😮 that’s looks amazing! I’m making fresh pasta for the first time next week. Any tips /recipe?
Yeeeeesssss I love it!! Pasta is awesome! I'm excited for you. Fresh pasta is just the best, so be careful, you're gonna want it all the time. It does take some time, and it can be kind of tedious, but I find it really enjoyable.
It takes some practice to get certain things about the process down, but if you have some basic ideas about how doughs work, you can pick it up pretty quickly. Refining it and making it the same every time and really nailing it can take a lot of trial and error, so don't give up and keep practicing!
Chloe and I have a website with some of our recipes, we'll be adding at least once a week starting in March. Over the last month we've tested and written and shot photos for the next few months of recipes, and we're almost there! Pasta, and some other fun stuff is up already. The ones that are up there are getting a facelift and more tips and stuff (like this!) added soon as well.
This is my go to recipe for simple pasta. I prefer the egg dough pastas, and I eat gluten in plentiful amounts, so I do an egg and 00 and semolina recipe. There are endless ways to do it, and so many are googleable, if you want to avoid eggs or gluten or whatever.
In my experience, there things that can take some time to get down and feel a little unnatural or like there's something to fix in the early steps of making the dough and the late steps. The middle, just knead away.
At first it will feel like the dough is never going to come together. Trust the process and keep going and resist the urge to add anything until you've really given it some time and work. I used to always think my dough was too wet because I was impatient and I'd add more flour and ruin it or dry it out. Keep going a little longer than you think, and the texture will get there. You can get the wet dough off your hands by rubbing them together, and you can just mush the dough into all those little bits that come off and then keep kneading. The texture will change dramatically from start to finish.
Similarly towards the end, knead it a little more than you think you need to. For the longest time I really felt like I was so close but just missing in the textures, and I started kneading for two more minutes any time I thought I was done, and I realized I was hopping off too early. You should knead it for a good ten minutes.
Let your eggs temper if you're using them. They don't need to be totally room temp, but make sure all of the chill is off of them before you start, and the dough will have a better time coming together and the end result will be much more homogenous and the texture and movement of the dough while rolling and shaping will be much better, and the taste will be better, too! It cooks better and more evenly.
If you're rolling out by hand and not using a machine, roll it thinner than you think. Common misstep for new pasta cooks that have not committed to buying rollers or a machine is leaving it too thick, then the pasta's chewy and sad. If you're using rollers or a machine, just follow the directions for what setting to roll to.
Cooking fresh pasta is WAY faster than dried. Dried is typically 8-12 minutes, fresh is more like 2-3. Be prepared to move quicker with it during the cooking process. Make sure you salt the water, too.
Walk before you can run and don't get too fixated on shapes and all that and go for things like spaghetti and tagliatelle or fettuccini. It takes a little more understanding of how the dough behaves to do different shapes and filled stuff well. I recommend watching videos of people making pasta if you can, watch how the dough wants to move, watch what they do with their hands. I always found that helpful!
Sirius went stumbling forward, hands flying out and grabbing onto whatever he could reach, which happened to be the slippery polyester of the windbreaker on James’ shoulder. His fingers slipped over the fabric and Sirius went tumbling down onto the sidewalk, his feet hanging over the gutter he just tripped over, his laces soaking in the murky puddle there. James looked down at him with a gasp, shocked to see Sirius fall, unable to catch him. He fixed the frame of his glasses and made eye contact with his best friend, and they both burst out laughing.
James stumbled back, far too overcome with laughter, already unstable on his feet from all the alcohol they’d been drinking, and crashed into a post-box. Sirius rolled onto his back, splayed out like a starfish on the pavement and wiped the tears forming in his eyes from laughing too hard.
They were far gone.
“You fucking git.” He managed to get out before clutching at his stomach with a new wave of laughter. James’ hair was even messier than usual, his glasses askew, and his jacket now practically half off as he gripped onto the post box behind him for stability. He looked like a mess, and it was hilarious to Sirius.
“You tripped over first!” James howled, standing upright now, “I told you the gutter was there.”
“I thought it was further away.” Sirius smiled, reaching his hand up for James to take. “It’s not my fault everything’s blurry.”
“It certainly is your fault.” James smiled, pulling Sirius to his feet, not without another stumble from the both of them, where they were gripping onto each other for dear life, “No one told you to skull that long island iced tea.”
“Actually, James dear… you did.” Sirius smiled, petting his friend on the chest as he slung another arm around his middle.
James smiled, thinking about it for a moment as he wrapped his arm over Sirius’ shoulders. They needed to rely on each other to stay upright, now. “Oh, yeah…” He started laughing again, “You’re right, I did.”
Sirius chuckled as they stumbled along the street. The air was cold out, crisp; it had rained whilst they were in the pub. Tonight had been an ABBA themed night, down at their local, and the pair had desperately wanted to go. Remus and Regulus had given them a stern no for an answer the minute they were invited, so it was just these two tonight. The original troublesome two… the ultimate duo.
They had a blast, dancing with a big group of girls dressed in glitter and flares. It was one of their eighteenths, her first night legally drinking, and James and Sirius had bought her a couple of shots. They all screamed and danced together when Gimme Gimme Gimme! came on, but James and Sirius screamed the loudest. The regular, older, more conservative patrons of the pub were not exactly pleased, but that just egged the pair on.
“Knowing me, knowing you…” Sirius slurred, swinging his arm out for dramatics.
James leaned further into his space, his breath like vodka and sugar, “Ah haaaaaa!”
“There's nothing we can do!”
“Knowing me, knowing you.” James bopped along, wiggling his body and hip bumping Sirius to take the next line.
“We just have to face it, this timeeeee we're through.” Sirius sang, rather terribly, actually. Sirius has a nice voice, James thinks, when he sings in the shower, and in the car. It’s nice to listen too, a good baritone, and he can hold a note. But now he was singing high pitched and without any intention of sounding good, and one could certainly tell. It almost made James’ ear ring, but he was too drunk to care.
James laughed, setting his voice significantly deeper to sing backup to Sirius, “This time were through. We're through.”
“And breaking up is never easy, I know…” Sirius broke out, tearing himself away from James and grabbing his hand, making James twirl under his arm, taking his voice up a notch, “But I haaaaave tooooo go!”
James pointed over to Sirius, setting his voice deep again, egging him on, “I have to go.”
“Knowing me knowing you,” Sirius sang, and then closed his eyes, pressed a finger to his ear and on the other hand he held up a finger as he practically screeched, “It’s the best I can doooo-”
“Shut the fuck up!” Someone yelled, half hanging out of their window of the building beside them, “It’s three in the morning you fucking slag.”
Sirius burst out laughing, his hands clasped over his mouth as he fell into James’ shoulder. James tried his best not to laugh, but he was struggling. He looked up to the person and gave them a little wave, “Sorry!” He shouted, before ending up in hysterics too, muffled by the wild frizz that had taken to Sirius’ hair.
They continued to stumble down the street, laughing into each other and trying their best to stay right way up, but it wasn’t easy. They finally reached their apartment block and took a good three and a half minutes trying to find the right key for the front door.
“I’m a bit hungry, how about you, mate?” James asked, pushing the door open for Sirius.
“Bugger.” Sirius tutted, trying to quietly make his way towards the stairs. There are lots of old people living in this building. There are lots of angry old people that Sirius enjoys pissing off, but mostly there are really lovely old ladies that bake the boys cookies from time to time, and old men that let Sirius and Remus flick through their record collections and borrow a few vinyls. So Sirius would rather not get on their bad sides. “We forgot to stop for yiros.”
“Bloody hell.” James muttered, clambering up the stairs behind him. They were both clinging onto the railing, occasionally climbing the stairs on all fours when the drink made their head spin. “I knew we did something different this time.”
“Do you reckon old Dimitri will have missed us.”
James snickered, whacking Sirius on his back, “I’ll bet he had an easy night without you there, do you know how long it takes for you to order? You get the same bloody thing every time.”
“Well I want to be sure, James.” Sirius said with a roll of his eyes, “Besides… he loves my company. I’m sure of it.”
“Ah huh.” James nodded, surpassing Sirius on the stairs. They’d initiated some silent race to see who could get to the top first, as they often did when drunk.
“Oi! Get back here, wanker.” Sirius whispered harshly, yanking James back by the belt loops.
Sirius managed to get past him, but only because James tripped back and down the stairs, onto the fifth floor platform. Sirius turned when he heard the clunk, and had to bite down on his hand to stop his laughter from waking Little Lucy, whose bedroom was right on the other side of the wall beside him.
“You bloody idiot.” Sirius cackled, his back sliding down the wall as he clutched at his stomach.
James sat up, rolling his shoulders and fixing his glasses, “You pulled me, you wanker.”
“You’re a wanker.” Sirius buried his face in his knees.
“Shut up, you’ll wake the whole building.” James said, clambering back up the stairs on his hands and knees, “Come on, we’ll never make it home at this point.”
Sirius let himself be yanked to his feet by James, and once again, they clung onto each other for the rest of the hike. Once on the seventh floor, James fumbled with the keys for another two minutes before Sirius snatched them away, insisting he could do it. He just tried shoving every key in the lock until one worked.
“You’re an idiot.” James mused, shaking his head.
“Actually, I’m a very smart and handsome young man, according to your mother.” Sirius said, pushing the door closed behind them with a bit of a bang.
James rolled his eyes, “Yeah, she said that when you were twelve.”
“Actually, she said that last night.” He grinned, grabbing James by the face and pumping his eyebrows at him, “When she was in my bed-”
“Ew!” James pushed Sirius away, pulling him into a headlock, “You repulse me, you git. Shut up.”
Sirius burst out laughing, and they roughoused a little before Sirius got free, and his hair stuck up much like James’. They were both wiping tears from their eyes, again, by the end of it.
“You know what would be fucking amazing right now?” James asked, walking into the kitchen with Sirius trailing behind him.
“Hmm,” Sirius thought with a little shrug, grabbing two glasses from the pantry, “Remus.”
James huffed, glaring over at Sirius deadpan, a bottle of fireball in his hand, “No. And unless you want me making similar comments about your brother, I suggest you shut your smart mouth up.”
“Ew!” Sirius fake gagged, “Disgusting, Prongs.”
James just grinned, a proud one. Sirius shoved the glasses on the counter in front of him, and James poured them each a very generous shot. “You know, Marlene told me that this tastes brilliant with apple juice?”
“Apple juice?” James asked.
“Yeah.” Sirius shrugged, “Wanna try?”
“Go on.” James nodded, “S’not like we’ve got anything to lose.”
Sirius pulled a funny face and laughed at James’ commentary, opening the fridge to get the juice out. “Oh, we’ve only got apple and blackcurrant…” He looked up at James, holding the bottle awkwardly in his hands.
“Oo, extra flavour.” James said, with an excited waggle of his brow, and Sirius laughed.
He moved over and very messily poured the juice into their glasses, “Wait… what were you going to say before?”
“What?” James asked, licking up the side of his glass where Sirius had spilled.
“Before…” Sirius shrugged, doing the same as James because he was really quite drunk and prone to mess, “When you said something about… you wanted something.”
“Oh.” James nodded, taking a sip and pulling a strange face, “Pasta.”
Sirius took a sip too, and made a face much similar to James, “Huh… this tastes…”
“Funny.”
Sirius nodded, “Yeah…” He shrugged and went for another sip, “Not half bad though.”
“I’m sure it would be better with just regular apple juice.”
“Probably.” He sipped some more, leaning his hip on the edge of the counter before slipping forward and stumbling into James again, “And what kind of pasta would you want right now?”
James laughed and helped steady him before speaking, both of their drinks sloshing over the edge of their glasses, “Hmm, cheesy… spicy… creamy.”
“Oooh.” Sirius grinned, all big with teeth as he set his glass down. He wandered over to the pantry to have a look, “We’ve got a million canned tomatoes… and a massive packet of penne.”
“Do we have cream?” James asked, and Sirius moved to the fridge to have a look.
“Yup.” He nodded, smiling over at James. He looked cheeky like that, as if he was up to no good again. And he probably was.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” James asked with a mischievous lilt.
Sirius flung his hand in the air, slamming the fridge shut, “Dibs not cutting the onion!”
***
BANG!
Remus sat up in a flash, heart beating in his throat.
CLASH!
He was quick to his feet, not even taking the time to pull on his slippers like he usually would. He scrambled across his room with one sock on, the other lost to his bed somewhere, in his boxers and a Metallica shirt that was actually Sirius’.
There was an umbrella sitting by his bedroom door, and he grabbed that before heading out into the dimly lit hallway.
He came face to face with Regulus there, standing in his own doorway, a pocket knife clutched between his teeth as he was pulling a creased shirt down his front. He had sleep rumpled hair and bags under his eyes, his feet bare and James’ gym shorts on.
Regulus pressed a finger to his lips, and Remus nodded, both staying dead silent as they turned towards the threat. They could hear voices echoing through the apartment, it sounded like they were arguing, hurrying each other on. Intruders, they were both thinking. Had to be.
They crept down the hall, getting closer and closer to the light coming from the kitchen. The pair stayed close as they approached, silently communicating with one another. Remus would take the one to the left, and Reguls would take the one to the right.
They took a deep breath together, and stepped into the kitchen, weapons raised, ready to attack when-
Oh.
They both lowered their weapons immediately, staring at their boyfriends and the utter mess they’d made of the kitchen.
There were half drunk bottles of alcohol on the island, cups half full and liquid spilt all around them. There was dry pasta scattered over the stove and floor, and tomato sauce fucking everywhere. There was a bag of grated cheese covering half the bench top, a half cut onion there as well. Not to mention the amount of used dishes lying around. Really, how many pots and pans does one need when making pasta?
And the fighting the pair had heard, well that was coming from James and Sirius, standing over a pot of red sauce, bickering over the stirring spoon.
Remus looked over to Regulus with an un-amused expression, who had a similar one plastered on his own face. They both sighed and looked back to their boyfriends, who looked up with the sudden sound, startled.
The both of them, caught like deer in headlights, dropped the spoon and pulled their hands to themselves. The spoon clattered down into the pot, causing some of the sauce to splash up onto them and-
“Ah! James!” Sirius whined, covering his eye, “You bugger! Why’d you drop the spoon?”
“Why’d you drop the spoon?” James fought back.
Sirius sniffed and cried out, “Why’d you put so much chilli in there? It burns.”
“God help me.” Remus muttered to himself, dropping the umbrella and rushing over to Sirius, “Give me your face.”
“Oh, okay.” Sirius smiled, his cheeks crimson as he pulled his hands away, one eye squinted shut. He leant forward, lips puckered for Remus.
“No.” Remus tutted, tapping his cheek a few times before dragging him over to the sink, “Your eye, you knobhead.”
“Why are you being mean?” Sirius whined as Remus shoved his face under the now running stream of cold water from the tap. Sirius cried out, slamming his eyes shut as Remus did his best to rinse the spicy sauce out.
“Because you woke me up.”
“James!” Sirius gasped and ended up with a mouth full of water. He spluttered it out before continuing, “I told you to be quiet.”
“I told you to be quiet!” James bickered back.
“What was that bang?” Regulus asked.
“Padfoot dropped a pot.” James said, easily dobbing his best friend in, even pointing over to him with a thumb, acting like a five year old who just got caught drawing on the walls.
“James!” Sirius scolded, kicking his leg out and nicking James on the calf.
Regulus rubbed his head, “Both of you, shut the fuck up please?”
“Yes, Regulus.” Sirius muttered, ending up with another mouthful of water at the same time as James said,
“Yes, Reggie, my love.”
Sirius kicked him again.
“Alright.” Remus muttered, lifting Sirius and turning off the tap, “Blink for me?”
Sirius did as he was told, moving his now soaked hair out of his face.
“You look like a wet rat.” James said, snickering to himself.
Sirius gasped and flipped him off, still trying to fix his hair, “Remus, you still think I’m pretty, right?”
Remus deadpanned him, grabbing a tea towel to wipe his boyfriends face clean, “I think you’re a very pretty wet rat.”
Sirius kicked him too.
“Why the fuck are you making pasta?” Regulus asked, rounding the counter to turn off the stove.
“We wanted pasta.” James shrugged.
“It was all Prongs’ idea.” Sirius said and poked his tongue out at James.
James poked his tongue back out of Sirius, which got him a swat across the chest. So, naturally, he swatted Sirius back, which led to Sirius then retaliating, and they were roughhousing again, on the messy floor of the kitchen.
Remus rubbed his eyes, looking at the mess before turning to Regulus, “Tomorrow?”
Regulus nodded, “Tomorrow.” He agreed, and they both turned to head back to their rooms.
“Where are you going?” Sirius poked his head up, his hands shoving James’ face into the ground.
“Don’ you wan’ some pastha?” James asked, his cheek awkwardly smushed into the tile, slurring his words.
Regulus and Remus shared another look. They were both tired as shit, being woken up at who knows what hour of the night to deal with this atrocity, but unfortunately they were burdened with stupid love for their stupid boyfriends.
“Fine.” Regulus sighed.
“Just a little bit.” Remus agreed, “But then bed.”
“You’re cleaning this up tomorrow too.” Reggie said, arms folded as he jutted his hip out, “We expect to wake up to the kitchen being spotless.”
“Yessir.” Sirius saluted him, clambering off of James now.
“Anything you want, Reggie bab-” James started, but Sirius tackled him to the ground again.
**
HAPPY FRIDAY!
thankyou for reading! don't forget to reblog, and comments are always appreciated <3
hope you enjoyed this dumb little ficlet i got from this random post on instagram i sent to @gaybubblehead because i was spamming them with an overload of content today because i am sick, and they said it was one shot material- so this is for you my dude! <3
happy INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP DAY sablini!! I think you’re RADICAL! i love your passion for fish and how you always have something interesting to say about all kinds of stuff!! have a wonderful day!!
oh my god this is so sweet, thank you Pasta, and HAPPY INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP DAY!!!!!
Hello there, Dove. You may have noticed that I am currently holding an extra large bottle of fine glitter over all your clothing. If you wish to wear your favorite outfits ever again without feeling like your skin has erupted in boils, you will support Cloudy.
*is already dealing with a boil*
Okay, can we talk about this? I'm not the one crashing it... I just made a proposition is all
Every edge of Xaden’s body is honed like a weapon, all sharp lines and barely leashed power. His rebellion relic twists around his upper body and stands out against the deep bronze of his skin, accentuating every punch he throws, and his stomach… I mean, how many muscles are there in the abdominals? His are so rigidly defined that I could probably count every single one if the rest of him wasn’t so damned distracting.
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, pg 340, kindle edition
