Chocolate Pasta.

I know what your thinking... Chocolate Pasta? Is it possible? Well it is! I found this recipe on the net, it looked so good I just had to try it, and it didn't disappoint!
The measurements in the recipe I found was all 'half a cup' this and '1/4 of a cup' that. It drives me mad! Its so ambiguous! How big is a cup? What's a cup? So I did my best to translate the assanine measurements into actual English! It seemed to work.
It's worth noting that this recipe does call for a pasta machine, the one I used for this recipe was the Cookwork's Pasta Maker £16.99 form Argos. (its not product placement, it's just easier to be specific, that way if you have a different pasta machine, you can figure out your own settings for yourself.)

For this yummy chocolate dessert treat you will need:

Ingredients:

7oz plain flour.
3oz cocoa powder.
2oz sugar.
2 eggs.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
1 teaspoon vanilla essence.

Method:

In a large bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder and sugar with a whisk. Make a deep well in the centre and break the eggs into it. Mix the eggs into the dry mixture with a fork, add the vanilla and vegetable oil and continue to mix until you have formed a ball of dough. (you'll probably need to use your hands as the mixture gets tougher) Add a little warm water if necessary, but not too much, you don't want the mixture to be sticky.
Transfer on to a floured surface and knead for about ten minutes or until the dough is elasticated and shiny. Cover with cling film and leave it to rest for up to an hour before rolling. (A minimum of 30 minutes)
Once the dough has rested roll it out lengthways, so it looks like a log. With a non serrated knife cut a piece from the end and feed it through the smooth rollers on your pasta machine, if it comes out too soft and sticky, flour it fold it on itself and feed back through, once your satisfied with the length and thickness of your chocolate pasta sheet, gently feed it through the linguine/ fettuccine attachment. Once you have your pasta tendrils, lay them on a plate and once you have the amount of chocolate pasta that you need for however many people your cooking for, you can wrap up any left over dough and put it in the freezer. (Chocolate pasta, just like regular pasta, expands when you cook it, so you don't need loads per person)
So, once you have the pasta you need, boil it in already boiling, unsalted water for 2-3 minutes. Once cooked, drain thoroughly and serve on plates with rich chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream... mmmmm!

Enjoy! x