Well, it is not exactly earth-shattering news. Don't stop the presses sort of thing! But, I've never made pasta and I've always heard that it was hard to make. I've always wanted to do it. So I bought the book "The Complete book of Pasta and Noodles" - sort of the "everything you wanted to know about pasta but were afraid to ask"! It is a HUGE book. Trust me, only the first couple of chapters deal with actually making noodles, the rest are pretty much pasta recipes!
My good friend, old camp cook, sent me a pasta machine. So today was a good day to give it a test run. The recipe is so simple!
2 cups all purpose flour (either bleached or unbleached)
3 large eggs, beaten
That's it! Throw this all together in your food processor, pulse it for about 30 seconds until the dough comes together (if it doesn't, add 1/2 teaspoon of water at a time), take the dough out of the food processor, knead it on a clean surface for about 2 minutes, cover the dough and let it "rest" for about an half hour.
Follow the instructions on your pasta machine. I found out the hard way that you really need a pasta drying rack. Oh well, live and learn. Off to ebay to find a drying rack. Looks like homemade pasta for dinner tonight!
NEVER buy what you can improvise!
ReplyDeleteGrab a big handful of your wooden spoons. Stick the spoon part inside any available drawer and close the drawer so it holds the spoon in place.
Drape your pasta over the handles. Voila, an instant drying rack!
I also line them spoons up on the edge of my work surface and put a weight (books, filled bowls, etc) on the spoon part. The handles stick out so you can drape the pasta on them. Voila - money saved!