Today I made a fantastic discovery. I have apparently been a lazy chef when it comes to making pasta dough. I have been putting all the ingredients in my mixer and expecting it to come out perfectly. Well, it has been a bit of a disaster, and I was becoming discouraged with the abilities of my mixer.
Ok, the discovery:
Last night, as I was laying in bed about to fall asleep (I know, it’s sad, I daydream about pasta) I had a sudden inspiration. I thought I should try to start out with only half the required flour, mix it up really good, and then add the rest a little at a time. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before; I guess I just wanted to get it done fast. This method is similar to how you make bread dough, and I’m quite learned in making bread dough, so it’s silly that I didn’t figure it out sooner. I think I assumed bread and pasta were different enough that they couldn’t be compared.
Well, I tried it out…and voila! Perfect. Yep, perfect. The mixer did a wonderful job. The pasta dough actually came together with the dough hook, formed a nice dough ball, and I was able to knead it fully in the mixer. Neat-o! I’m absolutely ecstatic.
Now that I have the method figured out I’m excited to work with pasta some more. I’m still on my bean path, but today I’m combining the two. I am trying a chicken white bean pasta noodle, and I’m going to serve it with a white bean cream of chicken soup. In the soup I am adding black beans and veggies. It should be interesting, if nothing else. I think it’ll be delicious…or maybe I’m just starving right now and so I would think glue is delicious?
I’ll let you know how it turns out…and then I’ll post those recipes...
OK, here's the update:
Boy #2 said "oh no not pasta, i hate pasta". to which i replied "this is a new one, i have to keep trying new ones until we find one you like". Boy #1 said "don't tell me we're having pasta for dinner". to which i replied "ok, i won't tell you"
...in the end they all ate it, but didn't all love it. Boy #1 ate it all, and didn't complain, Girl actually asked for seconds, Boy #2 only finished his to get a brownie, and littlest only ate one bite--after much convincing.
Myself, I thought it was pretty good (and my honey even had seconds). I served the soup over the pasta and enjoyed it, but it does have a somewhat distracting bean flavor (imagine that? hm), but once i put the pasta and soup all on top of a piece of garlic toast it was amazing. yum! so, be sure to serve it with garlic toast...and don't forget the brownies, in case you need bribes.
Related Recipes:
Cream of Chicken White Bean Soup
Chicken White Bean Pasta Noodles
Garlic Toast
Black Bean Brownies
OK, here's the update:
Boy #2 said "oh no not pasta, i hate pasta". to which i replied "this is a new one, i have to keep trying new ones until we find one you like". Boy #1 said "don't tell me we're having pasta for dinner". to which i replied "ok, i won't tell you"
...in the end they all ate it, but didn't all love it. Boy #1 ate it all, and didn't complain, Girl actually asked for seconds, Boy #2 only finished his to get a brownie, and littlest only ate one bite--after much convincing.
Myself, I thought it was pretty good (and my honey even had seconds). I served the soup over the pasta and enjoyed it, but it does have a somewhat distracting bean flavor (imagine that? hm), but once i put the pasta and soup all on top of a piece of garlic toast it was amazing. yum! so, be sure to serve it with garlic toast...and don't forget the brownies, in case you need bribes.
Related Recipes:
Cream of Chicken White Bean Soup
Chicken White Bean Pasta Noodles
Garlic Toast
Black Bean Brownies
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