2010.06.24 - Homemade Pasta, Chicken Milanese, Pavlova

P & M bought me the pasta maker attachment for the KitchenAid mixer for my birthday, and I finally got around to trying it out!  It took a while to get a hang of it, perhaps compounded by the fact I was making gluten free pasta, but in the end it looked and tasted like the real thing.

Zucchini, Cherry Tomato, Fresh Ricotta Pasta
Gluten Free Pasta

The gf pasta ended up tasting very much like the real thing, except possibly a little bit slimier.  It was difficult to keep it from falling apart in the pasta maker, but I was eventually able to get the dough long enough to make fettuccine.  The vegetable "sauce" for the pasta was delicious.  This was the first time I had made my own cheese - it was surprisingly simple, but the small yield of cheese to a large amount of milk was a little shocking!  I thought it was a much better texture than store bought ricotta - not grainy at all.

Chicken Milanese

I wanted a protein to go with the pasta -- these were just basic chicken cutlets, nothing special.

Pavlova with Berry Sauce

I didn't use the berry sauces directed in the recipe -- just searched for some simple strawberry and blueberry sauces to use up frozen berries that I had.  The pavlova was excellent - just right chewy meringue texture.  I love the combination of meringue with whipped cream and fruit sauce!  I used a protractor to make sure the meringue ended up a perfect circle :)