Welcome to my blog...it's very much a work in progress and something I wish I had more time to spend on. Please feel free to post comments and suggestions and if you have a recipe you would like to share then please feel free to email me on realityjules@yahoo.com.au

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Second pasta maker adventure

I decided to venture into the world of ravioli this past weekend...I had a few ideas about fillings but not a lot of confidence in what I had planned. Decided to wing it and it was either going to be a hit or a huge flop.

Made my pasta sheets, made a filling of ricotta, finely diced preserved lemon, egg yolk, salt, pepper and grated parmesan. It took a while to get into the rhythm of making the ravioli but once I got it going it was great. 5 tea bag sized pillows was enough for each adult.

I served them hot and poured over a nut brown butter and fresh mint sauce and a squeeze of lemon.

Delicious but next time I will be more careful with the ravioli...they got a bit sticky and a couple didn't want to come off the plate I had rested them on.

All part of the learning process...

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Making pasta using bread machine and manual pasta maker

It was my 40th birthday earlier in the week and Mick kindly bought me an Atlas pasta machine with all the attachments...something I have had my eye on for a long time but didn't want to spend the dollars on one.

So today after visiting the library and spending some time on You tube, I have decided that I am going to make the dough in my breadmaker because I really hate kneeding and the mess it makes.

The recipe I have used is on the packet of italian 00 pasta flour I bought from Woolworths. 500g 00 flour, 5 eggs, 10g salt and 1 tsp olive oil.

It's in the bread maker now and is doing its thing. The dough setting is 1hr and 20 mins so I have also set the kitchen timer for 20mins.

Hopefully at the 20 mins mark I will be able to take the dough out and rest it for an hour or so.

This afternoon I am going to unpack my new toy and make some fettucine. We are going to have it for dinner tonight as carbonara. Carbonara is good because all 4 of us love it!

Also going to make another stromboli to go with it. Made one last night and it was lovely.

Recipe for the stromboli was 350g bakers flour, 200ml water, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp of dried yeast. I put this in the breadmaker on dough setting. When that was done I rolled it into a large slab about 5mm thick. Spread this with roasted capsicum, tasty cheese and diced bacon. Rolled the dough into a log, tucking the ends in. I then let it rise for about an hour, cut some slashes in the top and brushed with olive oil. Baked at about 180degC for 30mins. I then turned the oven off and let the stromboli sit in the oven to keep it warm while dinner was cooking.

Cut into slices and serve warm.

Sensational! And tonight going to do with a garlic and cheese filling.

Will do some photos soon and post too!

Dinner is over and the fettucine carbonara was a massive hit! The sauce was just pan fried bacon, eggs, cream and shallots. The bacon fried off then the cooked pasta added to the pan and coated with the bacon fat, then eggs etc then stirred through and the heat turned off.

The above pasta recipe using the 500g of 00 flour is way too much pasta for 4. There is enough left over for 2 people for lunch tomorrow.

I think next time I will make it using 350g flour and 3 eggs. With a more meaty sauce this would be heaps of pasta.