Hey there!
Before I go ahead and share this week’s recipe with you I’d like to spread some good news!
A few weeks ago I posted my yummy recipe for Ale Braised Steak & Mushroom Hotpot for a one pot wonder dish challenge by Kikkoman Soy Sauce.
While I didn’t win first place, I did win second and with it £50 of shopping vouchers, yay!
You can check out all three winners on their website!
Now, coming back down to Earth, today’s recipe is for some delicious fresh papa deli pasta!
I have been wanting to make pasta for a long time now but without a pasta machine I thought it wasn’t possible.
I didn’t want to invest in one straight away, having never made pasta before, what if I didn’t like it or it was too hard?!
Recently though I have been seeing more and more recipes for pasta which don’t use a pasta machine and thought I would give it a try!
This recipe is for a very simple papa deli pasta but you can make this pasta dough into any shape you desire.
I used my papadeli pasta to serve with a gorgeous meal of pork chop with a creamy shiitake mushroom sauce.
I also used the same pasta dough to make a fresh spicy spaghetti and meatball dish which was delish!
Now this pasta will turn out thicker than I suspect pasta in a pasta machine would no matter how hard you roll it, still it’s really tasty and gives a nice texture, just make sure you roll it out as thin as you possibly can as it puffs up a little during cooking.
Something else to note is that fresh pasta contains eggs which inherently means it is a lot more filling.
Remember this when you are deciding how much to make and cook as you won’t need the same amount of as you usually would of dried.
Last but not least, remember that however you adapt this pasta dough, it will cook for less time that dried pasta.
Depending on the shape of your pasta it could be as little as 4 minutes compared to dried which could be 15 minutes.
No Pasta Machine Fresh Papa deli Pasta!
Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients
400g plain flour plus extra for dusting
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1-2 tablespoons cold water
Method
Weigh out the flour into a large bowl and add in the salt, mix until combined.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs.
Add the cold water a bit at a time and slowly incorporate the eggs into the flour until it comes together.
Knead it in the bowl or on a work surface until it becomes a smooth dough.
Wrap the dough in cling film and place it into the fridge for 20 minutes to relax.
Divide the dough into 6 pieces and on a very generously flour dusted surface, roll each one out a thinly as possible into a rectangle.
Add a generous dusting of flour to the top of the pasta then fold the pasta over it’s self to create three layers on top of each other.
Take a very sharp knife and without applying any pressure to the pasta, cut into strips.
If you apply pressure you risk crushing the layers and creating something that won’t unravel.
Unravel each piece of pasta, which each should now be three times longer and dust again with flour.
Now you can use it straight away by placing it in a pot of boiling water for 4-7 minutes depending on the size of your pasta or you can save it for later.
To save it for later, let it dry for a couple of minutes on your work surface then loosely fold the pasta into little “nests” or piles.
Let them dry for 30 minutes more than wrap them and refrigerate for up to two days.
It can also be frozen and used within a month.
Enjoy!
