Fettucini and Pancakes

Boone and I had dinner at an Italian restaurant last week. The main that he had was spaghetti with pesto and potato. It was delicious. He wanted me to try to make it for him.

I wanted to make fettucini instead of spaghetti and wanted to use a vegetable in the dough in order to give the fettucini some extra color to contrast with the green of the pesto.

I decided to use some carrots, but it didn't work so well for adding color, better luck next time. Anyway I put two carrots in the juicer, and used the pulp that is normally discarded to add to the dough.

Carrot & Cracked Pepper Fettucini
460gms plain flour
3 large eggs
80gms carrot pulp
Cracked pepper
Pinch of Salt

Place all ingredients into the food processor, and process until the mix resembles fine crumbs. If it has all come together into a dough, then your carrots had too much moisture and you need to add a bit more flour.

Knead mix until nice and smooth on a lightly floured surface. I like to just knead it enough till it comes together and then run it through the pasta machine a few times until the dough is at the right consistency. It really saves my arms from the kneading :)

Roll them out with your pasta machine and cut them with the fettucini cutter.

Cook in boiling salted water for about 10 minutes.

Pesto & Potato Fettucini
3 medium potatoes cut into cubes
2 bunches of basil
olive oil
60gms of butter
50gms toasted pinenuts
Crushed garlic
freshly grated parmesan
Cooked fettucini

Boil potatoes in salted water and set aside
Place basil, pinenuts, butter and salt in the food processor and process to a chunky consistency.
Heat some oil in a frypan and cook 2 cloves of crushed garlic for a few seconds, add enough pasta for one person, one heaped tablespoon of pesto mix and 100gms of grated parmesan. Toss together until the butter in the pesto is melted. Serve immediately.

Coconut Cream Strawberry net Pancakes with Chantilly Cream

Nets
1/2 cup plain flour
1 cup of coconut cream
2 tsp castor sugar
1 large egg
1/2 a cup of water
Mix all ingredients in a blender. Place mix in a sauce bottle.
Heat a non stick fry pan and using the bottle pour batter onto the pan in a net pattern. Once cooked on one side, turn net over and cook lightly on other side


Sauce
1/2 a punnet of strawberries
4 tbs caster sugar
1/4 cup of coconut cream
Blend all ingredients in a food processor. Cook for 10 minutes in a heavy based saucepan.

Chantilly Cream
300mls of thickened cream
2tbs caster sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
Beat all ingredients together until the cream is very light and thick in texture.

Assemble by placing a net on the plate, then place three tablespoons of chantilly cream in a line in the middle of the pancake. Place three sliced strawberries on top of the cream and close the net over them.
Serve with strawberry sauce.