KITCHEN CRAZE! :)

You know that thing when you see someone cute and he smiles and your heart kind of goes like warm butter sliding down hot toast? Well that's what it's like when I'm in a kitchen. Only it's better. 

(courtesy of Rebecca Bloomwood and her wonderful movie Confessions of a Shopaholic)

As I stated in my About Me column, I adore cooking! I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of baking (although a white chocolate truffle cupcake with raspberry compote does sound pretty great at times), so I usually stick to cooking :)! I Love trying fun new recipes, especially those with fresh ingredients that are popping with flavor! Just a couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to teach a cooking class to young girls in our neighborhood! It was such a blast and we made some delicious dishes! 

We made homemade pasta from scratch! That was probably my favorite dish because we had a wonderful homemade tomato sauce to go on top! mm... mm... good! :)We also made homemade pizza all from scratch as well! Things just seem to taste better when you've put in the extra time to make them; however, the truth is, these recipes were VERY easy and SUPER fun to make! Especially with the pasta machine as you can see in the photo! 

Here are the recipes! ENJOY!

HOMEMADE PASTA   

   1 egg, beaten

 1/2 teaspoon salt

 1 cup all-purpose flour

   2 tablespoons water

1. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the flour, add the slightly beaten egg, and mix. Mixture should form a stiff dough. If needed, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water.

2. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for about 3 to 4 minutes. With a pasta machine or by hand roll dough out to desired thinness. Use machine or knife to cut into strips of desired width.

3. Add desired toppings, and enjoy

HOMEMADE PIZZA

Dough:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

  1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add in the oil and water. Spread out on pizza pan. Top as desired. Bake at 375 degrees C (190 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.

Sauce: (same sauce used on pasta)

·     1 tbsp butter

·     two garlic clove (minced)

·     one can diced tomatoes

·     2 tbsp. tomato paste

·     3 Sprig of thyme (pull off thyme)

·     Bay leaf

·     Salt and pepper to taste

Add butter to med. heat pan; sweat the garlic for 2 min. Then add diced tomatoes and paste, stir well. Bring to simmer, then add thyme, basil leaf, and let sit for 5min. Add salt and pepper to taste, remove the bay leaf,  and use as desired.