Ramen noodles

These ramen noodles are simple to make, I use a Philips Pasta Maker. I just dump the ingredients in and press some buttons. You can make this by hand also, but I don't have a pasta roller or cutter so I don't.

Serve these noodles with your favorite broth or as a cold noodle dish.

Khao Piek Sen (Bánh Canh Noodles)

I am so happy with this recipe. I saw it shared on a Facebook page for noodle making. I changed the weights and ratios a bit to our liking. The original recipe calls for a total of 5 kneading cycles. and two longer rest preiods, and often I just don't have time for that. It doesn't matter I'm thankful she posted the recipe. Traditionally these noodles don't have potato starch or Xanthan Gum. I find that both give this noodle great texture.  The noodles are chewy and hold their shape well. I used weights for everything in this recipe, even the water is by weight/grams. I find it is more accurate.

Khao Piek Sen- Lao Noodles (Philips Pasta Maker)

Khao Piek Sen is one of my favorite noodle soups. It's a Lao soup that has noodles made with rice and tapioca flour. Khao Piek Sen, literally "wet rice strands" in Lao are a gluten free noodle. I usually make these and cut them by hand. You can find that method here. The hand made and hand cut method is easy and uses less ingredients than this Philips Pasta Machine one. But it's nice to dump the ingredients into the machine and have it do the work sometimes.

Chinese Egg Noodles (Philips Pasta Maker)

Chinese Egg Noodle Soup, noodles made in the Philips Pasta Maker

Not too long ago my husband purchased a Philips Pasta Maker for me. I wasn't sure how I would like the machine, originally I just wanted something to roll and cut noodles for Khao Piek Sen. Nothing fancy. I have been using this machine for all sorts of noodles, curry flavored, black pepper, Italian basil, etc. It's really easy to use and it's pretty fast. Ten to fifteen minutes a cycle. For regular pasta I use one cycle and my water is ready and boiling on the stove by the time it's done. I have made the Khao Piek Sen in this machine also, I'm pleased with the results. I did have to tweak my original recipe and got help from other pasta machine owners. That's a whole other post though.

Garlicky Pasta with Shrimp

This is a quick pasta that comes together easily. It's a great starter meal for older kids (age 8 depending on how much experience they have) to make on their own with little to no help from adults, other than draining a pasta pot! The ingredients for this is simple, but they all pack a punch. Other than the fresh herbs you may already have most of the ingredients in your pantry or freezer. Pasta, or at least the flour and water to make them. We've been using a Phillips Pasta Maker for our pasta. It's such an easy machine to use, and I've just use flour that I already have in my pantry. I haven't bought any specialty flour yet. I'll put the recipe that I use for spaghetti or angle hair pasta below. Here is a video that I took making angel hair pasta, from my Facebook page/Instagram:

There no real sauce to this pasta, but it isn't dry. The pasta water, butter, and tomatoes coat the pasta with flavor. The shrimp should be plump with a good bite, not rubbery and over cooked. I hope you'll try this easy dish, it'll become one of your go to quick dinners!