Cook with Mr Dad #1..Home-made fresh pasta from scratch!
Hola! Im an amateur chef, who loves to cook, but never received any proper training.. most of my training came from Youtube and the food network (which is no longer available to me, since I have moved to South Korea).
I worked in the car business, so that I can pay for culinary arts school, but ended up being a car guy for 12 years. I quit my job, packed up all my stuff and moved my family to South Korea. I am taking a year-long vacation, so its finally time for me to try and really learn to cook!
Step 1; The need to knead.
I never measure when I cook, i just eyeball everything.. as far as the measurement of the flour, i think its about 2-3 cups?
make a volcano shape with the flour, then add 2 large eggs, a little olive oil, and a pinch of salt into the center...
Then take a fork (unlike me, using my hands.. it gets too messy!!) and stir the eggs in a circular motion, scraping at the inner walls of the flour volcano to add to the mixture to thicken. As you can see from my pix, I used my hands, and the egg whites spilled over the volcano wall.. if this was a real volcano, people would be dead..
Once you get the eggs and flour to mix into a consistent dough, start kneading!! make sure your dough is smooth, without any dry flour balls inside.
Then wrap the dough in plastic wrap or a zip lock bag, and let it rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
I do not own a rolling pin... (amateur chef, remember?) so to roll out my dough, I use a whiskey bottle..
anyway, use a rolling pin if you have it, and roll out the dough as thin as possible. I found that if you're rolling away from you, hold the dough closest to you, so that you can keep it from springing back into a sphere. If you're rolling towards you, then of course, grab the part of the dough thats far away from your body.. (duh)
Once you've rolled out the dough to about 1/8th of an inch, throw a bunch of flour on both sides, you will be rolling this flat piece of dough so that you can cut them into even sized noodles. Im sure you could have guessed, from the fact that I do not own a rolling pin, I also do NOT own a pasta machine.. :(
Its important to get the dough as thin as possible, because once you boil them, it will expand.
Once you cut them into even sized noodles, leave them to the side, and lets make the sauce!!
Step 2; Lets get saucy!
Take a bunch of roma tomatoes, and chop them to death.. I personally like my sauce less chunky. Once you destroyed the tomatoes, add ground beef and super thinly shaved garlic (remember the scene from the Goodfellas, when they go to prison? like that thin) to your pot with some olive oil and italian seasoning and start sautéing at low heat.. Once your garlic turns slightly brown, add the tomatoes and freshly chopped basil.
As it comes to a boil, add salt and pepper to season. (SORRY I DONT HAVE PICTURES OF THE SAUCE PROCESS..)
Let it boil, stir as you go, for about 10-20 minutes.. so that the ground beef can absorb the flavor.
Step 3; Boil the pasta
Make sure you add salt to your water prior to boiling.. not only will it flavor the pasta, it will also allow for the water to boil faster.
For about a handful of pasta, you only need to let it boil for about 4-5 minutes for al dente. Once the pasta is ready, do NOT toss the pasta water!! you will need it soon!
Take 1 serving of pasta and stick it in a hot pan. Then immediately add some of the pasta water and your delicious sauce and stir.
The pasta water will help the sauce stick to your noodles, making every bite as good as the last. its all in the flicka-da-wrist.
Step motherfucking 4; stuff your face
You did it! you made some fresh ass pasta! now garnish your plate with some dried or fresh chopped parsley and start shoveling your pasta into your face!!
Thank you for reading!! stay tuned for more!!