I think pasta, especially spaghetti, is one of the most prostituted foods ever. I firmly believe that in every country there is a cheap version of the original idea. And I’m even more convinced that those cheap regional versions are undoubtedly delicious. Mostly because these deconstructions of a classic are born out of necessity and convenience. Don’t get me wrong, I do know there is some bad food out there.
“I could make fresh pasta- I say to myself.- Why not? Its flour, eggs and water. Easy.”
Wrong. It all started when my magic pasta portal (I’m referring to the machine) was, well, far too shoved in the corner of a cabinet that I estimated, that getting it out of there could result in an adventure of its own, plus the time it would take me to clean it (until I felt comfortable with it) since it has been stored for far too long.
“That’s ok” – I think to myself, I’ll just do it old school, using a rolling pin.
Jacques Pepin’s recipe for fettuccine calls for:
2 1/3 cups of flour
1/3 c of water
2 large gg yolks (I used 3, the eggs were rather small)
2 tbs of oil
After assembling my mise en place instructions were simple, mix all the ingredients (on food processor) and transfer to working table.
So far so good. And that’s when evil struck my pasta. I spent about ten – twelve minutes kneading the dough until it all came together. (It called for an extra tbs of water if it was too dry.) It was too dry.
Roll the dough until very thin. Or so I thought I did. (Wrong, I could have gone thinner.) I left it to dry for 30 minutes. Boiled water and added 1/2 tsp of salt. Dropped the pasta and 3 minutes later they were “al dente”.
This is a lie, it was doomed since I didn’t roll the dough thinner. End result, a chewy, too thick fettuccine.
A lie that looked pretty and that’s it.
Don’t be deceived by how it looks. It tastes disgusting.
It was a long day today at the CC, thus I didn’t give it another try. A quick note on the CC. Today we spent the whole day at the floor shadowing agents and side-jacking to their phones, to try and see how everything we have learnt comes together. Exhausting to say the least, nonetheless I had fun and I think I’ll be able to handle this pretty smooth. I mean, at least I hope so. On Wednesday I got to role play on a fake call and had to navigate the system and solve the issue. I got props, so I think so far so good.
Let me clear up that the pasta won… This time.
Pasta: 1
Me: 0
Unsupervised Cooking 
I love your writing style! 😀 I also made pasta the other day, although without eggs, usually when you use eggs, the water used is minimal, the dough is always best to have it too dry when you work it, it should never stick to your fingers, that might be why you found it sticky once cooked. In the photograph it does definitely look perfect though!
Thank you for coming by my blog, look forward reading more of your posts!
Greetings from Italy!
Thank you!! I’m glad someone enjoys it! 😛
I was skeptical about the dough being too dry to work with, but note taken! I actually did enjoy your blog very much, especially because you do both english and spanish, which I think it’s great. I look forward to mouthwatering pics!
Regards from the Caribbean!
Thank you so much 🙂 I’m really glad to hear you enjoy it!
Oh wow, the Carribean… I’m so jealous! Have a wonderful weekend!