Adventures in Pasta!!

I'm really excited about this!! I've been wanting to experiment with pasta for quite a while now - lets just say being a proficient pasta-maker is on my bucket list. I can see myself at the farmers market with bags of home made pastas in simple, elegant flavors, ready for customers to gobble them up... someday! For now, I must put on my science goggles and get down to the task of mastering pasta.

For Christmas, my fiancee bought me a 5qt Kitchenaid Mixer... I will likely make an entire post, later, harping on the awesomeness that is Kitchenaid. For now, I'll just throw out that other mixers really don't stand a chance, when it comes to home use. And its awesome. And its PINK!! :) I love you, Jeremy!

Right, so: Pasta... As it turns out, the stuff is pretty foolproof. You really don't need any special ingredients, being a food item with very rustic basics, you can use whatever you have on hand. 

For the last several days, I've been planning my debut into the world of pasta, looking for decent looking recipes. I shouldn't be surprised that the best one I've found so far has been from Mario Batalli. Good old Mario <3 He is my Italian hero.
This recipe has but two ingredients. It makes a pasta that is chewy and rich, since its just flour and egg. And did I mention you can't screw it up?

Mario's Basic Pasta
makes about 4 servings
 
Ingredients:
3 or 4 eggs
1.5 cups of all-purpose flour (or 10 oz)

1. Dump everything into your (fancy-schmancy-awesome) Kitchenaid mixer, starting with 3 eggs. If it looks dry after you start to mix, add the fourth yolk. If still dry, add the white also. I only used 3 eggs.
(Click here for by hand instructions).
2. Mix everything together until combined, then attach the Dough Hook and mix on medium speed for 15-20 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, let it sit for 30 minutes.
Tip: I use a large plastic ziplock bag to cover my dough - cut one side and across the bottom to open it up. I can wash it over and over, and it saves me on plastic wrap. 
3. Roll out with your (fancy-schmancy-awesome) Kitchenaid pasta rolling set.
 I used the wide pasta setting to make a fettuccine type noodle. (see picture below)

To cook fresh pasta: drop into salted, boiling, water. Cook 1-2 minutes until tender. Top with your favorite sauce.  

Here are two of my favorite, simple, pasta sauces. They take minutes to make and are delicious!

Basic Tomato Sauce:
1 14.5oz can of diced or stewed tomatoes (with Basil, Garlic and Oregano)
- Open can, heat up, pour over pasta

Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil Sauce:
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil (+1tbsp butter, for richer sauce, optional)
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- Heat oil in a skillet. Add garlic. Fry until garlic browns, 3-4 minutes. Pour over pasta.

I have no qualms mentioning that I am a bit of a food snob... So I recommend using freshly grated Parmesan, never that snowy mess that passes for Parmesan at cheap pizza joints (smells like old socks). Use fresh, quality, ingredients whenever possible, of course - especially since you are using very few ingredients, you want them to stand out on their own and say hello :)

Easy Pancit

If you know anything about Pancit, you know its pretty easy to make.So calling this Easy Pancit is almost redundant, but this is my delicious method!

Really Big Pot

Really Big Bowl

My secret method to this dish basically involves a Really Big Pot and a Really Big Bowl. Rice sticks cook very quickly, (you can soften them just with warm water alone), so boiling flavorful stock and then dumping everything together works well since everything cooks quickly. Just let it sit a few minutes until the noodles absorb the stock and, voila! Pancit!!

 Ingredients:
4 cups water
4 bullion cubes (or omit the water and use chicken stock)
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, sliced thin
1/2 bag of jumbo shrimp (optional)
1/2 package of rice sticks, torn in half
1/2 an onion, diced
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, chopped roughly
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
1-2 teaspoons (a few glugs) of fish sauce
1 small bag of frozen stir fry veggies
1/3 of a small cabbage, shredded
2ish tablespoons of sesame oil (or vegetable oil)

Vegetarian: Just don't use chicken/shrimp, and use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.



1. Make the stock: Heat a Really Big Pot on high with the 4 cups of water/stock. Add in half the onion, half the garlic, all of the sliced chicken, fish sauce and soy sauce. Let it boil while you prepare the veggies.

2. Cook the veggies: Heat a skillet on high (or if you're lucky enough to have a nice wok, heat that baby up), dump in the frozen veggies.
 Note: as soon as you add the frozen veggies to the pan, it will cool down considerably, thus a very hot pan is appropriate to keep veggies from getting soggy.
Once the veggies start to cook (are mostly-not-frozen anymore), add in sesame oil, cabbage and remaining garlic and onion. Stir fry the until they start to crisp or char just a tiny bit on the edges.
Remove veggies to Really Big Bowl.
 If you're using shrimp, go ahead and cook them real quick while the pan is still hot. I like to use a tablespoon or two of butter for flavor, but you can use oil or just a nonstick pan, too. It takes maybe two minutes per side, until they turn pink and curl up and get a nice crispy edge on them. Add those to the bowl.

3. Bringing it all together:  Add the dry rice sticks to the pot of hot liquid. Wait a minute or so, then carefully stir the noodles into the stock until they soften. Let cook for two or three minutes, stir often and dont let them stick to the bottom!
Here is the fun part. It can be a little messy so be careful (this is why we use a Really Big pot and bowl)... Dump everything in the Really Big Bowl and mix together with a couple of forks or chopsticks. The noodles may not mix very well with everything else, but be sure and stir it all thouroughly. The mixture will be a bit soupy.
Put a towel or something on the top of the bowl to cover and prevent all the heat escaping. Wait 5 or 10 minutes, then stir it all up once more before serving; the rice noodles will absorb all the tasty water and its ready to eat!

If you wanna be fancy, serve this with lemon wedges :)