Black Tagliolini with Cream and Mushroom

Few weeks ago, I bought myself several packets of squid ink from a grocery shop. I was really happy and bought 4 little packets that can make 400 gram of pasta dough. That is the first thing that came across my mind when I saw the squid ink.

I have no time to explore into it until few days back when I have to stay at home to look after my fever girl. While she was sleeping, I managed to steal around 2 hours to prepare the black Tagliolini.

Black Pasta Dough

Despite its dramatic black color, this pasta has a delicate flavor with just a hint of the sea. My kids find the color is so special and love it very much. Now, they are started to ask me to prepare different color of pasta.

Ingredients
1 tbsp squid ink
4 eggs
400 g plain flour

1. Mix the squid ink with the eggs, then blend this mixture with the flour. Knead properly until all the ingredient are blended properly and forming a dough. Let it rest for 20 minutes before roll at the pasta machine. Do not worry if the color is not uniform as you will eventually obtain a uniform pasta after several passes through the pasta machine.

 2. The pasta machine takes a lot of the hard work out if the rolling and stretching process. Just remember that you still need to take the time to work through all the settings until you reach the final setting in order to obtain the elasticity and silkiness that gives the best pasta. Different machine may work differently and please read through the machine instruction for the rolling and stretching process.

3. After getting the desired thickness, dry the pasta sheet for around 30 minutes before cutting into the desire width. I am drying the pasta by hanging the sheets over the chopsticks.
(NOTE: You may need to use a lot of flour to dust the final noodle in order to prevent them from sticking)

4. After drying process, you can cut the pasta using the pasta machine. In this case, I am using fine setting for the pasta noodle. Dust the noodle with a lot of flour to avoid the prevent the noodle from sticking.

Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
200 g of mushroom mix mushroom, brown and white mushrooms; removed all the roots
200 g bacon, cut into small pieces
200 ml of cooking cream
1 medium onion, diced
salt to taste
pepper to taste
a dash of parmesan cheese

1. Prepared all the ingredient and set aside.

2. To prepare the sauce, heat up the olive oil in a pan . Saute the onion until it is soft. Add in bacon and continue to saute until the bacon is brownish. Add in mushroom and saute for around 1-2 minutes until the mushrooms are soft. Add in the cooking cream and continue to braise for another 1 minute. Off heat and set aside.

3. To prepare the spaghetti, cook it with plenty of boiling water until al dente. Since this is a fresh pasta, the total time to cook the pasta will be shorter. Drain, reserving a little of the cooking water.

4. Heat up the sauce and transfer pasta into the sauce. Toss well and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with Parmesan Cheese.

Spinach Seafood Spaghetti

To cook any dried pasta, it is important that the pasta should be cooked until it is al dente-that is, soft on the outside but still firm to the bite on the inside. Al dente can be achieved by cooking dried pasta for 1 or 2 minutes less than the suggested time on the packet. While the pasta is cooking, pick out a piece occasionally with a fork and chew on it, to see if it as reached the desired texture. I personally like pasta very al dente, so I cook my spaghetti for only 5 minutes or so.

As soon as the pasta is cooked to your satisfaction, remove it from the heat and drain it, retaining a little of the cooking water, which can then be used to moisten the finished dish if it seems too dry. I usually like to add the drained pasta to the pan containing the sauce, so the pasta absorbs the sauce in the final minutes of cooking.

To cook Spinach Seafood Spaghetti, it is important to have sufficient spinach which has been blended with sufficient olive oil. Unlike Pesto, this spinach sauce is cooked with seafood to enhance the flavor of this sauce. I am really hope that your picky kids love this dish.

Ingredients

400 grams dried spaghetti

200 grams prawns, washed and deveined

2 pieces of squid, cleaned and cut into pieces

250 grams bacon, cut into small pieces

250 grams of spinach, blended with sufficient olive oil

1 small onions, diced

2 tbsp of olive oil
3 slices of Cheddar Cheese
1 tsp of dry basil flakes

salt to taste

pepper to taste

A dash of Parmesan Cheese

1. Prepared all the ingredients and set aside.

2. To prepare the sauce, heat up the pan. Saute the onion until it is soft. Add in bacon and continue to saute until the bacon is brownish. Add in squid and prawns. Saute for around 1 minute before adding the the blended spinach. Continue to saute until spinach is cooked. Do not worry when you see plenty of water. Off heat and set aside.

3. To prepare the spaghetti, cook it with plenty of boiling water until al dente. Drain, reserving a little of the cooking water.

4. Sprinkle the basil into the sauce, put the pan back over low heat and add the spaghetti. Add in the Cheddar Cheese, salt and pepper. Toss well until the Cheddar Cheese melts and incorporates with the spaghetti. Add in a tablespoon or two of the reserved cooking water if the sauce seems too dry. Serve immediately with Parmesan Cheese.