Making your own pasta is a fantastic way to add an "authentic" spin on the pasta sauce you enjoy cooking - even if it's only when you cook for your family or partner on a tuesday night!
The key (I beleive) is semolina (sometimes called durum wheat) and you should be able to get this as an everyday supermarket like safeway - either near the flour or near the pasta section. You don't have to use semolina (use flour instead) but the dough ends up less sticky and less elastic when you use it - which makes it easier to work with and handle!
So here goes, get 1 cup of flour & semolina (about 2/3 flour, 1/3 semolina) into a crater shape on your bench and put a sprinkling of salt in the middle
crack an egg into the well and whisk it up, gradually incorporating the flour mix from the edges, but ensuring you don't collapse the walls just yet, or else the egg will take its chances and run away!
once you feel the volcano won't hold it's structure anymore, it's time to put the fork aside and use your hands, scooping flour into the middle to dry up the egg and mix it in
knead it into a smooth ball and then cover in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 1hr to settle.
Use a rolling pin or pasta maker to roll it out flat, then cut it into your favourite shapes. When you're cooking it, you only need about 4-5 min. As you do with instant pasta - taste it to ensure it's the texture you want and then drain it.
You need to put this into your source and let it mix and absorb some flavour - it's the right way to enjoy it. You will see from the pic I've mixed mine into a chopped mushroom, cream and blue cheese sauce, then added parmesan!
1 egg + 1 cup flour/semolina = 2 people.
A new years resolution to improve your cooking? I've resolved to "cook something new every week" and will write it down I go! Should be fun
DictionaryDecember: a quick+basic cooking definition every day this month!
What is folding?
Quite simply, if you see this in a recipe, it means "stir as soflty as you can and as little as you have to!". It's often needed when you beat eggwhites into fluffy peaks and then need to mix that with whipped cream or melted chocolate. You need to mix it all together without popping the bubbles in the egg whites because they are what will make your final product (eg. chocolate mousse) all light and fluffy!
DictionaryDecember: a quick+basic cooking definition every day this month!
What is turning?
Turning vegetables is a technique of cutting into a football shape for boiling. It creates a uniform presentation on the plate and takes some skill. You might see your vegetables prepared this way in a french restaurant. Holding the vegetable in one hand, you hold a small vegetable knife as though you are peeling an apple with the knife. See the picture here for what the result is supposed ot look like!
DictionaryDecember: a quick+basic cooking definition every day this month!
What is absorbtion (wrt cooking rice)?
Sometimes cooking rice involves boiling water and adding rice to that, then straining it once it's cooked. This is fine for rice where the grains should be separate (like for fried rice, or rice in burritos or a salad). But often you need sticky, soft fluffy rice to eat with a curry or chinese food or for sushi. Don't worry, it's easy!
Put 1 cup of rice and 1.75 cups of cold water in a saucepan. Put the lid on and put it on the stove on high. When it starts to boil, turn the electric stove off (turn to the lowest possible setting for gas). Don't lift the lid! Set the timer for 13 min. Once the timer goes off, take off the lid and run a fork through the rice to fluff it up and serve straight away. This works every time!
(with 1 cup rice, you'll cook enough for 2-3 people as rice-accompanying-curry or stir fry in a main meal)
