Thelife- Danny Freeman is a cooking influencer known as Danny Loves Pasta.
- Freeman told BI the biggest mistake people make with pasta dough.
Making homemade pasta dough can be a tricky, messy affair.
Under-kneading the dough can make it dense, using the wrong flour is a misstep, and perfecting the method has a learning curve. Fortunately, Danny Freeman — also known as Danny Loves Pasta online — has the answers.
Freeman, a lawyer-turned-cooking influencer, has amassed more than 1.7 million followers across social media for sharing his creative dough designs and recipes. He burst onto the scene in 2020 and published his first cookbook, "Danny Loves Pasta," in June.
@dannylovespasta Replying to @amba.hathalia03 Milwaukee! I’m coming to you next weekend for a special pasta tasting event - check my profile for more info #bluey #ravioli ♬ Dance Mode - Bluey
Freeman told Business Insider there are quite a few mistakes people make with fresh pasta, but one stumped his followers more than others.
Having damp, sticky pasta dough can ruin any meal
Freeman said some of his followers have contacted him with their pasta-making questions, and overly damp dough is a popular obstacle.
"Usually, the biggest mistake people write to me about is that the dough ends up too wet," Freeman said. "Even if you follow a recipe exactly for pasta dough and measure everything, there's a lot of variation."
He continued that different egg sizes, flour brands, and even moisture in the air all come into play. Freeman said that when pasta dough is too wet, it becomes very sticky, and all the pieces eventually transform into a "big blob of dough."
"It can be a little temperamental," Freeman told BI.
Freeman tells his followers to be flexible, suggesting they adjust the wet-to-dry ingredient ratio as needed.
"If it's feeling too sticky, just sprinkle on more flour. Don't be shy about adding more flour," Freeman said.
He also suggested flour when pasta dough sticks to hands and fingers.
Freeman shared two winter pasta recipes with BI this month, including a crispy gnocchi
In an article published this month, Freeman told BI that working on his cookbook was a "big project."
"My family ate a lot of pasta those months," he said.
Freeman's cookbook includes recipes for gnocchi, including a crispy gnocchi with Italian sausage and fennel dish. He also shared his recipe for a butternut squash Bolognese pasta sauce.