One last chocolate pasta dish ... for now

Making pasta is harder than I thought- I mean, for someone who's not that patient like me (admittedly ha ha ha). So this is what I came up with. Long guys with no breakage and I was euphoric. Yay, my pasta didn't break. But then they're kinda thick. Oh hell no, I am not wasting my precious flour for another batch. As I look at my pictures, I realized I must have dusted the pasta with so much flour so they became thicker. I guess I was so worried they'd stick together. It is really a work in progress. But the texture is definitely much better than all-purpose flour.



For this one, I made Crème Anglaise (Vanilla Custard Sauce) what a lovely, yummy sauce and for some reason thought about canonigo. So my next fresh pasta adventure is heading to savory department and with a little bit more knowledge and hopefully the perfect thickness.



The recipe for the pasta is from theworldrecipebook.com and the Crème Anglaise is actually a thinner version of my custard cream for my sponge cakes.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used double 0)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 extra large eggs
4 tbsp water

Directions:
1.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.
2.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.
3.Toss in another Tbsp of Water. Stir with your fork until all the flour is moistened. Add a little more water as needed.
4.You're gonna have to finish mixing by hand. Pat the dough into a ball. Clean off your work surface, and flour it. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, or until the dough becomes silky and elastic.
5.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. I prefer to let the pasta dry (at least a little!) before cooking. T
6.this will make 4 to 5 cups of cooked pasta---plenty for dessert.

Crème Anglaise Sauce

I used:
2 cups half and half
one Madagascar vanilla bean
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 extra large egg yolks

Method:

Beat sugar and egg yolks until creamy
In a small saucepan heat the cream and vanilla bean (with the pod split in two) just to the boiling point. Remove from heat and whisk a few tablespoons of the cream into the yolk mixture. Then, gradually add the remaining cream, whisking constantly.

Pour this mixture into a medium sized saucepan and, over medium heat, gently heat the mixture to just below the boiling point. Do not boil or the eggs will curdle. Check if it is the right consistency by holding a wooden spoon covered with the custard sideways and run your finger along the back of the spoon. It is ready if the streak remains without the cream running down through it.

Immediately remove from the heat and pour through a strainer, scraping up any thickened cream that settles on the bottom of the pan. Remove the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the sauce. Stir until seeds separate.

Notes: I used part heavy cream and part 2% fat milk because I didn't have half and half. The left over can be refrigerated for a couple of days. Add in a little cornstarch for a thicker version and you have pastry cream.