~ Put Some Protein In Your Pasta ~ Recipe

How to make it

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• Grab your favorite mixing bowl...my Grandmother gifted me with a bowl upon her passing that I treasure like no other.One that she spent many a year preparing meals to place upon that polished cedar plank farm table to which memories flash forward each time I reach for it into making my feeble attempt of her country bread recipe...I have tried...and tried...and have come close...but,it is never the same...No one...and...I mean NO ONE could ever come up to scratch to her country cookin'
• Now grab a mug of lukewarm water,sift your gram flour into the bowl...cuz' gram flour has a tendency to lump and clump together after it has been opened,make a well...crack the eggs in the middle,add the oil,and salt.Then beat the crap out of it until it forms into the mass that it should.
• You know the routine...if it is too dry...add more lukewarm water...if it is too ticky tacky...add more flour.
• I am as a rule pretty neat...but...when it comes to making bread or pasta I love throwing the flour across the counter with unabashed abandon and watch the dust particles fly through the air,then softly drift as they descend on the sunbeams...My ole' pal,my four legged friend that never leaves my side knows this is the time to take cover under the kitchen table.
• I like making pasta and bread...I can get my aggressions out...but at the same time,after it all comes together just the way I like it...it gives me a great deal of pleasure.
• Now...get your palms and knuckles into play...push,stretch,fold it back together,turn it a quarter turn and repeat...knead for a few minutes just to soften and smooth...when your happy with it,pat it all over with the worktop flour and loosely wrap in glad wrap...or...snuggle it down covered with a damp towel and allow to rest for an hour.
• Once it is good and rested...get to work...roll it out...cut it into strips...then into rectangles...then pinch the middle to form a 'bow' shape,being careful,transfer to a flour tray without delay.
• Repeat this process until all is used up,and if it starts to stiffen from being out in the open,then simply add a few good splashes of water and work it in,before rolling it out.
• Place your pasta pieces on the counter top,or, the kitchen island...cover,to dry out overnight.
• Once they are dry...shake gently.
• You can then store them in a jar with a tight fitting top until ready to proceed.
• When you are ready to cook...pop 'em in a pan of boiling water for a few minutes on simmer...and then serve with your sauce of choice.
• Tired of eating wet cardboard?
• Well??
• Have a play :o)
• Have it with mushroom pesto...dried mushrooms reconstituted with herbs...oil...and...wilted spinach folded through...Oh!...and...CHEESE :o)
• Making pasta is time consuming...and the first batch is always the hardest
• ~but~
• The second batch will go like a dream and take less time...full of nutty delicious flavour and totally worth every bit of the effort!
• It is formable...but...not a formidable foe
• ~ but ~
• Stick with it for you will either,ither...Succeed...or...Concede :o)
• This is no smooth city slicker.
• For this ole' country girl the perfect pairing of pasta and pesto with gusto can be accomplished...pasta is after all a blank canvas,but it's adaptablility makes it a universally loved dish...and even though the perfect paring of a glass of wine to a pleasing pasta may be a bit of a challenge...it can be done.
• You just need to determine what you will mix with your pasta...then you will choose...Red...White...Sweet...Dry.
• I have my favorite and I reckon you do too...but my favorite has been standing at attention on the corbel for a few years now...and it is about time to slide it off its resting place,dust it off,pop the cork,plate the pasta,and proceed.