My Pasta Adventure

In the stand mixer bowl, I mixed all of the ingredients with my hands until it formed a dough.  Using the stand mixer, I kneaded the dough with the dough hook, about ten minutes, until it was smooth and elastic.  After I took the dough out of the bowl, I decided that it was not quite there yet, so I kneaded it by hand for a few minutes.

I covered the dough in plastic wrap and rested it for 30 minutes.  I cleaned the counter and set up the pasta machine (ours is manual) and read the directions, as I have never used one before.

After the dough rested, I cut it into three pieces.  I patted each piece into a flat rectangular-ish shape.  With the pasta machine set on seven, I rolled each piece through six times.  I added a little bit of flour when I noticed the dough was a bit sticky.  Next, I rolled the dough through with the machine set on six, working my way down the settings until I thought it was the correct thickness.  I chose to stop after setting three.

The dough had stretched while rolling, so I cut them into approximately ten-inch lengths.  I put the pasta machine handle in the broader cutting roller and fed each piece of dough through.  I gently moved my beautiful, delicate piles of pasta to a plate, placing them carefully, making sure they weren’t on top of each other.  I was elated with my success.  I proudly carried my plate of perfect fettuccini into the living room to show Chris what I had accomplished.

He agreed that the pasta was beautiful.  He asked me if I had dusted it in cornflour.  What?  There was nothing in the recipe or the pasta machine instructions that said anything about dusting anything.  Too often, when those that cook share recipes with those of us who do not, they leave out some crucial element.  In this case, it was dusting the pasta with cornflour to keep it from sticking together.

I hoped, since I had just made the pasta, I would be able to separate it—no such luck.  We didn’t have any cornflour, so I used masa instead.  Flour would have also worked, but Chris prefers the results with cornflour.  I carefully, painstakingly pulled the pasta strands apart, making sure to dust them in the masa.  I was able to save about half of the pasta, which was enough to feed us.

I cooked the pasta in salted, boiling chicken stock and water.  In two minutes, the pasta was al dente.  Using the spider, I strained the pasta and added it to the hot alfredo sauce, stirring until the pasta was well coated.  I wanted to use chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms we had foraged in the pasta, but we didn’t like the texture of the mushrooms, so left them out.

I shaved parmesan over the pasta and topped it with parsley.  Despite my snafu, the pasta was delicious with a lovely texture.  I am going to chalk this one up as a success.

Assuming the recipe serves four, each serving has 315 calories, 48 grams of carbs with 2 grams of fiber, 8 grams of fat, and 11 protein.