Yesterday
the children wanted pasta – this is not something I have traditionally enjoyed
much myself, however I know they like it – so it gets made for them once in a
while.
Of course,
now, if we want pasta, it has to be made from scratch (just like everything
else!) and that was going to be the fun part. I remember many years ago, making
pasta dough and really liking the fact that I could make something very fresh.
I also
remember buying freshly made pasta or at least not the dried stuff from the
shops – and it was nicer to not have gone through any extra processes. But, for
something with so few ingredients, it should be fairly easy to make.
And of
course, it is. For the most part it is only flour, water and salt – you can get
fancy with your recipe and add things like eggs, flavourings, colours and so
much…I wanted to do my own thing and naturally to add my own things too.
For my
recipe I just used about 4 cups spelt flour, ½ teaspoon sea salt and 1 ½ cups
(or a little more) warm water to make a basic spelt pasta dough. But then to
dress it up a tiny bit I added in some dried thyme and finely chopped seaweed.
Then I let
the dough sit for about 20 minutes or so to settle and come to room
temperature. I cut the dough into about 6 smaller pieces and flattened them out
on a floured surface with my hand.
Once they
were flat enough I started moving them through the pasta roller to thin even
more, gradually getting them thinner until they were thin enough and easy to
handle to make the pasta.
We decided
to just make a linguine type of pasta – so each flattened piece of dough was
now wound through the cutter and long pieces of linguine were pushed out the
other end.
It really
is a simple process (especially with a hand operated pasta roller and cutter) –
the pasta can then be placed directly into boiling water and cooked until the
desired consistency is reached.
I like
spelt pasta because it is not as heavy as wheat pasta and I like it without eggs,
but plan to try making some with an egg in it very soon to see how it turns
out. If you haven’t tried making this yourself, you are really missing out on
some fun (especially with children) and such a refreshing meal when made from
your own hands.
It's too easy not to give it a go!
April
 |
| Home made spelt pasta |
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