Pasta Disaster

[Gralke]

Chelsea - that is the one I have - I just do the lasagna but since I posted this I read somewhere that freshly made pasta benefits from drying a little (maybe 30 minutes) before boiling - I will try this next time. Roll out all the pasta, cut into lasagna sheets, let dry a little and only then boil in salty water for 3 minutes

[Thermomixer]

Yes, it does benefit from a bit of drying, and if you want to keep the sheets separate after making them, then fine semolina is good - it helps keep the sheets from sticking and comes off easily when you boil it and the water doesn't go so gluggy/gooey/messy from the free /loose flour mixing with the boiling water,

Do you also use the lasagne sheets to make canneloni by rolling filling in them?

[quirkycooking]

I always lay mine out on tea towels to dry out a bit before cooking, or before freezing in plastic bags.  (This is buckwheat fettucine.)

[Gralke]

Looks beautiful! So you freeze it uncooked - just a little dried? Is this dough with or without egg?

[quirkycooking]

This is just ground buckwheat and egg pasta - that's all that's in it.  (100g buckwheat to each egg)  I freeze it uncooked, and toss it in the boiling water straight from the freezer.

[Thermomixer]

Yes Gralke - where I help out, they freeze little 80g bundles dusted in semolina to prevent it sticking.  Then let it thaw a little for service and throw in boiling water.  One bundle for entree serve and 2 for mains.

[achookwoman]

I've made a fair bit of past,  although not lately.    When i made lasagne I dried the sheets a little and then used them uncooked.   Some i dried and froze.

[brazen20au]

oh fabulous jo, i've ben wondering where to find a decent GF recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now if only i had a decent machine

[cookie1]

Karen you are obviously still having trouble with your TMX. Has it been back West? It's still under warranty isn't it?

[brazen20au]

oh i meant a decent pasta machine
i'm still umming and ahhing about whether my thermomix is working properly or not - it seems to be making sorbet & crushing ice ok, but it does make some noises i just don't like

[judydawn]

Mine is also a little noisy these days, especially on 4 or 5.  With the amount of use it has had, guess that is not surprising. Still have 10 months under warranty for mine so will have to consider whether to do something about it or just put up with the noise.  Anyone else noticed the same thing with theirs?

[quirkycooking]

Karen, if you don't have a pasta machine, just roll the dough really thin, dust well with buckwheat flour, roll up into a long roll, then slice thin strips off the end with a knife to make fettucine.  That's what I used to do before I had a pasta machine.  They're a bit thicker this way, but still delicious!  (But you can get them pretty cheap - I've seen them for $30 - not sure about quality though!)

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

You can pick up pasta rollers really cheaply now.  The cogs tend to burn out quickly in the cheaper models though.  Ebay often have good quality second hand ones. I think pasta rollers are something that people often buy and don't then use (unlike TMX's).

[Beth]

Sorry I have taken so long to get back to everyone on here.  Thank you very much for all your answers

Here are the answers to some of your questions.

The two recipes we have tried which this has happen ar the following

-   Butterfly Pasta with Salmon Sauce pg 61 from A Seafood Bounty
-   Tomato Pasta with Vegetables and Feta pg 72 from A Taste of Vegetarian

Both of these we believe we followed the recipes as it is stated in the books. The pasta we used was just store brought one, nothing specially expect for the shape.

From what i have read here i believe it could bethe water not being hot enough when the pasta is first put in as i always have just used tap water or maybe overcooking the pasta?

[quirkycooking]

I use gf pasta (bought) mostly, and cook it for 8 minutes in the sauce, and never have any problems with it mushing, unless I leave it sitting in the jug, as it just keeps cooking.  Make sure you just cook it 'al dente', then tip it into the Thermoserver or serving dish STRAIGHT AWAY, so it doesn't keep cooking.  If you're cooking it plain, in water, you could rinse with cool water as soon as it's done (in a colander) so it doesn't keep cooking.  (As long as you have a hot sauce to put over it, it shouldn't matter if the pasta is lukewarm.)