I’m officially addicted to fresh, homemade pasta. So much so, that it’s really hard for me to substitute with dried, store-bought pasta.
Last night while I was making my one hour commute home from the city, I started craving pasta for dinner and was contemplating what ingredients I had on hand to add to the pasta.
Did I want to crack open a can of homemade marinara? I could make chicken and noodles, but I already had homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch, so that was out. Peppers? Onions? I finally settled on heavy cream, mushrooms, garlic, onions, peas, and a few grape tomatoes. Quick and easy. And cheap.
To speed up the dinner process, I actually thought about stopping at the store to buy some dried pasta since I didn’t have any on hand.
But THANKFULLY, I then thought to myself… “Hey lazy ass! You can make the fresh stuff nearly as fast as you can park and navigate through a store to buy the not-so-yummy dried stuff in the box.” And plus, it was really stupid to stop at a store when pasta was the only thing I needed anyway.
I have no excuse not to make this stuff myself. I have no rotten kids starving and waiting for dinner when I get home – its just me. And I like to eat late, between 8-9 pm. By the time got home (6:30 pm) and finished barn chores and feeding animals (7:30 pm) I had the pasta made, cooked and ready to eat at 8:15 pm.
Making the dough, cutting the noodles and drinking wine, was like therapy after working in the office all day. And the fresh tomato, onion and garlic from the garden made my dinner taste even better.
My Basic Pasta Recipe: (Makes enough for two people)
- 1 cup of flour (plus more for dusting)
- 1 whole large egg
- 1 yolk
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for salting boiling water
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- Water as needed
Make a well in the center of your flour, mix all remaining ingredients (except water) in a separate bowl and pour into well. Use the dough hook on your mixer or mix everything by hand – either works. Need the dough, adding a little water if needed, until the dough is silky and smooth, but not too sticky. You can let the dough rest at this point, covered in plastic, or start rolling it through your pasta machine. If you don’t have a pasta machine you can go old-school like my grandma did and use your rolling pin. Roll the dough thin. Cut your pasta in to desired shape.
Let the pasta dry, dusted lightly with flour or semolina, while you get your sauce made and your water boiling. The Pasta is done when it floats to the top of the boiling water, or sooner, if you’re going to finish cooking it in your sauce like I do. If you’d like more tips, recipes and ideas on how to make pasta, have a look around HERE. Enjoy! ~A
