture spreads evenly and the gluten relaxes. A skipped resting period later shows up as pasta that tears while cooking or curls up at the edges.
The sheet of dough runs through the pasta machine several times until it's about a millimetre thin, with ravioli slightly thinner. Tagliatelle are cut, while orecchiette are drawn across the board with the back of a knife and turned over the thumb. Filled pasta is set individually, the air pressed out and the edge sealed.
The finished pasta is dusted with semola, loosely twisted into nests and placed on trays – never stacked, or it will stick together. It stays in the cold store until service and is used up the same day. Leftovers don't carry over to the next day.
Fresh pasta needs only two to four minutes in plenty of salted water, ravioli about five. It doesn't go into a colander but straight into the pan with the sauce, along with a splash of starchy water. This creates the bond that holds the sauce to the pasta instead of leaving it sitting on the plate.
Our varieties
Which shape for which sauce
With fresh pasta, shape isn't decoration — it's a decision about how much sauce clings to the dough. Rough surfaces hold meat sauces, smooth ribbons suit butter and cream, hollows catch bite-sized pieces.
We're introducing four of our varieties in more detail – here's how to recognise each one and why it appears on our menu with this particular pairing.
Good to know when ordering
