No egg pasta

Detail still isn’t convinced about the Artist’s survival cookbook idea. “Isn’t glue the only thing you can make from flour and water?” she asked.  The others burst out laughing and pointed out that this is the reason why the book is particularly appropriate for the Dedes. After all, they are made from glue and newspaper. But Detail remaind unfazed. “Just show me one edible recipe, and I will shut up!”

“No problem” said Evan G. List stepping forward. “I am vegan. I make no egg pasta all the time.” He fetched a clean cup from the cupboard and then grabbed the flour tin. “Here, just flour and water. Okay, you can add a little oil, it makes it a tad easier as it sticks together faster, but you can do without it.” He kneaded the dough while he told us that his no egg pasta had been a life saver plenty of times when he was young and had friends around who got the munchies after midnight. He always had flour at home and with his pasta recipe he could whip up a delicious dish in no time at all. Just add some dried chilly and/or other herbs from the pantry, and some garlic and olive oil to the cooked pasta. Done!

“Those were the days,” he sighed and his eyes glazed over behind his thick glasses. He didn’t even have a rolling pin to call his own then, he had to use a clean wine bottle to roll out the dough. Now of course he owns a pasta machine which makes life so much easier.

Ingredients:

1 cup of flour, 1/3 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of oil (optional)

Method

Pour flour on a flat working surface and add a little water, working the water into the flour with your hands little by little. When half the water is used up, add the oil. Knead well before you add more water. In the end I only wet my hands with water and knead until the slimy ball turns once again into a nice pliable playdough consistency, before I wet my hands again and repeat the procedure.

Once you have a firm, smooth, pliable, non-sticky dough, put it in a bowl, cover and let it rest in the fridge for 10 minutes. This is an important step as it allows the flour to bond with the water in the dough rather than the water it will be cooked in later.

Once the dough has rested, divide it into two balls and roll it out with a rolling pin to the thickness you like. The more pliable your dough was in the beginning the thinner you can roll it now. If you have a pasta machine you increase the pressure with every pass and the dough will get thinner and thinner. Once you have achieved the thickness you are after you cut the dough into strips and hang up to dry for a little. You can place a clean tea towel over the back of a chair and place the dough strips on the tea towel, or you can hang it up on a pasta drying rack. Usually the time it takes for a pot of water to boil is enough time for the drying.

Bring a pot of water to the boil (in the meantime you can prepare the sauce you want to have with it) and when the water is boiling place pasta in the water and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.