Pasta with Napolitano Sauce

The Pasta dough was made with Semolina flour my wife purchased during the week The result was a nuttier taste with Spaghetti that held together very well.

Ingredients

3 free range eggs at room temp

300g Semolina Flour

10g Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Method

Place all ingredients into the Thermomix bowl and knead for 2 minutes on Interval speed.

Place in glad wrap and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Use the trusty pasta machine to roll out to level 5, sit for 10 minutes to allow to slightly harden, run through Spaghetti blades and drop straight into boiling water.

Cooking time about 8 minutes.

Napolitano sauce

Ingredients

1 carrot diced

1 stick celery diced

I onion

6 cloves garlic

2 spring onions diced

Salt and pepper

2 tins Italian tomatoes of 800g fresh Roma tomatoes

2 fresh mild chilli

Olive Oil

8 olives

Method

I prefer to chop the carrot, celery and spring onions into 1cm cube chunks to get an even spread through the sauce. If you do this chopping in the Thermomix the pieces come out a bit irregular. If I was in a hurry I would use the Thermomix to do this.

Place onion, garlic and chilli into bowl and chop on speed 7 for 5 seconds. Add 10g olive oil and cook for 5 minutes on 100 deg. on speed 2 reverse. Add the tomatoes, diced veg and olives. Cook for 12 minutes on 100 deg. speed 3 reverse.

We served this with some home made garlic bread. The bread was left over from a baguette lunch on the weekend. The garlic butter was made in the Thermomix as follows.

Ingredients

30g butter

3 stalks parsley

4 cloves garlic

Method

Place garlic and parsley into bowl and chop on speed 7 for 5 seconds. Add butter and mix on speed 3 for 5 seconds. Slice cuts into bread and butter between slices. Wrap in alfoil and bake in 180 deg oven for 20 minutes. Open up the alfoil for last 5 minutes to crispen top of bread.

Lasagne

A family favourite is home made Lasagne. We try to make as much as possible ourselves, so today it means home made pasta, bolognaise sauce and bechamel sauce.


Firstly, make the Pasta Dough
Ingredients
4 Free range eggs
400g Plain Flour
15g Olive Oil

Method
All ingredients into the thermomix and knead for 2 minutes on Interval speed.

Tip out onto the bench and bring the fine dough together, wrap in cling wrap and sit in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Next, Make your Bolognaise Sauce
Ingredients
500g Mince
50g Bacon
80g Celery
6 cloves Garlic
1 Carrot
1 Onion
50g olive Oil
2 x tins dices Italian tomatoes
Salt and pepper

Method
Place Bacon, celery, carrot, onion and garlic into thermomix and mix for 15 seconds on speed 7. this finely minces everything. Add oil and saute for 3 mins at 100 degrees on speed 1. Add mince and cook on Varoma, Reverse, Soft for 10 mins. At this point I usually give the sides a scrape down to make sure everything is below the surface. Add tomatoes and cook for 15mins at Veroma temp on Reverse, Soft. Turn over the MC to reduce the spit effect.
Once finished place in the Thermomix warmer to keep hot.

During the last cooking period I rolled out the pasta using the trusty pasta machine into long Lasagne sheets.

Now its time to make the Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients
1Lt Milk
100g Plain Flour
60g Butter
1tsp salt

Method
Place all ingredients into the bowl and cook for 12 minutes at 90 degrees on speed 4. Chopping the butter into 4 smaller pieces stops the splash effect when you first turn the thermomix on.

Assemble the lasagne in layers on pasta, bolognaise and bechamel repeatedly until finished.

I top the Lasagne with breadcrumbs made from all our leftover crusts (Speed 9 for 1min)and grated cheese (10 seconds on speed 7).

Bake for 45 mins in 180 degree oven with another 7-10 mins on 225 degrees to really brown the top.

Banana Bread 2

With school 1 week in the house is empty of snacks. Banana bread is a great way to use the old bananas that no one wants to take to school.

Ingredients
100g SR Flour
50g Butter
75g Brown Sugar
50g Sultanas (substituted with dates)
15G Walnuts
1 Egg
225g Banana flesh

Method
Chop the dates and walnuts on speed 7 for 15 seconds. Put these aside to add later.
Add flour and butter to bowl and crumb on speed 5 for 5 seconds. Add the sugar, walnut and date mixture, egg and bananas.
Mix on speed 7 for 10 seconds.
If the mix looks too runny add a tbs of extra SR flour at this point.

Pour into the new silicone loaf pan purchased by the wife and bake in a preheated 180 degree oven. Cooking time 35 minutes. Rest in pan before turning onto wire rack.

My mix was a litttle over wet (hence the suggestion to add more flour) and the loaf did not hold it's full baking height once removed from the oven.