pasta sunday

Making fresh pasta with my daughter has to be one of the highlights of my life.  I am working on recipes for an upcoming class and tonight we focused on the pasta itself.  Here are some of the photos… it is always eventful when working with a 5 year old, but certainly never dull!

Homemade Papardelle with Semolina (I’ll share recipes someday, I promise.)

A little A/P flour and Semolina with a ‘well’ in the center.

You should invest in one of these (super serious) fancy egg-crackers, its a good thing.

Drop those beauties in the well, carefully so you don’t bust the sides down.

Incorporate, like your Grandma taught you…

(I even had a little help with photography.)

Keep gathering flour from the well and dragging it to the center.

Kneading pasta dough is not as enjoyable as kneading bread dough… it’s tough work!

TOUGH work!

Time for the big hands to get to work.  (Good picture for a 5 year old.)

Finally, the dough has reached the consistency we need.  It feels like the skin on a baby’s bottom.  (I swear I was in a FULL sweat from doing this, no need to workout tonight. Time out for a clothes change.  Seriously.)

Fresh outfit. Ready to roll out on the machine… Throwback: One of my best friends and little cousin were here this summer during the State Fair where we rolled out pasta sheets until 1:30 a.m. for a big cooking contest that we ended up winning.  Those times in the kitchen are never forgotten, even though we could not see straight!

With some help on the crank, we rooooooooooll.

This is a normal sized sheet… the thickness not quite right, so we rolled it out 1 notch thinner.

I asked: “Please close your eyes and crank until I say stop.  Then, open them.” (Evidently she thought that was one long pasta sheet.)

We cut the sheets down, folded them and made “Pappardelle”, like thick flat ribbons.

I’m dangerous with a chef’s knife in my left hand.  NOT natural.

Pappardelle.  So fun to say, more fun to eat.

She wanted to hold them and said “they’re smooth and soft Mom”.

We used the pasta cutting attachment to make some linguini too.  Plastic hangers make great and inexpensive pasta drying racks.

Sometimes tea towels work too. (Although it is better when the dry air can reach the pasta from all sides.)

Recipes to come, for now… we feast!

I hope you have enjoyed your weekend and are surrounded by the ones you love.

Cristen