Living in Norway, if I want specific kinds of food, such as Southern fried chicken, Texas sour cream chicken enchiladas, New Mexico ancho chicken and beef tamales in a red sauce, calzone, pie, and pastas I must make them myself. Luckily I love to cook and bake, and I really like getting new stuff for my kitchen and cooking meals.
Most of the pastas I make now are dry pastas such as uncooked lasagna noodles (the kind you must boil first); dry spaghetti, linguini, tagliatelli, ziti, long zitinin, hallow spaghetti pasta (bucatini), and such; pasta stars and other shapes, and mixed colorful and plain shell, lumaconi and macaroni types of pasta.
Filled pastas, such as ravioli and tortelini, are two favourites, but I only like them homemade. Being in Florence with such fantastic food, has inspired me to start making homemade pasta again. I already make gnocchi.
(My quick recipe, using my hands, is make a volcano shape of flour, with 2 parts yellow corn meal to 1 part whatever other flour, such as plain white or wheat flour you like, a few eggs, pinch of salt, sometimes a tiny bit of the best butter I can find, a large few drizzles of really good olive oil, and enough water to make a sticky dough. Then knead on the counter, with the slightly amount more of flour/corn meal, til the dough is no longer sticky. Knead a little, cut into 4 or so equal pieces, cut into smaller equal pieces, roll into snakes, mark with a fork along one side of the "snake", then cut smaller pieces of gnocchi. Boil quickly. Remove, set aside, make whatever sauce of choice that particular meal, add to the sauce).
Today (yesterday, Saturday) I found a kitchen shoppe with Italian kitchen things on sale. HUGE humongous pots and pans, incredibly tiny pots and pans, knives, a novelty thing which turns an upside down plastic or glass bottle into a keg with a spiggoted sp opening (I actually liked that), and all kinds of pasta things: cutters huge, tiny, different shapes, different types, folding types, double types, pasta presses in all sizes, and mokas with and without the Italian guy.
Debated on and off, but I think if they still have it next week, will go back and get some pasta things--yes a knife along will work, or any cookie cutter, but an actual cutter will make it a bit quicker.
A great trick I saw an Italian mother do: she had her husband make holes, specific sizes and widths apart, in a specific size and shape and thickness of board/piece of wood, so that all she had to do was lay out one long large sheet of finished pasta dough, place the fillings over the holes, brush water or eggwash around the fillings, lay the second piece of finished pasta on top, then cut the individual pastas with a knife after pressing down and around. It meant the filling didn´t get squished, and with the hole, the bottom layer of pasta naturally pressed enough space out for the filling, quicker and she could do 50 or so at a time, over and over and over...., all done lickety split.
I´m not making that many,). though I still like to try to make it as quickly and easily as possible, with it still feeling homemade, and enjoyable, as I prefer making as much by hand as possible. T showed me that if I use a machine, pie dough gets made in a few seconds....so as I like pie, and pie dough can be tough and difficult to form together, I make exceptions for using a machine for pie dough.
Packaged ravioli and tortellini are just not anywhere near as good as homemade. But I thought, that I could make an exception, and buy a pasta machine to thin out the pasta, rather than by using a rolling pin.
And well, those were on sale: now just have to figure out what one(s) to get, and how and if it will attach to my Norwegian countertop...etc.
Saldo. Salg. Sale. In any language, an unfortunate excuse to buy something you´d been wanting and thinking about for ages. Especially as making homemade is less expensive, healthier, and I can make enough homemade to freeze enough for months and months (maybe 6 months) for the cost of the storebought, if that is even an option available.
gnight
