Makin’ Pasta

 

 I have to give thanks to Birgit for a great night on Sunday evening! Paul was in Jakarta, Indonesia Sun-Mon and we decided to get together for an evening of making pasta. We really had a great time and decided it was something we had to do again!

I brought a few goodies, including a chicken to roast – but I was nice and cut off the head and feet before I came over. I can get regular “fryers” at Carrefour and Jason’s (and they’re cheaper!) but when I buy them at Cold Storage I get feet, a head and a tag stating the day of slaughter. So, at least I always know it’s fresh. But, I digress…

Back to pasta! Birgit planned the pasta because she was getting ready for a dinner party for work friends this upcoming Friday, so making the pasta ahead of time ensures quicker dinner prep after a long day of work! Luckily, Birgit has a Kitchen Aid and that helped us get the dough formed and then we had to knead the dough by hand until it had a satiny finish – that was 10-15 minutes worth of kneading!!!!

You have to go through quite a few steps to even the get the dough ready for the pasta roller (hers is the manual one & red – that’s why I liked it so much J). After the kneading you put the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes, and then you put it through the pasta roller at setting 7. After each roll—through you fold the dough into thirds and then roll it through again – 7 times. Then you start at setting 6 and reduce by one until you get to 2. It’s really a great culinary experience to make the pasta yourself – starting with raw materials and then end up with gourmet, very tasty pasta! Oddly enough, I found the experience quite liberating! Some Feminists out there might disagree, but when you prepare food with fresh spices and good ingredients, there is no comparison. Samia and other cooks always say, “A cook is only as good as her/his ingredients.” It’s true – I never really understood that until I came here and had access to the raw spices and then learned how to process them. Luckily, I found Birgit, who is as passionate about cooking as I am. And, Samia was the one who essentially brought us together. It’s a ‘brave new world’ for me!

Even though the process was hard work and we don’t have pictures of everything, you’ll get the drift from the pictures. We made Coriander (Cilantro) Linguini, Black Pepper Linguini, Red Pepper Flakes Linguini and Regular Spaghetti. Birgit made Ricotta & Porcini Mushroom Ravioli for her dinner party.

After finishing we dined on the Coriander Linguini & Roasted Chicken, Tomatoes & Potatoes. We finished with a Fruit Compote and Chocolate-Covered Belgium Waffles. Of course, no need to mention how much Sparkling Wine we had – smile… What a lovely apartment Birgit has and I really enjoyed the view of the city. We listened to some great music and I was exposed to some German Jazz and Brazilian music. Another good night for the books!!