AC's sister and brother-in-law love to cook as well but it's been difficult considering they have a little one to take care of now. So we thought it would be nice to make dinner with them on Friday night. As requested by my brother-in-law, we made the Chunky Vegetable soup and we decided to get fancy and make fresh pasta. When I think of making fresh pasta, I think of our manual pasta roller which has yet to be taken out of the box. Although it seems like a good thing to try out one day, it seems like it would be a whole day activity. My sister-in-law and her husband own a pasta roller attachment for their stand-up mixer which literally works pasta miracles. After seeing how easy it is to make pasta with the attachment, I'm all ready to start pumping out fresh pasta all the time (ok, slight exaggeration...but it's definitely doable). I must admit I really didn't participate in the actual pasta-making process but I did play with their little girl and assisted in micro-managing the process.
Here's one picture of my sister-in-law in pasta-making action:
She made a creamy butter parmesan sauce to accompany the fresh pasta. I'm glad we had that the night after Wicked or else I probably would have not fit into my black party dress after such a rich and delicious meal.
I'm sold - fresh pasta is going to become a regular thing in my kitchen (after I buy that time saving attachment). :)
4 comments:
Can you really taste the difference?
I worked in a restaurant in LA that made our own pasta once, and I have always wondered.
Definitely - I think the main difference is the texture. Your run of the mill dried pasta in a box tends to be rubbery while fresh pasta seriously almost melts in your mouth because it's so soft. Plus, it's nice after all that time spent preparing the pasta, it only takes about a couple of minutes to make.
On a side note, back when I lived in ATL, I was going to meet friends at The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. I parked near the back of the restaurant and nearly ran into a guy hauling in a large clear plastic bag filled with boxes of Barilla pasta. I'm sorry - if your restaurant has "spaghetti factory" in its name, I'm expecting some fresh stuff! What a letdown!
If you ever go to Maggiano's of the Macaroni Grill, you'll see that they serve barilla also. I've never really had fresh pasta -I'll have to try some of yours when you get the attachment!
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