Pasta Night!

Last night was pasta night! Mostly because I bought a pasta machine while outlet shopping the other day, and I had to test it out RIGHT AWAY! I'd been eying pasta machines for awhile, but most of them are $80+. At the Kitchen Collection I found one for $25 and thought it was worth a shot. Certainly had to be better than my rolling pin and pizza cutter which created log-like fettuccine.

The kids love to cook, as do I. The only problem is I hate having people in my space while I'm cooking. Cooking is my time. Thankfully Jeremy knows this, and he's great about shuttling the kids in and out, so they can be helpers but aren't getting in the way.

First, we had to make the noodle dough. I've learned that it's best to give Liliana some time to scoop her heart's content out before actually starting. After she was satisfied I just pour it all back into the container and then we measure for real.

Basic Pasta Recipe
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. olive oil
water until it just barely sticks together in a ball...about 1/3 of a cup, but add it a little bit at a time.

I just threw it all into the KitchenAid mixer and let it run until it's stuck together. Then I take it out and let the kids knead it. And knead it. And knead it. They LOVED it! (Check out Liliana's concentration.) Then, the dough has to rest for at least 30 minutes before sticking it through the machine (or rolling and cutting by hand).

We let the kids help put it through. Micah cranked and Liliana caught it. It was definitely way more work than doing it ourselves, but they were soooo proud to eat the noodles they had made.

After the noodles were cut, everyone was kicked out of the kitchen so I could finish supper. Toss the noodles into a pot of boiling water and boil for about 5 minutes.

Cajun Chicken Alfredo
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, thawed and diced
1 Tbsp. cajun seasoning
2 Tbsp. butter
1 zucchini, diced
2 green onions, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1-2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fresh garlic
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup. fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Coat chicken with cajun seasoning and cook in butter. Add in everything else. You may want to adjust the seasonings to taste. I rarely measure when cooking, but this should be pretty close. Mix in the cooked noodles, the starch from them helps thicken the sauce but you can always mix a little flour with some cream and then stir it in if it's too thin or add more cream if it's too thick. It's really hard to screw up, so feel free to mess around with it.

The end result is AMAZING!!! It's not spicy, but definitely has more flavor than regular alfredo and all the color makes it fun. Our niece Danyka LOVED it, she had 3 helpings slurping the noodles each time while we all laughed at with her.