今日は、夫によるパスタ作りのミニレッスンを開催しました（笑）。去年のクリスマスプレゼントに義弟夫婦にパスタマシンを贈ったので、使ってもらえるように一緒にパスタを作ろうということに。先日は Stringozzi を作りましたが、今日はフェトチーニ。生地は同じですが（生地もいろいろありますが、今日は４００gの粉に卵１個、オリーブオイル、塩、水を使いました）薄く伸ばして太めの幅に切っています。

We had a mini pasta making lesson by my husband today!   We gave a pasta machine to my husband’s brother and his wife for a Christmas present last year, so we decided to make pasta together so that they’ll be able to use it at home.   The other day we made Stringozzi but today we made Fettuccine with the same dough.  My husband’s brother made pasta with us once sometime ago but it was the first time for his wife – they seem to have had fun.

パスタを作るのは良いのですが、ソースとうまく絡めるのがとても難しい。短めに茹でて（１分）ソースと混ぜるのですが、これに手間取って汗だくになりました。Stringozzi は一番厚いところで伸ばして切るだけなので手間が少なく太い麺なので茹で過ぎることもあまりないのですが、フェトチーニはすぐに火が通り過ぎてしまうので焦ります。ソースの味の濃さがちょっと足りず（パスタを加える前の状態では濃いめの方が良いのです、そのつもりでちぇっくはしたのですが。。。）、お塩や胡椒を足したりゆで汁と足したりしているうちにちょっと柔らかくなってしまいました。でも、まぁまぁでしょうか。ソースは、夫が作ってくれたボロネーゼソースです。

I find that making pasta is the easy part, mixing it with the sauce is quite stressful and I think I over-cooked it slightly.  I’ve never been confident with this part but it’s even harder to cook for 4 altogether.

Although I thought the sauce was well-seasoned when I checked before starting to cook pasta, I found out that it was still a little under-seasoned once it was mixed with pasta.   This is often the problem for me.  Adding more salt, pepper (and more after tasting….), some pasta cooking liquid and try to mix it so the sauce gets absorbed by the pasta is always tricky because homemade fettuccine is quite delicate and can get over-cooked very quickly.  We should probably made tomato sauce – it’s easier to mix well with pasta than Ragu type.  I think it was still good, though.

The sauce was made by my husband – Delia Smith’s Bolognese.

最後はちょっとバタバタしましたが、パスタを作るところはスムーズに進んで何より。なにしろ、わたしたちも決してエキスパートでなく、この７年ほどの間に多分１０回作ったかな、という程度なので、教えるほど上手でもないのです。義弟は以前一度一緒に作ったことがありますが、奥さんは初めて。昔から義弟の家族は義弟がほとんどお料理担当でお料理好きですし、奥さんもベイキングはされるのでパスタ作りは楽しそうでした。イギリスに戻られたらすぐにパスタを作ってくれるかも？

Although the last part – mixing the pasta with the sauce – was stressful, I’m glad that the pasta making part went very well.  It’s not as if we were experts, we’ve probably made about 10 times or less in the last 6 years and we have had some problems in the past.

My husband’s brother made pasta with us once sometime ago but it was the first time for his wife.  My husband’s brother has always been the chef in his family and he enjoys cooking, so hopefully they’ll enjoy making pasta when they have time to try at home.  His wife enjoys baking and there is some similarity to pasta making and pastry so she seemed have enjoyed herself, too.  Hopefully, they’ll use the new pasta machine soon!