Pizza Today - July 2021 - 45

Ingredients
Semolina flour is an essential
mandate and prime ingredient for
proper pasta. If you're buying dry pasta,
go with the purest pasta you can find
that respects the craft of artisan pasta
making. Taste test every brand you can
source to root your decision in facts
and not labels. Then go for shapes you
haven't seen used before. Spaghetti and
fettuccini are standard and, in some
markets, expected, but if you want to
stand out, choose something off-kilter,
especially if it's something you love and
can speak passionately about to sell it
better.
For high-speed pizzerias, pre-cook
and bag your pasta to take half the time
from your ticket time. Avoid cooking
too far, as the pasta will continue to
cook once you turn the heat off. I find
ice baths for hot pasta at about half the
proposed cook time works best. Then
once in the bag and after a few hours, it
will only take about a minute dropped
in boiling water to be ready for sauce.
Always test to make sure it's still al
dente. Pre-portioning pasta can go awry
because pasta isn't intended to keep for
days on end once cooked in a bag; if it's
older than a day and smells sour, toss it
and adjust your prep pars.
Fresh Pasta
If you have the means to create
your own fresh pasta, it is significantly
different, more unique, and overall
better. I love fresh pasta. Anyone with
a soul loves fresh pasta. And how cool
would it be for your pizzeria to be seen
selling fresh pasta dishes?
To accomplish this, you'll need,
at a minimum, a pasta sheeter and
potentially a pasta extruder. A sheeter
does just what it says it does, helps
sheet out the pasta to make what
you'll need for lasagna, fettuccine,
linguini. You can use a sheeter or a
pizzeria rolling pin to create one of the
easiest and most popular pasta dishes,
pappardelle. Pappardelle pasta with a
great alfredo sauce will rival the likes
of any fine dining Italian restaurant in
your town, and it's one of the easiest
dishes you could ever make.
A pasta extruder can be expensive.
Also, they aren't set and forget it
machines. It will take some time to get
familiar with. You will want to know
as much about your machines as possible to
maximize the device.
Also, knowing how to use the dies properly
isn't something you're going to want to trust
to just any employee. However, if you take
the time to learn these basic items, it can be a
game-changer for your brand. It will set you
apart, especially if you buy some interesting
dies and make some unique shapes. If you go
to incredible lengths for your pasta dishes,
then it's a bad idea to overload your menu
with pasta items. You don't need to have 45,
30, or even 15 different pasta dishes. Just
because you can make it, it doesn't mean you
should make it. Coming up with three to five
standout and solid, memorable dishes will
be more than enough for diners to sing your
praises.
Sauce
There is no shortage of great tomato
companies at Pizza Expo to see and taste
test yourself. Great marinara is as good as
the ingredients you choose. For Alfredo, you
could buy a pre-packaged Alfredo powder,
but that's not something you, a person savvy
enough to read this far into an article about
pasta, is about to do. You don't have a halfway
approach to your pizza dough so let's not have
a weak approach to pasta either. I say this
because it's too simple to do any other way
than to make a proper alfredo from scratch.
Heavy cream, garlic, butter, some Romano,
and you're there. Feel free to substitute olive
oil or use both. You can buy the cloves for the
fresh garlic and chop it yourself, either with
a knife or a food processor. It's just not hard
enough or worth enough reward to buy premade
garlic.
Stuffed & Layered Pasta
Buying frozen pasta is an easy alternative
for most pizzerias. It takes forever to go bad,
and you just need to boil it long enough not to
screw it up. If you feel the need to sell ravioli
but don't have the time or culinary acumen
in your kitchen to pull off fresh, frozen is
your alternative. The problem with frozen is
anyone can copy you. If you can buy it, your
competition can buy it as well. The only thing
you have to differentiate at that point is the
sauce and presentation.
If you do choose to make fresh ravioli,
my hat is off to you. It tastes incredible, is
inherently unique, and special when a little
effort is applied. It's not easy. You'll need
http://WWW.SMITHFIELDCREAMCHEESE.COM
Pizza Today - July 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today - July 2021
