Pasta comes in a remarkable range of shapes and sizes, right from tiny shells
to long strands. For those who do not know Pasta is an overall term for noodles
made with durum wheat semolina and is divided into 2 main categories. “Pasta
Fresca”- that is basically fresh home style Pasta and “Pasta Secca”
– Dry and available in packets. I have always believed that fresh is the way to
go and today a movement which is focused
around basic principles of ‘purity, simplicity, and freshness’ has swept the
world’s top kitchens by storm. So fresh pasta it was for menu that evening and
I know you must be wondering how I managed to make that at home… Well not only
was it easy to make the dough in my KitchenAid Stand Mixer but rather easy to
make various shapes out of it.
I took a cup of
flour, a cup of semolina, 3/4th cup of water, and made a slight hard
dough with the help of my KitchenAid stand mixer in a few seconds. I let the
dough to rest for a few minutes. Next I just changed the attachment and rolled
out the dough till it was thin and long (my friend Hanisha helped me with this).
Changed the attachment again to make fettuccine and hey presto my Fresh Pasta was
ready!! Yes…you can make any shape that you desire with the various
attachments!
Trust me it tasted
delicious just tossed in olive oil, and sprinkled with cheese, herbs and
pepper. But for those of you like it fancier go ahead and toss up with some
butter, fresh tomato sauce and some grated cheese, to make a wholesome meal.
MOST POPULAR SAUCES WITH PASTA
“Aglio e olio”- crushed garlic, parsley and olive oil, Add pepper and a variation is
Aglio e olio peperoncino. Best with Spaghetti.
“ Alla napolitana”- basil flavored tomato
concasse (skinned, desseded, finely chopped tomato pulp). Goes well with all
kinds of pasta regardless of the shape.
“ Alla Panna”- in cream (with loads of
pepper), with tortellini and rigatoni.
“Arrabiata”- tomato concasse and
peperoncino with all kinds of pasta regardless of shape.
“Carbonara”- Pancetta, cheese and
eggs. Is Great with long noodles.
“Pesto”- basil sauce, eaten with filled or unfilled
noodles, especially with, fettuccine, tagliatelle, and farfalle.
“Bolognese”-with ground meat, a great
option for all kinds of long pasta, also used as a filling for lasagna.
“Alla siciliana”- cooked tomato concasse with aubergines, olives
and capers. Best with penne, farfalle, or fusilli.
