Pasta Sunday

I work the typical 9-5 job. Except my hours are more like 6-3. Good for some reasons, not good for important things like sleeping in! When the weekends come, I want to cook and I want to cook big. Here is a peak into a recent Sunday.

Pasta Sunday and oh yeah a couple of baguettes too.

This picture is the result of one Sunday where I decided to make mounds of pasta. I made mushroom stuffed ravioli, orecchiette, fettuccine, whole-wheat fettuccine, and 2 fresh baguettes. I don't know why. I don't cook for 20 people or anything, I just find it so fun to get into the kitchen, whip up a bunch of stuff and then SERIOUSLY dine during the week. This particular day yielded about 5 pounds of pasta.

#1 The Baguettes

I started those first in the morning. Now I've made this recipe about 4 times and it has been very good each time. I've made baguettes, mini-baguettes, rolls, and hoagies. The recipe is not mine, it's from King Arthur Flour.

I have never made this entire recipe . Even when I half the recipe I still can make 2 good sized baguettes, 15 good sized rolls, and 5-6 hoagies. That works best for me because I only have so much space in my oven.

My changes:
I have used a baguette pan and I also tried with a parchment paper lined cookie sheet with good results. For the lined cookie sheet, make sure you let the loaves cool on a rack so the air circulates and gives the bottoms a chance to dry out.

I omitted the egg glaze. They were all still beautiful.

I did not use ice cubes in the bottom of the pan. I instead heated water and added that to a pan in the bottom of the oven. No negative thoughts to the ice cubes, I'm sure that works fine. But I had a "kitchen event" where I tried to steam water from a baking stone and it didn't work out so well for the stone :eyeroll:. Therefore, I went with my trusty pan filled with boiling water technique.

#2 - White Flour Pasta

This is great pasta. I've tried several recipes of pasta and I find this one to be the best.

3 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour (did I mention King Arthur above? Great flour)
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, room temperature
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon water

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Make a well into the flour and add the eggs. Mix the eggs with a fork and add olive oil and water. Continue to mix and as you circle round and round, bring a bit of the flour with you. When the mixture comes together, scoop it into a large bowl and bring it onto the counter to knead.

Knead the mixture together, adding flour on the counter if needed. Fold the dough in half onto itself and push the dough with the heels of your hands away from you. Keep repeating the fold and push until the dough begins to look combined and no flecks of flour remain.

Let the dough rest in plastic wrap for about 20 minutes or so at room temperature. Then follow your pasta rolling instructions.

#3 - Whole Wheat Pasta

This one is fun because you get to eat much healthier pasta and you get to use the food processor!

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature and beaten
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon water, if needed

Place the flour and salt in the the food processor with the steel blade, whirl for about 2 seconds. Slowly pour in the eggs and pulse process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the oil and continue to process until the dough forms a ball around the blade. Add the water if necessary.

Let rest for 20 minutes. Follow your pasta rolling instructions.

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After the resting of #2 - White Flour Pasta and #3 - Whole Wheat Pasta, then follow the instructions on your pasta machine of choice.

I have done all 3 rolling methods. Hand-rolling, the Atlas Pasta machine hand crank and the rollers on my Kitchen Aid. I vote for the kitchen aid because you end up with two free hands, it provides an even thickness and did I mention that it is just plain fun?

Roll and cut. Dry or fresh cook. Whatever is your fancy. As for the ravioli, I dried and put in a ziploc and when I need to boil ravioli, go straight from freezer to boiling water. Add about 2 extra minutes cooking time.