Home-made Goodness

If time permits, I’ll make my own pasta more often! Although the process is a bit time-consuming, the reward is just really good. And it might sound crazy but I find that working with flour, dough and pasta machine help me de-stress greatly. It’s so much better to do what you like than dragging along the endless hours of doing something you have grown to hate…

Now, back to pasta making. I am quite happy with the result of this round. My fettuccine has a wonderful texture – firm enough to ‘bite through’ yet still smooth. The secrets lie in two factors. Firstly, I use the pasta flour imported from Italy (photo), which is the mixture of hard durum wheat semolina flour (70%) and normal wheat flour (30%) The durum wheat is the key to provide the firm structure of the end products. And secondly, I think my skills have improved, too! I do learn that resting the dough properly really helps to make better pasta. The recipe and technique I follow are from Neil Perry’s The Food I love, which is a really good cookbook with very detailed descriptions and explanations.

To cook my home-made fettuccine, I have chosen something simple. Neil Perry’s fettuccine with toasted breadcrumbs have appealed to me for some time, so I decided to make it with some of my personal twists by changing the method and a few ingredients here or there. The result is a very comforting dish, which I am sure a lot of us will love. Simple, elegant and pretty enough to eat, you may want another serve just like me!

Home-made fettuccine with toasted breadcrumbs and fresh peas

Inspired from this book

Ingredients

400g fettuccine (or other pasta of your choice)

175g fresh coarse breadcrumbs (made in food processor from day old sourdough)

250ml extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt

1 shallot, pealed and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

1 tbsp slated baby capers, well rinsed and drained

Handful (or more) fresh peas

60ml red wine vinegar

A pinch of sugar (optional)

2 handfuls Italian parsley

Freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve

Freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F). Put the breadcrumbs on baking tray. Toss in 2 tbp olive oil and some sea salt. Bake in the oven for 10-15 mins or until golden.
2. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
3. Add some olive oil in a hot pan, gently sauté s shallot, garlic. Add in baby capers and peas, stir until the peas are soft to your liking.
4. Add in the vinegar and remaining olive oil. Check seasoning and adjust with salt & sugar if necessary.
5. Toss the pasta, 3/4 amount of breadcrumbs and herb with the oil mixture. Toss well to mix.
6. Divide among heated plates. Sprinkle with remaining breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Note: my photos were taken before adding parmesan!

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I would like to submit this post to Presto Pasta Night, hosted by Ruth of Once Upon A Feast. Please head to her blog for all the wonderful entries later on!