So, you think it is difficult to make homemade pasta? Think again!
It is not as difficult as you might think, but it doesn't take time and will probably leave a mess in the kitchen.
However, there's nothing like preparing an italian dish made from scratch - with pasta you made it yourself!
In other words, it is totally worth it!
The first thing you will need is a pasta machine - see picture 2 below.
Then, a few more ingredients - see recipe below - and voilá, the sky is the limit - ok, not really, let's say your stomach is the limit!
Homemade Linguine
Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup semolina or durum wheat flour
2 teaspoons water
¼ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
a healthy pinch of salt
optional: fines herbes or italian seasoning
Start by making the dough. Break each egg into a small bowl and then beat to mix up the eggs.
Next, add the flour and add half of the water and the olive oil. Mix for 20 seconds. If you have a bread machine, knead the dough using it for about a minute and a half. If doing it manually, knead the dough for at least 5 minutes - add the seasoning at this point if desired. Add the rest of the water and knead again, electrically or manually.
At this point the dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Remove the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and set it aside for 30 minutes to rest.
After about 15 minutes of the dough resting, place a large pot of water on the stove to cook the pasta on medium-high heat.
When the dough is ready, cut it into four pieces and flatten each piece by hand. Once you have flattened the pasta to about ½ inch thick, we prepare to feed it into the pasta roller attachment of the pasta machine.
Start with the pasta roller on its widest setting – 1. Feed the dough into the roller and roll it manually. Be careful not to push the dough into the roller, nor pull it as it emerges from the opposite side. At this point, you shouldn't have to make any effort other than rolling the machine.
After feeding the dough into the roller, fold the dough and feed it back into the roller. Do this five or so times to work out all of the air bubbles. It is may be necessary to add some flour.
Decrease the roller width to two and feed the dough into it. Decrease again to threeand so on until you reach he desired thickness - I suggest 4 or 5 for linguine.
You should have 4 long sheets of pasta. Place them, sprinkled with a little flour and folded halfway, on our cutting board or kitchen counter. Remove pasta roller and attach the cutter. Feed each piece of dough into the linguine cutter. Catch the linguine as they are cut and place then on a hanger or rack for pasta.You can cook the linguine immediately or let it dry and store it for up to three days.
Cokk pasta as normal pasta but be aware that homemade pasta cooks a lot faster - since it is fresh! - than the one you buy at the supermarket. Once it is cooked, drain it and pour it into the sauce of your choice.
Toss and serve!
Suggestion: homemade pasta also makes a great holiday gift for friends and family. And keeps the children busy in the kitchen helping you!
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Bem Casados are traditional Brazilian wedding cookies filled with dulce de leche among other fillings that serve as party favors. Once they are ready, they are then wrapped in beautiful paper and bows like little presents. The words Bem Casado mean 'good marriage' or 'well married' in Portuguese. Very time consuming to make but SO worth it! Check these out and make sure the next wedding - who knows, it may be yours!! - has some for the guests. Tradition says that anyone who tastes the cookies will enjoy the same luck and happiness as the newlyweds! Enjoy - both making and eating them!
