A lot of pasta recipes will tell you to use fine flour and eggs, with just the tiniest amount of water. I don't want, nor do I need, egg noodles. In fact, you don't even need to use eggs at all.
You DO NOT need to add an egg. This is a lie. Do not believe anyone who says you have to add an egg. You can if you want, but flour and water are going to work just fine. You just need to be patient.
Start with three cups of flour, 2/3 cup of water, and, fine, one large egg. Pour the flour in to a glass bowl, and make a little dent in the center for the egg. Crack that in, and slowly fold in the flour with a fork. While you continuously fold, slowly pour in the water. Here's the thing, you can add a bunch of eggs right at first and then mix as fast or as slow as you want, but then you have all that stupid egg yolk cholesterol. You are already eating so many starchy carbs, do you really want to throw that in to the mix? No. So add the water really, really slowly. And keep folding.
Dust your hands liberally with flour and start to knead. This will take a good ten minutes, so make sure you have a tv show or podcast or something to keep your attention. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Seriously, if it tears while you roll it, just go right on kneading.
If you are unlucky, this will be the time to bring out your rolling pin and get to gettin'. If, however, you are smart and fun to be around, you will have a pasta roller. Starting on the thickest setting, roll out 3inx6in sheets of dough. Then go down a setting, and roll out each of these sections. Continue until the sheets are your desired noodle thickness, remembering that pasta will plump almost double while cooking. Now you can either slice the noodles yourself, or pull out the handy guide that does it for you, attached to your pasta roller. (Seriously, Ned and Mooshe, this is the best present ever!)
Fresh pasta only needs to be boiled for about 3 minutes to be al dente. Serve immediately with a rich tomato or cheese sauce. This particular batch, made at midnight during a pretty bad bout of insomnia, was eaten directly from the pot while watching reruns of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Ahh, Italian...
Those look so yummy and I bet they taste so much better than store bought, but I'm not much into making my own.
ReplyDelete"Making my own" is sort of the whole point.
ReplyDeleteSucre a la creme
ReplyDelete2 cups brown sugar
1 cup %35 cream
Put in pan, bring to boil while mixing. Boil about 5 minute, slowly, until when you drop a little in a cold cup of water it makes a ball. Take away from heat and mix it rapidly with a wooden spoon or mixer for about 2 minutes and pour in glassware. You can add peanuts or nuts before it sets.
This is the taste of my childhood. Specifically, visiting my Canadian relatives for holiday parties. Can you make it better?