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    The Daring Cooks' July, 2011 Challenge: My Noodle Hands- Pappardelle

    Published: · Modified: by Kim Beaulieu · This post may contain affiliate links

    Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks' July hostess.  Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine.  She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with!

    So this is being posted really, really late. I blame the edema and the heat. The thought of heating up my kitchen right now just did not appeal to me. I knew I had to do it though and we had some rain yesterday so I thought it would be good to take advantage of the slight drop in temperature. I am glad I did this. Although mid project I wanted to hunt this Steph girl down and ask "why". I stuck with it and was still getting no where. So after struggling with trying to make ravioli from scratch first, I gave up and pulled out my pasta roller. Sorry folks but I did try.I have never tried to make pasta from scratch before. I have also never used my pasta roller. My sis had sent hers to me in a huge act of kindness but with the heat pasta just hasn't been on the menu these days. Once I pulled that out and shifted gears so to speak I did great. Now I have a better understanding of how to make it, what to do and not do and to make sure I set aside a huge chunk of time to do it. I will be doing it again for certain as I like the taste of fresh pasta better but hate paying such ridiculous prices for it. So now that I know I can, I will. So thanks to the Daring Kitchen and Steph for opening my eyes to something new and wonderful. I apologize for it's lateness but I was a good girl and contacted the Daring Kitchen to let them know I was behind the 8 ball. You'd think this being my first challenge that I would have been on time, early even. I blame edema, and the heat, and anything else I can think of. 

     
    So here it is. The Lunatic's adventures into pasta making. Hope you enjoy it.
     
    Recipe for the Pappardelle Pasta Dough:
     
    3 and ¾ cups of flour
    4 large eggs
    1 tablespoon basil infused olive oil
    1 tablespoon basil paste
    Salt
     
    Directions for the Pappardelle Pasta Dough:
     
    Place your flour in a mound on your counter.
     
    Make a well in the middle.
     
    Add your eggs, oil, salt and paste into the middle.
     
    Beat eggs with a fork and make sure nothing seeps out.
     
    Start pulling in the flour towards the well with your hands and start forming a small ball.
     
    Start kneading with the palm of your hand.
     
    You should be able to form a large ball. 
     
    Let rest covered for 30 minutes.
     
    Roll out by hand or use a machine.
     
    I used the flat attachment and made long sheets then cut them with a pastry wheel into pappardelle. Basically I made almost a lasagna sheet then cut it into 1 to 2 inch ribbons. Most people use straight wheels but I thought it would fun  to make it fancier. 
     
    So this how it went down:
      
    Recipe for Simple Sauce:
     
    Ingredients:
     
    1 pound hamburger
    2 can Italian peeled tomatoes, blended
    2 tablespoons sugar
    Basil to taste
    Oregano to taste
    Chili powder to taste
    Salt to taste
    Pepper to taste
    10 Pearl onions, peeled but left big
    ½ white onion, cut into strips
    1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
     
    Directions:
     
    Brown your hamburger in a pan over medium heat.
     
    In a separate pan cook onions in olive oil and caramelize them. Start on medium heat until they start to cook then lower to medium low and continue to stir them until they go golden. I have a gas stove top and find it takes about 20- ish minutes.
     
    While everything is cooking, pop your tomatoes in a blender or food processor and pulse them. This will speed up your cooking so you don't have to wait for them to break down. I don't usually do this but spent so much time doing the dough I had no choice.
     
    Once hamburger is brown and juices run clear, add tomato, sugar and spices. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then reduce to a simmer.
     
    Once your onions are done, add them into the sauce and simmer until you are ready to serve. It can simmer for 30 minutes of 2 hours. Whatever works for you.
     
    Once you have both your pasta and sauce ready mix it together and bottoms up people. Fresh pasta rocks, once you eat fresh you will never want anything else. 
     
    Yup, not too bad for a first go at home made noodles. Only took about 2 and a half hours to figure it out. And about the same amount of time to clean up the kitchen after I demolished it in the process of this remarkable meal. Lol!
     
    As ever, toodles and smoochies. xx
    Photos missing due to a G+ incident. They will be replace soon. 
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ari@ThE DiVa DiSh

      I think you did a great job!! making fresh pasta is ALOT of work...and requires ALOT of patience! I bet it was super yummy!!

      Reply

    2. The Culinary Lens

      I am always tempted to buy a pasta machine but really need to realize you can make some truly delicious pastas by hand. This looks great.

      Reply

    3. Kim Bee

      Amy and Tiffanie- Aw, thanks that is so sweet of you. It's a ton of fun once you get past the initial horror. lol

      Ari- Thanks. It was so good. I now want to do it again.

      The Culinary Lens- I always held off thinking it would be too hard to do. Then my lovely sister sent me hers to try. She has the same mixer as me so she sent me 2 of her attachments. I still think a hand crank would be fun to have. But the attachments of the kitchenaid mixers are the bomb.

      Reply

    4. Lizzy

      How yummy!! Love your make-shift racks...your comments made me giggle~

      Reply

    5. Atlanta

      Wow, this looks amazing! I don't know if I could make pasta, the idea just scares me! I just scanned over some of your past posts and man oh man you have made some really good looking ice cream too! Now I want ice cream, great. I have none in my house! Ha!

      I am visiting from VB.
      Mandy
      http://atlantamilitarymom.com

      Reply

    6. Kim Bee

      Lizzy- Thanks. I love to have fun. I need a rack badly. Lol!

      Mandy- Lol, you must go out and get some ice cream. Or buy an ice cream maker. So easy to use. Thanks for coming by.

      Reply

    7. Torviewtoronto

      all from scratch looks wonderful Kim

      Reply

    8. Just for Cooking

      I have always wanted to make fresh pasta. I will have to try this. Great job!

      Reply

    9. Michelle O

      Wow!!! Look at you! Fresh Pappardelle from scratch! Love it. That's amazing. buzzed.

      Reply

    10. Kim Bee

      Thanks Michelle. It was so hard at first but I think I finally got my groove on. Thanks for buzzing.

      Reply

    11. Kim Bee

      Tor-Thank you so much. It was fun, not at first but eventually. Lol!

      Just for Cooking- Thanks. You should try it. I was terrified and thought I'd give up but so glad I didn't. You will see more fresh pasta recipes from me. It just tastes so much better.

      Reply

    12. Anne@frommysweetheart

      Holy cow Kim! I am so impressed! You did a wonderful job with that pappardelle (one of my favorite types of pasta). I'm starting a collection now...to get you that pasta rack! (Though I love how you have improvised!) Fantastic!! : )

      Reply

    13. foodinnewengland

      Nice job with the pasta.. looks extremely messy.. but great job anyway! I can't wait to see the raviolli. I do make fresh pasta, a friend gave me a very simple recipe for egg noodles.. did someone say ice cream?

      Reply

    14. Sandra

      Very ambitious challenge, congratulations on doing so well.

      Reply

    15. Kim Bee

      Anne- Thank you so much. Oh well thank the heavens cuz I really need a rack. rofl

      fooinnewengland- Oh man, my kitchen was trashed. I tried to edit some of it out but it was hopeless. So worth it in the end but I was close to tears at one point. Always ice cream on the menu these days.

      Sandra- It was scary. But I muddled through and learned something new. Now to do it with pink pasta next time.lol

      Reply

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