October 25: National Pasta Day

October 25 is National Pasta Day, and I hope you're out there having some great pasta dishes at your favorite restaurant or cooking up a storm in the kitchen. I used to make my own pasta a lot, but not so much anymore. There are so many fresh pasta vendors in my neighborhood. However, since it is National Pasta Day, I thought I'd post a recipe for:

Chocolate Pasta.
1 3/4 c Flour
1/4 c Cocoa powder
2 Egg
4 T Water

Mix flour and cocoa well. Mound on your work surface or in a large bowl. Make a deep well in the center of the mound and break the eggs into it. Beat the eggs in there with a fork, adding about 2 Tbsp water. Using a circular motion, draw the flour and cocoa into the center. Toss in another Tbsp of Water. Stir with your fork until all the flour is moistened. Add a little more water as needed. You're gonna have to finish mixing by hand. Pat the dough into a ball. Clean off work surface, and flour it. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, or until the dough becomes silky and elastic. Cover the dough and let it rest for half an hour so the gluten can activate in the flour. Roll out 1/4 of the dough at a time, the same way you would any pasta. A machine makes this really easy. Allow pasta to dry a little before cooking. Makes 4 to 5 cups of cooked pasta---plenty for dessert.

You can always buy some great dark pasta.

Here are two recipes from Pappardelle (they make great Dark chocolate Pasta)

Dark Chocolate Pasta with Chocolate Sauce

1 lb. Pappardelle’s Dark Chocolate Pasta
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Cook pasta in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente (about 8-10 minutes). Drain and rinse with cool water.
2. Melt chocolate chips and butter together in a small saucepan. Add powdered sugar and milk. Stir constantly and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for 8 minutes, continuing to stir constantly. Add vanilla.
3. In desired serving dishes, add pasta, top with chocolate sauce. Garnish with favorite topping.

I'm a sucker for a Noodle Kugel, and this one looks fabulous. Think I'll try it out for Pasta Day!

Chocolate Noodle Kugel

1 lb. Pappardelle’s Dark Chocolate Noodles (these really are quite good)
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
1 cup whole milk
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 lb. container of sour cream
1 lb. container of small curd cottage cheese

Topping:
2 cups cornflakes, coarsely crushed
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13- by 9 inch baking dish (lasagna style pan).
2. Meanwhile, cook pasta in 6-8 quarts of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente (about 8-10 minutes). Drain, then return to cooking pot and add butter. Toss until noodles are well coated and butter is completely melted.
3. Whisk together milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt until combined, then whisk in sour cream. Stir in cottage cheese and add to noodles. Spoon gently into baking dish.
4. For the topping, stir together cornflakes, sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over noodles. Dot with butter and bake kugel until edges are golden brown, about 40-50 minutes. Let stand before serving.

To order Dark Chocolate Linguini, go Here.

Have some chocolate pasta recipes? Love to see them.