magic!

I made pasta.

from scratch.

magic!

and so delightfully easy! The entire process from ingredients in bowl to strands drying took maybe 30 min tops, and that was mostly bc I didn't know what I was doing and went slow. I wanted to try two different recipes-a white flour one and a semolina to compare, but my sous-chef was more interested in dinner being eaten than made... so semolina will wait...

The dough was retardedly simple. Flour and egg. can't screw that up. I FINALLY used the pasta roller attachment for the kitchenaid (I love that thing), and it was really really easy. Actually we got a little crazy with it, and prob made the sheets thinner than was advisable. Here's an action shot of the dough magically being flattened into HUGE noodles:



SO after the fun with the rolling attachment-we switched to ANOTHER attachment that cuts spaghetti tubes. They were kinda long, and kinda stuck together...but nothing ten minutes of hand separating didn't fix, and the result is this lovely pasta tree!(turn your head)



Now let me sadly admit that yes- I bought that drying rack, and fully acknowledge that was the biggest waste of $15 I've spent on a kitchen gadget in a while. It's raw pieces of wood that barely fit together requiring a rubber mallet to assemble-which instantly discredits the box claim of "folds for easy storage." The only time it folded for easy storage was the year I kept it in the box after purchasing...

Perhaps now- knowing how simple it is to make fresh pasta though, it will get more use. There is the appeal of trying other types- semolina, whole wheat, spinach, pepper, sweet potato... the possibilities are damn near endless. I also have some gluten free flour I want to experiment with (Amy). And how about rice flour tortellinis filled with red bean paste (iron chef dessert idea!) And what else besides eggs can I use? Olive oil? Other oils with flavor? Walnut oil and butternut squash pasta? This is going to be fun...

Of course the other big question-how did it TASTE. Pretty good, much silkier than regular dried pasta. I let it mostly dry before cooking, really just long enough to prep everything for the carbonara sauce. Which is another example of simple combination that is really really good. Egg, cheese and tarragon tossed with hot pasta, and then sauteed ham added. The result is a creamy rich-tasting sauce that not too sweet on delicate pasta strands, studded with crispy pieces of salty pork.



I would love to be able to take a little container to work for lunch tomorrow to brag about my homemade pasta and sauce-but we ate the whole damn pot.

And this is one of the parts of cooking and food that I love. Pasta is simple to make-and really cost effective. But the process-watching it come out of the roller is amazing. I was so proud of it-of this thing that I made from scratch. But as proud as I was, there's nothing left now. And that's cool too! It's great to create something beautiful, and I enjoy the act of creation. But I also really enjoy the ENJOYMENT of my creation...