Homemade Almond Pasta

I love Saturdays. Every other day of the week is filled with work and routine, but Saturday is my one day to really spend time in the kitchen. That's the way it was for my mom. 

Early Saturday morning I would awake to the aroma of yeast dough proofing in the pantry, waiting to be formed into loaves of bread, rolls, or coffee cake. And while waiting for the dough to rise there would be a pie in the making—apple, peach, maybe apricot, rhubarb, or (Daddy's favorite) gooseberry.

And then, in the afternoon while the bread was baking and pies were cooling, mom would make pasta dough for egg noodles.

Mom made the most amazing noodles. They were hand-rolled—paper-thin, and light as air. And when she wasn't looking (or so I thought) I would grab a bit of the raw dough and pop it in my mouth. Flour-y, eggy, salty wonderfulness!! As the years passed Mom's arthritis made it impossible for her to wield the rolling pin that formed those thin layers of pasta dough. So Daddy bought a pasta machine for her.

I have Mom's pasta machine now, and whenever I use it I think of her. Today with the help of Mom's pasta buddy I made noodles. But these were no ordinary noodles. In my pantry is a large (I mean REALLY large) package of sliced almonds. I found them in our local warehouse store; they were just too great of a bargain to resist. They have appeared in salads, cakes, and cookies. And today they served as my inspiration for this pasta.

Almond Pasta

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1 tablespoon wheat gluten
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs

Instructions

1. Process the almonds in a food processor until ground. However, don't process to the point of having almond butter. There should be a bit of texture in your pasta. 
2. To the same bowl add the wheat gluten, salt, and flour. Pulse until mixed. 
3. Add the eggs and process until a stiff dough forms and cleans the sides of the bowl. This will take a few moments and a bit of patience. At first, it will seem that the dough will not come together—it will be a bowl full of crumbs. But as the gluten in the flour breaks down, your dough will come together. Trust me!
4. With a pasta machine or by hand roll the dough out to desired thinness. When rolling out the dough, your goal is a thickness somewhere between 1/8 and 1/16 inch thick. If rolling out by hand, you will need to
   (a) cover the dough with a bowl and allow to rest for 15 minutes,
   (b) use a large well-floured surface, and
   (c) lift and flip over your dough several times to ensure that it doesn't stick to your work surface.
5. If using a pasta machine, use the setting you prefer to cut your noodles to the desired width. If cut by hand, you have two options.
   (a) You may use a pizza wheel to slice the dough into strips of the desired width, or
   (b) liberally flour the top surface of the dough, roll it up jelly-roll fashion, and then slice it into ribbons of the desired width (this option takes a bit more patience). Once all the dough is cut into noodles, sprinkle again with flour and toss so that all pieces are coated with flour to prevent sticking.
6. Bring a large kettle of water to boil. Place your noodles in a colander. Shake to remove excess flour and then drop the noodles into the boiling water. Cook until done; the amount of time needed will depend upon the thickness of your dough. Very thin noodles might need only 2 minutes. Thicker noodles will require 5 minutes or more. Sample, taste, assess, and enjoy when ready!

NOTE: Wheat gluten is available in health-food stores and in many major grocery stores in the baking goods section. Gluten provides the "glue" that binds dough and makes it sticky and pliable. A bit of gluten is needed in this recipe because almonds (which do not contain gluten) are taking the place of some of the flour.

Recycled Cookies

I have a confession to make. Yesterday, I rediscovered the cookie jar in the back of the pantry. I don't know how it got there. My heart breaks thinking of the lonely days (weeks?) it might have spent back there feeling unappreciated, neglected, and alone.

And yes, there were cookies within. Oatmeal cookies with pumpkin kisses. The kisses still look wonderful, but the cookie part is horribly stale. The kisses can be snapped off and are "as good as new," but what about the oatmeal cookie that was left behind?

I can't and won't throw them away; my frugal heart just won't allow that. 

Well, years ago I was lucky enough to get a recipe from my local bakery—Recycled Cookies. (This was long before recycling was in vogue). This recipe is the perfect answer for those times when you have cookies, cake, or (at New Year's?) fruitcake that seems past its prime.

Recycled Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. soda
• 3 cups rolled oats (not instant oatmeal)
• 2 - 2 1/2 cups crumbled cookies, cake, or fruitcake

Instructions

1. Cream together shortening and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, soda, and cookie/cake/fruitcake crumbs. 
2. At this point, you will need to add some liquid to moisten. If you have used chocolate cookie crumbs/cake add milk or coffee. Otherwise, use orange or apple juice. You want to add just enough to moisten but not end up with a sticky/gluey mass. 
3. Form the dough into a roll 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until firm. Slice 1/4 inch thick and bake on a lightly greased baking sheet at 375 degrees F for about 8 minutes.

Super Bowl Sunday

When my team is playing, I love Super Bowl Sunday. Unfortunately, this year "the other guys" are the star of the show. But we can still enjoy the Puppy Bowl, Kitty Half-Time, the Budweiser ad, and (best of all) the food.

Here is one dish that might be in my oven on Sunday:

Photo Credit: Image by tarheelgarden from Pixabay 

Seafood Nachos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

On a heatproof platter, layer the following ingredients in the order given:

tortilla chips

chopped green chilies

chopped, seeded tomato

sliced ripe olives

minced green onion

canned black beans, rinsed and drained

cooked shrimp and/or imitation crab flakes

shredded Cheddar or Jack cheese

Repeat layers once. Bake until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream and guacamole.

Quiche with Tater Tot Crust

Of all the "carb diva" foods I make in my kitchen, quiche has to be in the top 10 of my favorites.

• It's so versatile. You can serve it for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or even as an appetizer. 
• You can adapt the basic recipe to just about whatever ingredients you have in your refrigerator. Change the cheese, change the protein.
• It's a tasty way to get your family to eat more veggies.

There is one downside, however. The pastry crust. I'm pretty darned good at making pie dough, but depending on the humidity it can be a tad fussy. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for fuss. Yesterday was that kind of day, so I made a quiche with a potato crust.

I took a few photos during the process but didn't have a recipe (I'm making this up as I go). Here's what I did.

Quiche With Tater Tot Crust

Equipment and Ingredients

• a tart pan with removable bottom
• parchment paper
• straight-sided drinking glass or measuring cup
• measuring cups
• wire whisk
• frozen tater tots (about 4 cups)
• 1 cup cooked chicken Italian sausage (see other suggestions below)
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

Instructions

(1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

(2) Line a tart pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Here's the first Carb Diva trick for you. My parchment is notoriously uncooperative. It's stiff and doesn't like to nestle into the bottom of a pan. Simply take that sheet of paper and wad it up into a ball. Don't be gentle. Then unwrap; it will now submit to your will and line the bottom and sides of your tart pan.

(3) Fill the tart pan with tater tots—be generous but don't crowd them in.
Place in the preheated oven and "bake" for 5 minutes, just enough to thaw the tots.
Remove from the oven and allow to sit for a few minutes to cool.

(4) Grab that drinking glass (or measuring cup) and use it to squish the no longer solid tater tots over the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Be sure to completely cover the bottom of the pan.

(5) Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

(6) Bake the tater tot crust for 15 minutes, or until golden and crisp on the edges. Remove from the oven.

(7) Layer on the meat. I used chicken Italian sausage, but you can use your imagination here. 

(8) Next, add the veggies, and then the cheese.

(9) Whisk the 4 eggs with the milk until well-blended. Pour over the cheese layer. Bake the quiche for 30 minutes or until the eggs are set. 

Meat Suggestions

• cooked ground beef, turkey, or chicken
• vegetarian crumbles (faux ground beef)
• pulled pork
• diced cooked ham
• crisp-cooked crumbled bacon

Cheese Suggestions

• Cheddar
• Swiss
• Mozzarella
• Parmesan
• Colby
• Cheddar jack
• Provolone

Veggie Suggestions

• diced bell pepper
• diced onion
• chopped tomato, seeds removed
• broccoli florets
• asparagus tips
• black olives