A few weekends ago I went to Rome with my 2 girlfriends and they decided to book us a pasta making class in an Italian restaurant that the girls coincidentally walked past the day before – and I thought, hey why not, when in Rome 🙂
So a few nights ago when I was doing my weekly grocery shopping, I felt like cooking Italian food, and instead of buying the normal instant pasta, I consciously went to the baking aisle and bought plain flour instead. I thought I could use my newly learnt cooking skills and share it with you so here goes! NOTE: this recipe is good for those who have an egg allergy or just don’t like eggs in general.
Ingredients:
2 cups of Plain Flour (I chose Wallace and Gromit plain flour just because…)
1/2 cup of Water
Salt
Serve: 2 hungry people
Time: 1 hour preparation, 5-10 minutes cooking (extra time for making your desired pasta sauce)
Directions:
First step is to make a mound on the counter / chopping board (I luckily have a chopping board attached to my kitchen counter) with the flour and create a well in the centre.
First step is to create a mound of flour
Slowly start pouring in the water into the well and start mixing it with the flour either with your hand or a fork. I used a fork first until it gets too sticky and then I used my hands.
Uh oh… a quick snapshot before the water leaks too far!
Keep on mixing and begin to knead the dough until it looks smooth. You may need more or less water, depending on the humidity in your kitchen.
Shape the pasta dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic cling wrap and let it sit for around 20 minutes.
My pasta dough ball sitting nicely on the counter
I used this waiting period to make my pasta sauce and I have chosen bolognese tonight. Well, technically Mr Fay decided to kindly make the pasta sauce so I supervised him instead 😉
Bolognese sauce – all credits to Mr Fay
Take your dough out of the plastic wrap and lightly dust your counter / chopping board surface with some flour to prevent sticking. Get a knife and cut them into even servings like this.
I decided to cut mine into 8 even portions. Feel free to cut them into more sections.
Next, take one section of the dough and start rolling it in between the palm of your hands like so.
Roll each section in between your palms
Once it gets a bit too long for your hands, put the dough onto your lightly floured cutting board and continue rolling them into long strings (lets say the thickness of your ring finger).
Proof that I actually made them with my bare hands!
Long strings of pasta dough
After you have finished rolling all the pasta dough, get your knife and start cutting them into small pieces that to me, resemble the shape of a pillow.
Cut the strings into small pillows
Just to show you the size of the cuts – as small as my fingernail
I honestly can’t remember the name of the pasta that we made at the cooking class, but after some Googling, I can assume I am making some sort of orecchiette / shell pasta… *SIGH* I was never good at listening to teachers… oops. My bad.
Anyway, now lets get on to the next step which I believe is the trickiest part! Take one pasta and gently squeeze it with your thumb and rub it against the cutting board, away from you. Your pasta should look like below picture.
Step-by-step guide in making orecchiette shell pasta
Keep going! Words of warning, your thumb will be slightly red and sore – well, mine kinda did anyway. But it is worth it, I promise.
Final look of my pasta before cooking – definitely homemade looking hence the uneven sizes hahaha
To cook the pasta, put them in boiling water until al dente. Add salt to taste.
Cook the pasta al dente. Salt as required.
Once cooked, make sure all the pasta is drained. You don’t want any unnecessary liquid when you have awesome pasta sauce!
Drain all the water from your pasta
Top with your own favourite pasta sauce and serve it hot. Here’s mine – TADAAA!
Orecchiette Shell Bolognese
Hope you’ll have fun trying it at home as much as I did!
xxo
Fay
CONNECT FOUR! 