Hi everybody:

So I spent this weekend doing homemade fresh pasta experiments and finally
found a use for my Cuisinart Mini Prep processor. I've had the thing for
about eight years and have only used it a handful of times for occasional
salsa or chopping larger quantities of garlic.

I started out making pasta with the "well method" with reasonable success,
but found it to be messy and made way too much dough for a single guy. After
some Internet research, I finally figured out that pasta can be made very
well in a food processor... except that it still makes too much for a single
guy.

Enter my previously useless Mini Prep. It turned out to be the perfect size
for making a single portion of the good stuff. Here's what I ended up doing:

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2/3 cup flour
1 extra large egg

Pulse until you achieve a cornmeal-ish texture and then run the damn thing
full blast until the dough comes together and forms a ball. If it refuses to
come together, add 1/2 tsp H2O slowly until the dough cooperates.

Knead for a minute or so and wrap in plastic and rest for 30 - 60 minutes.

Proceed as usual with whatever pasta-making implements you like to use. I
use my KitchenAid attachments.
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I've read, and found to be true, that dough done in a food processor needs
less kneading than making it by hand. For me, the dough was ready in less
than a minute and made virtually no mess.

Finally (!) I have a way to make small quantities of pasta whenever I want.
To hell with the "well method" and tradition. These results have certainly
worked best for me.



And now, here's my favorite and extremely simple dish.

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CPN's 30-second pasta

Ingredients:
Cast Iron Skillet (mandatory)
Kitchen Tongs (also mandatory)
Pasta
3 tbs. Good Butter
Black Pepper (in a grinder)
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese in a rotary grater
Fresh Basil, chiffonade

While your pasta is boiling, heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. The
pan should be damn hot, but not ridiculously hot. After you've drained the
pasta, get ready, because this literally takes about 30 seconds.

Plop the butter into the pan and use your tongs to move the butter around
quickly to melt and brown it as fast as possible. At the exact moment your
butter is browned properly, drop your cooked pasta into the skillet and
start turning with the tongs. The residual water on the pasta will cool the
pan and prevent the butter from burning. In about 10 or 15 seconds, the
pasta will be evenly coated with the browned butter.

Plate it and hit it with some fine black pepper and top it with the Reggiano
and your basil chiffonade.

Serve to your date with a good wine and go have some sex. Bask in the
afterglow the next morning.


Hasta,
Curt Nelson