Lucinda Scala Quinn reports that making this orecchiette pasta is her way to unwind and relax. Having attempted homemade hand-rolled pasta before I was skeptical but, shoot, why not? After all, I can only afford a massage once a year. And yoga is NOT relaxing in my opinion. Wine? I think I have a bottle that's turned to vinegar by now.
So, I dutifully mixed semolina flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and water on the counter. (Why couldn't I have done this in the Kitchen-Aid?) I kneaded it. Rested it. Divided it. Rolled it. Cut it. Smeared it. Over and over and over and over and over.
I think I got Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Just making this one batch of pasta.
Then I boiled these little ear-shaped bits of dough and dolloped some broccoli pesto cream sauce on them. And? "What did they taste like?" you ask, "I'm all ears!" They tasted like pasta. Yup. A bit chewy. Thicker than machine-made pasta. But pasta, nonetheless.
Was it worth two hours of kneading, resting, dividing, rolling, cutting, smearing? No. Was it therapeutic in any way? No. Will I do this ever again? No. Next time I want to unwind and relax, I'll get my husband to take me to the local Italian restaurant and I'll let them make the pasta for me!
By the way, did I tell you I actually made other people go through this harrowing experience with me? No not these two cuties. But check out Brette's blog and Pru's blog to see what they thought of the whole thing.
And if you think making orecchiette is just the right therapy for you, then by all means head on over here and get the detailed instructions from Lucinda herself.
1 comment:
I didn't do as much kneading since I made mine gluten free. It was kind of a lot of work just for pasta though! I'm glad you picked it though - it was fun to try something like this!
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