My New Pasta Machine
My lovely boyfriend bought me a little hand crank pasta machine today, after I have been wanting one for so long. I love fresh homemade pasta, its a world apart from the boring dried pastas that you find in the supermarket and it tastes way better than the ‘fresh’ supermarket pasta too.
Before I got this little machine I had been making pasta (and gyoza wrappers) with a good old fashioned rolling pin and ALOT of elbow grease (I figured the effort to make it would burn off the calories gained when I ate it)… which sadly meant that I didn’t make it all that often and I succumbed to the store bought kind. But from now on there will only be fresh homemade pasta in my kitchen!
Pasta is such a quick, easy and filling meal and you can really make it as simple or as fancy as you like. I have a pot in my garden overflowing with basil at the moment so I am looking forward to making some basil and macadamia pesto for my pasta. I have also been seeing a lot of squid ink pastas in various deli’s and would love to have a go at making it myself. The black squid ink pasta looks so luscious and exotic on the plate and I think it will be delightful served with some roasted garlic, fresh lime, chilli and of course some squid.
I have seen all sorts of fancy and intriguing things done to basic pasta dough. I was watching iron chef (the asian one) a while back and the guest chef was rolling tiny florets of broccolini between two sheets of pasta. It made the most beautiful and unusual sheets of speckled green pasta I have ever seen.
Then of course are all the exciting prospects of filled pastas. My current favourite being a roasted pumpkin ravioli served with a sage browned butter. I am also a big lover of cannelloni and there is of course lasagna, which is always a winner.
Here is the basic recipe for pasta dough from the amazing italian cookbook The Silver Spoon
INGREDIENTS
400 grams of Type 00 Flour
4 whole eggs
a pinch of salt
METHOD
Mix the flour and salt together then form a well. Crack the eggs into the well, and, using a fork, whisk the eggs slowly incorporating the flour into the center. Once you have a ball of dough turn it out onto a lightly floured bench and knead lightly. Wrap in plastic so it does not dry out and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. During this resting period the flour will ‘take on’ the egg. Once rested, lightly knead your dough until smooth and silky. It is now ready for rolling in the pasta machine or by hand.
So, over the next few weeks, expect to see a few homemade pasta dishes gracing the pages of bittersweetrecipes.com.