Where have I been?! Sometimes it feels like it's been a few days since my last post, and then I look at the last date and realize it's been an entire month! Here's what happened. I'm a baker. It was Thanksgiving. There you have it! Next time you guys go to a bakery for your wonderful holiday treats, take a second to give a shout out to the bakers/ front workers/ owners, of that establishment. They (we) give your treats 100% of their (our) time and effort, and enjoy every second of it! However, it does make time fly and seemingly get away from doing things like updating our incredibly important blogs that tons and tons of people read. Right?
After a holiday of feasting and gathering, most people go for the salad and water for their upcoming meals. Me? I go for the pasta and leftovers. Here's the recipe I promised you in my last post, the rosemary pasta which would be AWESOME in any holiday meal. Think about it for December... Everyone will say, "you made your own pasta?! Ooo!". Just like that.
Here we go!
Homemade Rosemary Taglietelle
6 servings for normal people. 4 for my family.
1 cup cake flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
Making your own pasta is super simple, but it does take a bit of know how. Pasta is generally made with 00 flour, which can be difficult to find. I subbed in cake flour for it's lighter gluten content and softer texture. Put the flours and salt together in a mound on a clean kitchen surface, and with your fingers make a well in the center. Crack the yolks, water, rosemary, and oil in the center of the well. With a fork, vigorously mix until flour starts to fall in from the sides and thicken. Then knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic in consistency, about 10 minutes. Wrap the finished dough in plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for an hour until you're ready to roll it.
Rolling is my favorite part, because I feel like I'm 5 years old again rolling out my play-dough pasta sheets. It's different though I guess...because you can actually eat it. Form the rested dough into a rectangle and set your pasta roller to the thickest setting. Pass your dough through the rollers 2 times before folding the sheets and setting it through 1 more time. Now you can start to set the rollers thinner and thinner, passing the dough sheets through about 2 times on each setting. I like to take mine to the thinnest setting, but that's up to you. Once you have very long sheets of pasta, fold the dough from the longest sides into a cinnamon roll shape, and gently slice the pasta into long thin noodles, each about 1/4 inch wide.
These cook super fast, about 4 minutes or so. This dish is delicious with my chicken marsala, but give it a try with something like brown butter sauce, or with your family's secret bolognese recipe.
