Fresh Pasta

I love pasta, especially fresh homemade pasta. That’s why we’ve invested in our own little pasta machine. No you don’t really need a machine to make your own pasta. You can take time to roll out the dough paper thin, and cut it into strips, but I am far too impatient for that. 

The life saver!! Thank you @Home!

Every time I show a friend how to make pasta I get the same response: “Wow, I didn’t know it was so easy!” Making your own pasta really is extremely easy.

There are however a view things to remember.

1. Always use bread flour.
2. If you halve the recipe always use more eggs. (e.g. 5 eggs /2 = 3 eggs to be used in pasta)
3. Always knead your dough for about 10 minutes.
4. Always rest your dough for 20 minutes in the fridge.
5. Always have extra flour available when you roll out your pasta.
6. Never leave your dough uncovered, it dries out fast.

If you keep these simple rules in mind, your pasta cannot flop.

Basic Pasta Recipe

Serves 10-12 people

Ingredients

450g White bread flour

5 Eggs (whisked)

15ml Olive Oil

2,5ml Salt

Directions

• Add the salt and flour in a big mixing bowl.
• Add the 5 Eggs and Olive Oil and mix until it forms a dough.
• Dust your working surface with some flour and knead your flour for about 10 minutes. This helps to activate your glucose in the flour, and helps with the elasticity of your dough.
• Wrap the dough in cling wrap and let it rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes. (It can be left for no more than two days in the fridge)

Making pasta

• Take small pieces of dough at a time, making sure the rest of the dough is covered with the cling wrap.
• Lightly dust the dough, and put it through the pasta machines widest setting.
• Dust the dough as necessary, you don’t want to over dust it or it will dry out, just enough not to stick to the machine.
• Work the dough from the widest setting, one setting down until you reach the smallest setting. I like to roll it twice through a setting before I start on a smaller setting.
• The pasta will become thinner and longer every time you put it through the machine.
• Lastly cut it into spaghetti/lasagne/ravioli strips.

Cooking fresh pasta

• Cook the pasta in salted boiling water.
• It does not take long to cook, no more than 5 – 7 minutes. When the pasta starts to float, it’s an indication that it is cooked.
• Add a small amount of olive oil over the cooked pasta.

I like to add spices in the dough like some basil, or you can even infuse your pasta with some tomato paste by kneading the paste into your dough. I sometimes use half white bread flour, half whole wheat bread flour. This pasta is extremely filling.

You can make ravioli by cutting it into blocks inserting a filling, and sealing it. You can use it for cannelloni or make lasagne sheets. You can even air dry the pasta and put it in an airtight container for later use. (You can use it for up to 3 months.)

Be creative, try something new and enjoy your meals :)

Salmon Zuchini Pasta

It was off to lunch with one of my lovely friends, I wanted something tasty, easy and of course I wanted to treat my friend. What better way than to make a beautiful pasta dish with some delicious pieces of salmon?

Here’s what I did:

Salmon Zucchini Pasta

Ingredients:

100g Cooked Pasta (I usually mix whole-wheat and normal pasta)

500ml Plain Yoghurt

150g Zucchini (or baby marrow roughly chopped)

200g Salmon (roughly chopped)

Salt and pepper

Instruction:

·         Steam the baby marrow until almost cooked,

·         Add the Pasta and plain yoghurt to the zucchini and mix well,

·         Add the Salmon and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes,

·         Lastly salt and pepper to taste.

Remember salmon does not need a long cooking time. I made a nice green salad with it, and viola a beautiful dish to treat my friend.

Happy cooking!

Lemony Pasta

I used to order a dish similar to this when I still worked at Century City. I don’t have a clue what was in the original recipe, I just remembered it had a tangy, addictive taste to it. So of course I had to try and make this.

Lemony Pasta

Lemony Pasta - It looks good, doesn't it :)

Ingredients:

200g Spaghetti

½ Green pepper (thinly sliced)

½ Red pepper (thinly sliced)

2 Chicken Breasts

Cajun spice

Vinaigrette:

1 medium sized lemon

1 teaspoon of castor sugar

2 tablespoons Olive oil

Salt en pepper

Instruction:

Cook the spaghetti until soft. While it is cooking create the vinaigrette by dissolving the castor sugar in the juice of one lemon. (You can add lemon zest for a more lemony taste.) Add the Olive oil and whisk, salt and pepper to taste. Add the vinaigrette to the cooked pasta, make sure all the pasta is covered with it and set aside to cool.

Next spice the chicken breasts and cook it for about 7 minutes on a side. The chicken must be cooked through but still moist.

Add the sliced peppers to the pasta and mix well. Slice the chicken to be placed on top of the spaghetti. This dish is to be served cold.

I can’t begin to explain the flavours to you; it’s such a simple fresh dish. I love the flavours of this dish, and I hope you love it too.

Happy Cooking!

Basil Pesto

I love pasta, so I went for a cooking class where we were taught how to make your own pasta. At this class they made this Basil pesto, and it tastes good!

The herb Basil is such a great addition to a healthy diet, not only does it have many anti-inflammatory values it also is a good source of Vitamin A (essential for vision and healthy skin), K (essential for blood coagulant and bone strengthening), and minerals such as iron, potassium, copper and magnesium.

Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

400g Pine nuts (toasted)

500g of basil

Handful of parsley chopped

1 Garlic Clove chopped

50 – 70ml of Olive Oil

Black pepper

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor add olive oil a little bit at a time. The olive oil will help to combine all the ingredients.

This is the basic recipe you can add different things to the recipe. Like sun-dried tomatoes or anchovies.

Basil pesto is great on sandwiches, pasta, marinades or salad dressings.