- Pasta dough
This can be made using any of the following flours or combinations.
- Maida/refined/all-purpose flour - if you are looking for a chewy, tasty, generally likeable pasta version, increase the maida ratio or even go all-out with 100% maida.
- Wholewheat flour/godhumai maavu - if you are a health freak or if you are dealing with maida allergy (I suspect N has it) or if you just like the nutty, wholesome flavor like me.
- Semolina/rava + Chickpea flour/kadalai maavu combo - I have seen many recipes using this but when I tried, it didn't work out so well for me. The rava flour has to be finely ground for this to succeed.
- Oat flour - I love oats. I'm yet to try making pasta with this.
My best try so far has been the 80% wholewheat + 20% maida (refined/all-purpose flour) combination. It is both healthy and gives enough elasticity to the dough.
For example, for one serving, I add 4 tbsp/quarter cup/56g of wholewheat flour and 1 tbsp of maida.
2. Pasta shape
I am always looking for new ways to present food to excite N into eating a few mouthfuls more 😅. Here are a few video links and GIFs (trimmed from the video for your convenience 💁) demonstrating how to make different pasta shapes.
- For later use - You could air dry the pasta shapes and store it at 4 degree C in an airtight container. (I haven't tried this yet).
- For immediate use - After shaping the pasta, lubricate it with a few tsp of oil so that the individual pieces don't stick to each other. Boil two cups of water. Add a couple of pinches of salt and a tbsp of oil. Put the pasta in the boiling water for a few minutes, test it for al dente and drain it using a sieve. Your pasta is now ready to be mixed with the sauce.
N loves white sauce.
- Quick version - Gently heat a tbsp of butter+some milk (depends on how thick you want the sauce to be)+some shredded cheese+ a pinch of salt (add it towards the end to avoid milk curdling). Toss your pasta in it and serve.
- Longer and tastier version
- Prepare a cup of chicken stock by following this easy recipe. If you are a vegetarian, may be you could replace this with vegetable stock instead.
- If you love the garlicky flavour, chuck in some finely chopped garlic.
- Add a tbsp of cream cheese (made using this recipe, it's used in various dishes).
- Add a tbsp of corn flour (after dissolving it in some water to avoid forming clumps).
- Add your favourite veggies like peas, carrot etc.
- When the sauce is at your preferred consistency, toss in the pasta.
