Making Pasta at Home

Since I have been on a fresh pasta kick, I thought perhaps I would show you the process of making it at home.

Of course, if you have a pasta machine, you probably already have this down.  I, for one, keep losing the recipe I like, and keeping it here will be helpful for at least myself. Hopefully for you, too.

Many recipes will call for several eggs to make a very rich and yellow dough.  It turns out that I prefer the flavor of the pasta itself and like a leaner dough.  I also like using semolina instead of regular all-purpose flour, but AP flour works, too, in a one-to-one substitution ratio.

Some other tips might be useful, too, aside from the actual recipe.  Making pasta at home it actually quite simple if you have the tools, but it does require some time and little finesse.  The process requires some space and a whole afternoon.

FRESH PASTA

• 1 1/2 cups semolina flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 t. olive oil
• pinch salt
• a small bowl of all purpose flour, for dusting

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until the dough gathers to together and moves en masse around the blade.  Remove the dough from the processor and knead by hand for a minute.  It will be sticky and have a grainy feel; the goal of kneading it is to bring the dough together and jumpstart the process of allowing the moisture to be absorbed.

Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to a few days.  Remove from fridge and cut dough into quarters.  Run each quarter through the widest setting on a pasta rolling machine several times, folding into thirds and forming a rectangle.  This serves as kneading the dough, so run each quarter through until it starts to feel smooth and elastic.

Still folding dough in thirds after each pass, move to the next setting.  Once on the third setting, stop folding sheets of dough and dust well with flour as you set them aside for the next round.  They can be stacked to save space. Run each through the progressive settings twice until you get to the second-to-last setting - my last setting is "6" and is too thin, which always tears the dough.  Cut each sheet in half when it gets too long to run through the machine comfortably.

Once you have achieved the thickness you like, you can cut the sheets into squares for ravioli.  If you have fettuccine, linguini, or spaghetti plates, go ahead and use them.  If not, and you want noodles, roll each sheet into a tube, crosswise, and cut into slices of your desired thickness.  Unfurl the rolls into long noodles!  This is the best way to get pappardelle, too.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of well-salted water.  Like usual.  The only difference is that fresh pasta cooks in 3-5 minutes.  Drain and serve with any sauce you like - fresh pasta is so good that even tossing it with butter and salt like dish for a picky child will be delicious!

Stay tuned for late-summer garden recipes, in which I'll use beets and fresh pasta dough to make Beet Ravioli with Poppy Seed Butter.  It's good.  Really good.

Sunday Dinner

I didn't grow up with Sunday dinners - but I was lucky enough to have a homemade family dinner most every evening.  Very lucky, and I believe this fostered my love for food and cooking.

I found out only a couple of years ago that my mother, who taught me how to cook, grew tired of cooking a long time ago.  I have also come to realize that learning how to cook from one's mother was dying tradition even by the time I was a child.  I value having received the education, and more so before my mother was over the whole thing.

Because normally I am cooking for just myself, I have the option to put together something quickly or make something as elaborate as I choose.  I think that for families, today's world would make it nearly impossible to have family dinner every night.  I wonder if the specialness of Sunday dinners will survive a little longer than the daily grind...

I think that I am increasingly enchanted with the idea of Sunday dinners.  It makes an allowance for a time-consuming, special meal that I can share with loved ones or enjoy in solitude.  It's a chance to impress or to remind - oneself as well as others.  It's like having recital, but takes the pressure off the rest of week by requiring no dress rehearsals.

After a few weeks of eating simply, I decided to make ravioli.  From scratch.  The day was beautiful and my back patio is now in its season.  The garden is brand new, but it's coming along quickly.  (Actually, this photo is from eight days ago and the garden already looks completely different.  Yep, that's compost in the corner.)  Photo courtesy of my dinner guest.

HOMEMADE RAVS, FOR SUNDAYS

• 1/2 recipe fresh lasagne noodles, or fresh pasta dough if you have a pasta machine
• 1 bunch kale or other greens, stemmed, thinly sliced

• 1 pint ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• olive oil
• 1/2 t. salt, plus more for pasta water
• a few grinds black pepper
• 1/2 recipe tomato-butter sauce
• parmesan, for serving

Cut the lasagne noodles into square(ish) pieces or roll out your fresh pasta dough and do the same.  If you go with the store-bought fresh lasagne noodles and made the sauce in advance, this could actually be a weeknight meal.

Steam kale and set in strainer in sink to drain well.  Place the ricotta in a medium bowl and crack in both eggs.  Stir to combine well and season with salt and pepper.  Give the drained kale another once over with a knife and stir into ricotta mixture.  Set a large, well-salted pot of water to boil.

Put a spoonful of ricotta mixture in the center of each pasta square. Bring opposite corners together over the filling to create a triangle and press to seal.  If the pasta just doesn't stick to itself, use a little water as a binder.

Once water is boiling, add the ravioli and boil about 5-6 minutes.  When they are done, they will float to the top and have an al dente texture and appearance.  Don't worry, you'll know it when you see it.  Use a "spider" (or large, wide slotted spoon) to gently fish the cooked ravioli out of the water.  Set aside onto a towel-line platter to soak up some of the cooking water.  Serve with a ladle of tomato sauce over each ravioli and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Serves 4, or 2 with lunch leftovers.

P.S.  Happy Memorial Day!  I don't know how to grill, so you get pasta instead.