Pass the Pasta !

When I think of winter its scarves, boots and delicious, oozy, home cooked meals that are first to thought. The colder nights are a fantastic excuse to dust off that pile of cookbooks that got shoved in the corner to make room for summer cocktails; or in my case a massive bowl of limes so that I was always ready for an impromptu margarita!

One of my favourite home cooked meals is fresh pasta. Theres nothing that compares to the taste and self-satisfaction of doing it yourself! Its not the quickest but it is super easy and so versatile. 

  

I'm going to let you in on my foolproof pasta recipe! Everybody feel very privileged, I haven't even told my mum this recipe!  Sorry Mumma :(

Pens at the ready?? 

For each person do one quantity, unless your super hungry then add another serve :)

-100g of Plain Flour

-1 Egg, Whisked

-1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

-A Pinch of salt

And thats it!

Sometimes your eggs might be a little smaller or the flour might have a higher moisture content so you may have to add a little more flour or oil but this works the best; and I've had my fair share of failed pasta HA!

So here's how you do it...

Combine the flour, whisked eggs and salt in a food processor. Whizz it together for a few seconds until it looks like breadcrumbs. Then slowly drizzle in the olive oil until it comes together to form a ball. If it feels a little sticky add some flour and vice-versa! It should feel firm and bounce back when you poke it.

Once its feeling good, kneed it on the bench until it comes into a nice looking ball. Wrap it in glad wrap and let it rest in the fridge for a few hours. This is the most important part. By letting it sit in the fridge the gluten strands in the flour relax which basically means it's going to be silky, smooth and yummo!

You could put any sauce you like with this, but I think the only way to go is homemade. So when people ask you can say ooh I made fresh pasta and homemade sauce last night! Yes, you can be jealous ;) 

My favourite is just a simple Naplolitana sauce.  

All you have to so is fry off a couple of shallots and three cloves of garlic in some oil until its golden. 

Roughly chop eight large tomatoes and add that to the frying pan. You can remove the skins and seeds - but really who has time for that! It all gets blended up in the end!

Let that all simmer together for about 15 minutes.

Once the tomatoes have gone mushy pop that into the food processor with a bunch of basil and blend that up till its as chunky or smooth as you like it.  

Now it's time for the fun stuff. The great thing about making your own pasta is if your into thick pasta like I am, you only have to run it through a couple of times or a few more if you like it thiner! Just a little FYI if you don't feel like running out and buying a pasta machine, although I highly recommend having one, I have quite successfully rolled out pasta using an old wine bottle and a pizza cutter- It was an interesting experience to say the least!

  

I went for thick fettuccine, the best way to have pasta in my opinion!

  Once the pasta is all cut, chuck it into a big pot of boiling water. It should only take three or four minutes depending on how al-dente you like it.

When its cooked strain it and toss the sauce through. Give it a generous shaving of parmesan, because let's face it, everything tastes better with a bit of cheese :)

If your not in the good books with your husband, wife, sister, brother or significant other this will definitely get you in there. If not I'll eat my shoe! 

Did you guys like this food post?? Has anyone been inspired to make your own pasta at home? 

I'd love to know if you do! xx