Play Time

Pasta Making


For the past few weeks, I have been busy doing, baking, gardening, and most of them are severe activities.  This time I need a break, I like to have fun, it is time to play to make pasta, mixing, kneading, shaping and tasting. 

The price of wanting to have homemade fresh pasta is time, the ingredients are simple enough; plain flour, eggs, and salt.  The pasta machine is readily available in the shop, but we don't need to have it really.  Some pasta can be done by hands, such as ravioli, tortellini, tagliatelle. 

I made pasta by hands and a so using a machine, and I think they were successful, but I did not do it very often.  I made pasta dough today:  it is a standard pasta, from it, I can do any shape that I like.  For every 100 g of flour, I need an egg.  The flour for pasta is a strong flour-flour, especially for pasta making,  it can be purchased at any supermarket.

The standard dough that I made today is made out of regular plain flour. 
These are the ingredients: 500 g plain flour, 6 eggs because I have only small eggs, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and teaspoon salt.

The Ingredients for Pasta

Making the Pasta Dough

To make the pasta dough, place the flour on a large bowl and make a well in the centre, crack the eggs into the well and add the salt and the oil.

Use a metal spoon to whisk the eggs and gradually bring in the flour from the sides. 

Tip it over onto the floured working bench, continue stirring, and kneading until the flour is incorporated.

Knead on a lightly floured surface for six minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Cover with plastic and rest the dough

 Cover in plastic, Rest the dough, for forty-five minutes

Now the fun time has started, knead and roll the dough lightly and ready for shaping.  I use my electric pasta making, it should be easy; however, I have not done it for the past eight years.  Just wait and see.

I did it right, followed the instruction, I decided to make thin spaghetti.

This pasta dough is too soft I think, the fresh spaghetti sticks together, and I physically had to separate them, then air it to dry.

airing the thin spaghetti to dry

I cooked the fresh thin spaghetti for 4 minutes.  I served with simple dressing; olive oil, herbs, and garnished with asparagus and Parmesan cheese.  It was so sweet as YUM and delightful.

Fresh Pasta with Simple Dressing
Thin spaghetti, olive oil, asparagus, herbs and Parmesan cheese.

It was a play time; indeed, my husband was there too, I think we worked well together, and we had fun.  Regardless of how old you are, we all are still wanting to play and having a good time just like the children.  In every one, young or adults, there is a child within us. 

Pasta Making,   'The Play Time '  Continues.

Stay Tuned

Susy