Years ago, I made quite a lot of homemade pasta, and then with the busy-ness of a young family, it became a quick fix after the school run to chuck some dried pasta in the pan whilst multi-tasking.
Today we got the pasta maker out of the cupboard, and I thought it would be the perfect mummy, daughters kind of cooking activity. As it happens, they chose to sit at the breakfast bar doing their homework and leaving me to it - yep, I have those kind of gloriously quirky kids. So, in the end, to the backtrack of Chris Country radio and the ocassional question about the Victorians, I started making pasta.
I had forgotten just how easy it was - and how glorious it is to take some really basic ingredients and turn it into something substantial and sustaining that will feed a crowd on a really small budget. Pasta making is truly an act of alchemy.
And even though the girl weren't massively engaged in making it, they certainly took a very active interest in eating it.
INGREDIENTS
200g of plain flour
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
FOR CRAB & HERB FILLING
1 tin of white crab meat
small bunch of coriander (about 10 stalks)
small bunch of dill (about 4 stalks)
Red chilli to taste.
METHOD
1) Combine the flour, egg and 2-3tbsp of water. Mix well into a dough and knead for about 4-5 minutes.
2) Flour your pasta maker and ensure that it is on the largest setting. Feed the pasta through and then fold it in half and feed it through again. Gradually reduce the setting on the side, folding and feeding and folding and feeding so that all the glutens breakdown and you start to notice a change in the texture of the pasta. Continue doing this until you are happy with the consistency and size.
3) Flour a ravioli tin and cut a length of pasta to a little longer than the tin.
4) In a bowl, mix the crab meat and the blitzed herbs and chilli. Spoon a little mixture into each diet.
5) cover with another layer of pasta and using a rolling pin, roll over the ravioli creating a tight bond between the two sheets. Holes and open seams are your enemies (that's how the water gets in)
6) set aside on a floured board for about half an hour so that the pasta dries a little and becomes more stable.
7) cook in a large simmering pan of water for about 5-7 minutes. (They'll float to the top when they are nearly cooked and give them another 3 or s minutes when they get to that stage.)
8) In the meantime, sauté some spinach in butter and with garlic and soft poach runny eggs to sit on top.
And even though the girl weren't massively engaged in making it, they certainly took a very active interest in eating it.
INGREDIENTS200g of plain flour
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
FOR CRAB & HERB FILLING
1 tin of white crab meat
small bunch of coriander (about 10 stalks)
small bunch of dill (about 4 stalks)
Red chilli to taste.
METHOD
1) Combine the flour, egg and 2-3tbsp of water. Mix well into a dough and knead for about 4-5 minutes.
2) Flour your pasta maker and ensure that it is on the largest setting. Feed the pasta through and then fold it in half and feed it through again. Gradually reduce the setting on the side, folding and feeding and folding and feeding so that all the glutens breakdown and you start to notice a change in the texture of the pasta. Continue doing this until you are happy with the consistency and size.3) Flour a ravioli tin and cut a length of pasta to a little longer than the tin.
4) In a bowl, mix the crab meat and the blitzed herbs and chilli. Spoon a little mixture into each diet.
5) cover with another layer of pasta and using a rolling pin, roll over the ravioli creating a tight bond between the two sheets. Holes and open seams are your enemies (that's how the water gets in)
6) set aside on a floured board for about half an hour so that the pasta dries a little and becomes more stable.
7) cook in a large simmering pan of water for about 5-7 minutes. (They'll float to the top when they are nearly cooked and give them another 3 or s minutes when they get to that stage.)8) In the meantime, sauté some spinach in butter and with garlic and soft poach runny eggs to sit on top.
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