Not Your Packaged Pasta!

     Everyone is entitled to a little nervousness, when experiencing the unfamiliar.  I think that is with anything in life.  First days of school, new jobs, new places... NEW FOODS! When I got my KitchenAid Stand Mixer, I knew that it had attachments that would work with it.  I always thought it would be so cool to make my own pasta.  I found out that the pasta attachments can nearly cost as much as the mixer itself! If you are deciding whether or not to buy an attachment or any kitchen tool for that matter, you need to ask yourself if it is worth the cost.  There were plenty of factors that went into my decision.  My ultimate answer to that question was: YES! It's worth it! Mexican food is in my blood, because I am hispanic.  My favorite, though? Italian.  Yum.  Mr. Bloom's favorite dish is also Italian. So, I thought it would be perfect if I bought a pasta maker.  I found the best price at Sears.  I just celebrated a birthday and with money earned and gift cards to be spent, I made an exciting online purchase.  A couple of days later, I had my pasta attachments.  What better dish to make then Spaghetti, one of the most common Italian dishes?? This post has 3 recipes.

The finished product.

Basic Egg Pasta

(The recipe came from the KitchenAid Book that came with the attachments.)

THE INGREDIENTS

- 4 large eggs

- 1 tbs water

- 3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

- 1/2 tsp salt

THE DIRECTIONS

• The flour has to be sifted.    
• I don't have a sifter, so I just use a mesh strainer.  
• I even found this article on how to sift flour without a sifter! Unnecessary, maybe.. haha.  I had done this before I found the article, but was pleased to find that my way was in the article! 

• Place eggs, water, flour, and salt in mixer bowl.  
• If you DO NOT have a mixer, I found this article on How to Make Pasta by Hand! 

• Attach bowl and flat beater.  Turn to speed 2 and mix for 30 seconds.

• Exchange flat beater for dough hook.  Turn to speed 2 and knead 2 minutes.
• I was so scared when my pasta looked like this after my 2 minute kneading, but on to the work surface it went! 

• Remove dough from bowl and hand knead for 1 to 2 minutes.  Let it rest for 20 minutes. 
• The kneading it together obviously helped.  I was glad when it turned out looking normal!  

• Divide dough into 4 pieces before processing with Pasta Sheet Roller attachment. 
• If you DO NOT have a pasta maker, just roll the dough out to the desired thickness with a rolling pin and cut with a knife into strips! (There is a link above if you need more directions with this!)

• I rolled the dough a little thinner, the directions say about 3/8 inch thick.  
• You run it through the roller, fold it in half then roll it again. Setting one is the widest, the directions said that setting 3 or 4 is good for spaghetti.  So when it goes through 1 easily, just move up the setting one by one..
• When it seemed to be the right thickness, I changed the attachment to the pasta cutter.

• Then I ran the pasta through the cutter, and there it was! Spaghetti! I put it on the cooling rack (they do sell pasta racks) to let it dry a bit.  This recipe doesn't call for drying, so you don't have to let it dry.  It can go straight in the boiling water.  I let mine dry while I made the sauce. 

• To make the spaghetti, boil water with a little salt.  
• Fresh pasta only has to cook for a few minutes! Add the pasta to the water gradually.  Stir it to make sure that it doesn't stick together.  The pasta was done after about 7 minutes.

• Drain and it is ready to serve! 

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

(This is from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook, Limited Edition, and is Pink with the Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon)

THE INGREDIENTS

• I left out the celery.  
• I used dried parsley, instead of fresh. 
•  The variation for the sauce with meat, calls to leave out the cooking oil.
• I used 1 lb. of meat, the recipe calls for 12 ounces.

THE DIRECTIONS

• In a large saucepan, cook the ground beef with the onion, sweet pepper, and garlic until meat is brown.  

• DRAIN!  

• Stir in tomato, tomato paste, 1/3 cup water, parsley, dried herbs, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
• Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.  Uncover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes more or to desired consistency, stirring occasionally.

• I was getting the bread out of the oven, and I was not able to get a picture fast enough!  Mr. Bloom had already served our plates! This is the consistency the sauce came to.  

Cheesy Garlic Bread

(This does not have an exact recipe. My step-mom used to make this, and I would help.  I committed this one to memory!)

INGREDIENTS

- 1 Loaf of French Bread

(Bought mine at H-E-B, I know they carry them fresh at most stores)

- Garlic Powder

-Italian Seasoning

-Cheddar Cheese

-Butter

- Parmesan Cheese (optional)

(I forgot this part, but it still tastes amazing!)

DIRECTIONS

• Cut the french bread in half.  You can cut it into four pieces, but you don't have to. 
• I put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 5-10 minutes just to toast the bread a little bit.

• Take the bread out and cut pieces of butter and spread them on the bread.  I put the bread back in the oven until the butter was melted.

• Sprinkle the garlic powder over the bread.  Repeat with the Italian Seasoning.  This would be the time to put on your parmesan cheese, if you so please! 

• Mr. Bloom and I are lovers of cheese.  I would say that is about 2 cups of cheese, but how much cheese you put is totally up to you.

• Put the bread back in the oven, until the cheese is melted.  After that, it is ready to serve!

Yummy!

     I think this is one of the most rewarding meals I have made in my life! I made homemade pasta! Wow.  I never thought I was headed there during my cooking journey.  Fresh pasta tastes amazing.  It is kind of weird how different it is from packaged pasta.  Mr. Bloom and I couldn't really explain it.  There was a recipe for Spinach Pasta in the little booklet, so I really want to try that soon.  I dove into this recipe and I am so glad I did.  I guess with most things in life, you should just dive in.  You never know until you try! It's crazy to say, but while I'm trying all these things, and trying to make all these recipes.. it really makes me think about my life in general.  Having a recipe for life.  What do I want to fill my life with? How do I want my life to turn out? Is that crazy that cooking gets my wheels turning?? A little deep for a food blog, maybe? Oh, well. It is written and published... In the blogosphere forever! 

With that, Enjoy!

Better Homes and Garden carries the recipe from my cookbook, online!