chocolate pasta using a food processor

Here's my train of thought when it comes to the chocolate theme this month on Meatloaf Princess: it makes no sense to make a video for you on how to make chocolate cereal(hello, Cocoa Puffs), chocolate ice cream, chocolate sorbet, chocolate Pop Tarts, chocolate waffles, or even chocolate pasta because these recipes have either been done over and over by countless people and/or are easily found in most supermarkets.

But you may be asking, "I can't find chocolate pasta at my [insert name of local supermarket]". It turns out there's a company that sells chocolate pasta on the Internet(yet strangely enough, I can't find any frog meat other than frog legs available for purchase on the Internet. I mean, come on! Imagine only being able to buy chicken wings and no other cuts of chicken. The world will be a sad place if that ever happens...), except this company(http://www.pappardellespasta.com/products/dried-pasta/flat-cut-pasta/dark-chocolate-linguine) sells chocolate pasta for $8.00 a pound!

That's a bit pricey in my book when you conventional pasta will only set you back two or three dollars for one box. So I decided to make my own chocolate pasta, which is uglier than the chocolate pasta available for sale. Sorry, that's the truth. I don't have a pasta maker and I'm contemplating on getting one after making this recipe, however, I only make fresh pasta on this channel every six months on average, so such a purchase is not high on my wish list at the moment.

Have you ever followed a recipe and it didn't turn out the way you hoped? The chocolate pasta recipe I found(http://www.instructables.com/id/Chocolate-Pasta-Pasta-di-Cacao/) didn't include water in their recipe, and without water, I got a mixture in the food processor that resembled a crumbled up cake.

Now don't get me wrong, cake is good, but come on, people! Chocolate cake has been done countless times and besides, cake isn't a good nutritious menu option for dinner.

I'm assuming the Instructables recipe didn't include water because they made pasta the traditional way- by making a well out of flour and putting the eggs in the "well", and then mixing egg and flour from the inside of the well to the outside. That well-making is time-consuming and a pain in the rear to do.

A food processor may be a pain in the behind to clean but it gets the job done when it comes to making pasta dough. When the dough was done processing, it was really hard to knead and when pasta dough is hard to knead, it usually means the dough is done forming a cohesive ball. I barely had to any kneading at all!

When the dough was done resting for 30 minutes, it was really hard to break into smaller dough balls, which made me think I did something wrong in this recipe. Maybe I should've used more water when making the dough. No matter how much I flattened the smaller dough balls using a rolling pin, I still got really thick pasta and not linguine.

When you make this recipe, don't expect the pasta noodles to be sweet- there's no sugar in the noodles! This is a savory chocolate pasta recipe. The chocolate pasta tasted quite bitter without tomato sauce, Parmesan cheese, and garlic bread on the side. I made 18 ounces of pasta but I was the only one eating it over the span of three days. Eventually I got tired of the bitter chocolate pasta and I threw the amount that could fit one bowl into the trash.

My dad couldn't share the pasta with me because unlike me, chocolate in any form keeps him up at night if he consumes it after 3 PM. At least my grandma got to try the pasta before she went to the hospital last Tuesday. Sadly this recipe will probably be the last of mine she gets to try, as she can no longer use the stairs that lead to her (former) basement apartment.

I should make a sweet chocolate pasta recipe in the future though.

But in the present, here's the recipe:

You will need:

For the equipment:

A food processor
A rolling pin
A knife
Plastic wrap
A large bowl
A large saucepan

For the pasta:

2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cups of cocoa powder
3 eggs
1/4 cup of water

1. Put the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times.
2. Beat 3 eggs into a small bowl. Do not whisk the eggs! Just crack them into a bowl.
3. Put the eggs into the food processor. Process for 30-60 seconds.
4. Add the water into the food processor. Process for another 30-60 seconds or until a cohesive dough forms.
5. Put some flour onto a surface. Knead the dough until the dough is no longer sticky. Because you're using a food processor, you won't need to knead it very long. Stop kneading it when it's really difficult to knead the dough ball without hurting your hands.
6. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and let it sit either on the counter or in a large bowl for 30-60 minutes.
7. Put more flour onto a surface. Unwrap the dough ball from the plastic wrap and either using your hands or a knife, cut the dough ball into 4-5 smaller dough balls.
8. Flatten each smaller dough ball using a rolling pin. Ideally, the dough should be no more than half an inch thick.
9. Cut the flattened dough into noodles. Place the noodles along the rim of a large bowl so they don't dry out.
10. Boil water in a large saucepan.
11. Add 1 tsp. of salt to the water before putting the pasta into the boiling water. Watch out for splashing boiling water as you're putting the pasta into the saucepan!
12. Once you put the pasta into the boiling water, let it cook for 3-5 minutes. The way you can tell it is done is to try it: you retrieve a noodle from the saucepan, run it under cold water, and taste it.
13. The pasta on its own will be bitter so it's highly recommended to top it with your favorite tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. A serving of garlic bread on the side is optional.
14. Bon appetit!