Blog Post Week 5

This week was the week that I actually had time to complete my genius hour project. It was reading week and with all the time off I decided that it would be the perfect time to compete it. After settling on a simple recipe which I curated from scouring the internet and people's Nona's for ingredients I set out to the store to buy some All Purpose flour, some Semolina Flour, eggs, and olive oil. Here is a quick summary of a recipe very similar to the one I used. I kind of free styled a bit off of the recipe but for the most part this is what I followed:

Make the dough. Sift both flours together on a large work surface and make a well in the center. Place the eggs, olive oil and a pinch of salt in a bowl, then pour into the well; with a fork, break up the eggs, then gradually mix the wet ingredients into the flour mixture just until combined.
Knead by hand. Gather the dough into 2 equal-size balls; flour the surface. To knead each piece, push the dough away from you with the heel of your hand, fold the dough over itself and turn it counterclockwise. Continue pushing, folding and turning until the dough is smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes.
Rest the dough. Pat each piece into a ball. Flatten slightly, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Roll out the dough. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and dust with flour. Starting in the middle, push away from you with a rolling pin, easing up on the pressure as you approach the edge. Continue rolling the dough into a sheet, turning occasionally, until you can see your fingers through the bottom. Let dry about 10 minutes.
Cut the pappardelle. Dust the top of the sheet of dough with flour and loosely roll it into a cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut into 3/4-inch-wide slices. Unwrap the noodles; dust with semolina and gently toss to separate. Place on a sheet pan and cover with a tea towel until ready to cook

I was actually very happy with how the pasta came out. Earlier in this semester I wrote in one of my blogs that a successful genius hour project would mean that I was able to at least create a good dough, because from there, any pasta could be made; the key is the dough. My dough came out perfect, so therefore, I would already consider my genius hour project to be a success. On top of the dough coming out correctly, after boiling and tossing in some sauce, the pasta was absolutely delicious. All in all, my genius hour was a SUCCESS!
I feel like the genius hour project is something that can prove to be very useful in the classroom and can motivate students to learn through their own inquiry project.