Baking Mojo

I'm happy to say that the baking mojo seems to have returned.



I had 4 egg yolks left over from the other day when I made the Coffee Masala Cake and the only thing I could think of making was pasta.

I was going to stay well clear of the Cordon Bleu book after last time. I briefly searched on the Internet and right on top was Jamie Oliver's web site. I don't like him much, but skimmed through the article. It said either eggs or egg yolks. So far so good.

The packet of pasta flour (durum wheat flour that is) said whole eggs and less flour per egg.

So I improvised a bit.

Ingredients

4 large egg yolks
160 g pasta flour
approximately 1 dl water

Method

1. Mix the eggs yolks and the flour with your fingers into a crumbly dough.


2. Add water, a little at a time, and keep mixing until the dough comes together and is smooth, fairly pliable and a bit sticky


3. Sprinkle flour on the work surface and knead the dough for 5 - 6 minutes. If the dough keeps sticking, add pinches of flour until it stops sticking.


4. Cover in cling film and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes.

Divide into 8 pieces. Keeping them in the cling film, take out one at a time and roll as thin as possible on a floured surface, making sure it doesn't stick.

5. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then cut to a desired shape and allow to dry a few more minutes.


6. Store in an air tight box in the fridge or freeze if the pasta won't be used within 24 h.

I made the pasta on Sunday and kept in the fridge overnight. We had it for dinner today and I over-cooked it a bit, while I was fiddling with our usual mixture of tuna, sweet corn, peas, olive oil and crushed chillies.

Not only did it smell like pasta when it was done, it tasted like pasta too, though a bit on the soggy side. I could easily have left it a bit thicker and cut into thinner strips or smaller pieces. I cut tagliatelle of about 1 cm width and various lengths.



Both the flour packet and the article on Jamie Oliver's web site said to divide into small pieces before rolling, particularly when doing so by hand. Divide and conquer is definitely the way to do it. I didn't even think of trying to roll the whole lot in one go. This is definitely a thing I'd repeat and will then add spinach or tomato puree. I'll also cut into smaller pieces, it'll be easier to handle after it's cooked.