MommyTLC

Yes, it may look appetizing, but looks can be deceiving!  I have to admit that pasta making was much more difficult that I had hoped...  My first attempt to make the pasta according to Mario's basic pasta recipe was a complete disaster.  I did exactly what the recipe said, laid out the flour on the wooden cutting board making a well in the center of the flour and added the eggs and olive oil.  They make it look so easy on TV, but for some reason I couldn't keep the wall of the well up enough to keep the egg from overflowing.  After 2 failed attempts at making the dough the "traditional" way, it hit me!  I have all the attachments to make the dough right on my stand-up KitchenAid mixer!  All this time I had been letting myself get frustrated and plastering my counter top with egg and flour, I could have had a perfect mixture in my mixer.

Well, by the time I had this figured out I was almost out of flour!  All I had left was about 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour when the recipe required 3 1/2 cups.  The filling was already made and ready to go, so I couldn't just stop now.  I was determined to see this recipe through to the end.  I substituted the remaining necessary flour with whole wheat flour and increased the olive oil (since whole wheat flour requires more moisture than all purpose flour).  When it came time to rolling out the pasta (through my brand new pasta machine!) again, not as easy as they make it look on TV.  I guess I didn't roll it through enough times because in the end, although the filling was delicious, the pasta was too thick!  And since I substituted the whole wheat, it made the texture of the pasta much heavier than the all purpose flour would have been.  Add to it that instead of using unsalted butter for the sauce I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, the sauce itself didn't taste right.  Note to self: stick to the recipe, don't make substitutions!!!

Although my first attempt at pasta wasn't a complete success, I'm not going to let that stop me!  I have every intention of reattempting this recipe tomorrow, cook a few ravioli just to make sure I got it right and then freeze the rest.

so what's on the menu for tonight?  Whole roasted chicken with fresh herbs and garlic in a red wine sauce!  I'm hungry just thinking about it!