creamy pasta leek crunch...

[goldilocks]

i was trying to work out how much benefit i would get from a pasta maker (i'm trying to justify the expense as the one thats been recommended is £40) - so tried out this really simple recipe to see how much better home made pasta tasted (sorry no pics, they turned out all steamy and blurry)

ingredients (for 2):
ciabatta roll (stale)
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
butter (optional)
2 leeks
slug of white wine
1 tbsp double cream (or similar)
3 tbsp decent stock (i used marigold)
200g white plain flour (00)
2 eggs

finely blitz a small ciabatta roll into fine bread crumbs
fry until crunchy in olive oil, add very finely chopped garlic for the last min or so
leave to the side

chop leeks into approx 5mm thick rounds, and fry until soft in butter (or oil if you're feeling healthy)
add a slug of white wine and cook off
mix in a table spoon of cream (again, substitute something healthier like light philli if you prefer) and 2 tbsp of stock
leave on a low temp to bubble

to make the pasta -

200g plain white flour (or 00 flour) + 2 eggs, mix to a doughy consistency in a large bowl
tip out onto a floured work surface and knead well for a good 5 mins
chop in 1/2, and roll out each piece very thinly and sice into your required pasta shape (i did thin (rough) tagliatelli)

bring a large pan of salted water to the boil
drop in your pasta strings and boil for approx 3 mins

drain pasta and plop into a pasta bowl, spoon over your creamy leeks, and shake on a good covering of crispy bread crumbs

it was pretty tasty (soft and creamy and crunchy all in one mouthful!)
and i'll definitely be cooking it again (and try and get pics!)
i think it could be made into more of a 'bake' - but this was just an experiment