today, on a whim, i decided to make pasta. i’ve been threatening to make it since the remodeling of our kitchen (in our OLD house, back in the spring of 2002). i remember staring at the chaos that was our kitchen/dining room (the dining room being 10×10 room which at the time housed our oven and refrigerator and the contents of the ONE cabinet in the old kitchen) and i said outloud (to nobody in particular, because when chaos rules, you kinda start talking to the air), “when this kitchen is complete, i’m making pasta from scratch, on my new counter tops.”
and today…that dream came true. just in a different kitchen.
i used the recipe for it from The Joy of Cooking and i have to admit that after seeing “Julie and Julia,” I have a different opinion of Irma Rombauer altogether. Anyone else have that now? Even though I see her in a different light, I still find her cookbook incredibly useful. The recipe was very easy to follow along and the boys had so much fun helping me.
when cooked, the pasta is AMAZING. it’s exactly what you want to taste when you open a box of pasta but it always falls short of “perfecto flavoro” (yeah, that’s all the Italian i speak – ha!). homemade pasta is fresh, chewy…dense, yet fluffy somehow, and oh-so-fresh.
pasta dough doesn’t come together easily, like bread dough. you have to really work to get it from lumpy and wet to smooth and elastic, but it’s worth the work, and i can’t wait to make it again! i only had time to roll out and cut half of the recipe (55 minutes) but it boiled in 4.5 minutes and we all enjoyed a bowl of just plain pasta with a dash of salt on it for an afternoon snack. we devoured it. even my picky 6-year-old ate his entire bowl. i hope the remaining balls of dough keep in the fridge until tomorrow’s afternoon snack at least!
i plan to make it for a good dinner one day, a dinner that includes guests and a full days’ worth of prep time!
i am planning, hopefully in the warmer days ahead, to have a “pasta-making party.” it will involve friends, lots of flour, eggs, rolling pins, red wine and andrea bocelli. or puccini. who’s in?
HEAVENLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oooh, me, me!! You may have to give a day’s notice, though.
You know, if you get into the groove making it one day and you feel like making a bunch, you can just flash freeze it on cookie sheets. Then you can always just take out what you need from the freezer. Not so much immediate gratification, but it’s nice to have on hand.
Have a great time!
wouldn’t that Be FUN, april? maybe we can each host a pasta-making-party at our homes and blog about them. otherwise, you’re so invited to mine!
im in!! i love pasta, wine and bocelli (loud)!!!
I got a kids pasta maker plastic thingy that we’ve used a couple times. It’s pretty fun, though it does take so much time. But, the plastic thingy comes with some different shapes, which makes it interesting.
Heh – this must be the first time I’ve commented since your newest blog change. “sing to me”. Nice.