Fresh Pasta

I looooove pasta. Atkins never convinced me otherwise. I reject the idea that there's anything fundamentally wrong healthwise with a food that's been a part of so many cultures as long as pasta has. We usually eat it at least once a week. It cooks up quickly and makes lots of leftovers for lunches. It's also yummy without meat, which makes it more economical and better for the environment.

I actually don't have any major qualms with pasta from the grocery store. I can get organic whole wheat pasta from Trader Joe's for $0.99/lb. That's tough to beat, and I keep lots of different shapes in my pantry at all times. Italians don't have the same hang up that we Americans do about fresh vs. dried pasta. It's just different kinds, each with their own pros and cons.

I saw Jaime Oliver make fresh pasta and sauce from scratch on Food Network in 10 minutes flat and thought this was something I could tackle. Of course, it took me significantly longer than Jaime, but who really thought I was as awesome as him?

If you've been paying attention, you'll suspect I got the recipe from Joy, and you'd be right. It's insanely simple - 2 cups flour, 3 eggs. You can mix it in a food processor or stand mixer, but by hand is the traditional way. Just pile the flour, make a well in the center, and crack the eggs inside. The first time I tried this, I used my built-in cutting board and dripped floury egg onto the flour, but you're smarter than me, so you'll know to start out with a level surface. On try #2 I used our big wooden cutting board with the lip around the edge. That's right, I'm a college gradumate.

From here you just start mixing the flour in with the eggs bit by bit, being careful not to break the well. It starts out slow and precarious, but soon enough it gets viscous enough that it won't run off on you, and you can start pulling the sides of the well in too. Unless it's raining outside or you're in high altitude or something, don't mess with the ratios. It will look alternately too wet and too dry at various points. Just keep mixing and then kneading.

Kneading is fun; it's mindlessly monotonous and gets your frustrations out on flour instead of your husband. You know that great feeling when you turn your brain off and stare until your vision blurs? You can do that while kneading. The heat from your hands will loosen up the dough a bit so it gets more wet and can take on the rest of the flour floating around on your board. When it's all incorporated and homogeneous and your mental state is sufficient, you can quit.

After this comes "resting". It's supposed to redistribute the flavors, and probably helps the texture. Cut the dough ball in four pieces first and turn a bowl over on top of them on the counter to keep them moist. Joy recommends at least an hour.

Now we're ready to roll. If you're adventurous and have the space, you can do this with a rolling pin. There's also attachments for Kitchen Aid mixers that cost an arm and a leg (Joy approves the rollers, but sticks its nose up at extruders). I picked up a hand-crank pasta roller at Bed Bath and Beyond for $35.00. On first try I rolled it all the way to the thinnest setting. I'm not sure exactly what this setting is for, but yummy fettuccine isn't it. Number 3 (3rd thinnest of 7) worked perfectly. I roll the dough through three times on each setting, folding in half after each pass through. Keep the dough lightly floured; it doesn't seem like it needs it, but it will pull and shred eventually, and that's no fun. Keep the remaining dough balls under their bowl, and don't try to multitask during this step to keep the dough from drying out.

My roller has two cutters: one for fettuccine and one for spaghetti. Again here you can go low-tech: just fold the pasta in half loosely several times, and then cut into strips for a more rustic feel. The picture at top is my pasta drying on my $13 wooden drying rack. Once again, not a necessity, but it was cheap and it comes apart easily for storage. Drying for another hour or so is recommended by Joy. This recipe makes about two servings for us, so we dried the other half all the way overnight and put it in a plastic baggie in the pantry for later (careful - it's brittle).

Be sure to keep the lid on while boiling water to save time and energy. After drying for about an hour and a half, this pasta was cooked in about 4 minutes. I checked every 30 seconds - one minute, it's way faster than dried (the home-dried pasta also cooked quicker than store bought). A quick canned tomato sauce, and dinner is served.

So not nearly as quick as Jaime, mostly due to the hand-mixing, resting the dough, and drying. Since he didn't do any of these, I doubt their necessity. It's a rough day when I have to decide whether to follow Jaime or Joy, but pasta making isn't a bad way to spend a Sunday in between other tasks.