You may ask how all of this has influenced my cooking. As you can imagine, based on the name of the blog, I end up holding tightly onto my Italian/New Jersey/New York roots. I do love trying new things, though, whether it's a new cuisine, technique, or a twist on an old classic!
OK, enough talking more eating.
So for my first post, let me tell you a story that is not atypical for me for a Saturday afternoon.
- Andrew goes to grocery store
- Andrew sees random ingredient(s)
- Andrew gets inspired to make some random recipe
- Andrew spends hours making said recipe
In this case, "ingredient" = good-looking plum tomatoes and "recipe" = fresh sauce. Of course, the next thing I think is "I have some random semolina flour, I should make pasta." Have I ever made pasta before? No. Do I own a pasta machine? No. Did I care? No (though I definitely had no idea how it would turn out).
After many hours (more than I care to admit) of research, the following is what I came up with.
Dough kneaded, rested, and ready to roll!
Who needs a pasta maker when you have... a rolling pin?
Cut into artfully (?) irregular tagliatelle strips.
Fully cooked, with a dollop of home-made sauce on top!
Oh, and what are those specks of green in the pasta? Basil. Because... I had it in my garden. And why not spice up your pasta when you're making it from scratch?
From my kitchen to your stomach, buon appetito!
Also, if you have any ideas for future posts, or questions, feel free to comment - I can do my best to answer them for you!
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Fresh Pasta
Makes ~3/4 lb (healthy portion for 2)
Inspired by Giada de Laurentiis and this website
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup semolina flour
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp olive oil
Mix together dry ingredients and put on your clean countertop shaped into a mountain, making a divot for the wet ingredients. Crack eggs and add olive oil into a small bowl, whisk a bit, then add to the divot you created. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into this divot as you mix with a fork, until a dough forms. Add a bit of flour or water if it doesn't come together correctly (though be patient).
Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes (don't give up - it's worth it!), and allow to rest covered for at least 30 minutes. If it'll be a couple hours before coming back, you can put it into the fridge, just allow it to warm up before the next step.
Roll out the dough using your handy pasta maker (follow those instructions) or a rolling pin. It may be best to do this in a few portions so it's manageable, otherwise it may take up too much space on the counter. Don't be afraid to flour the counter and rolling pin liberally. Cut into desired shape (if you don't have a pasta maker but do have a pizza cutter, that makes it so much easier).
To cook, simply place into salted boiling water as you would dried pasta. However, keep close by, they'll only take 2-3 minutes to cook!
Variations
To lemonify: add zest and juice from one lemon into the wet ingredients
To basilify: add finely chopped basil (~2 oz.) into the wet ingredients
Fresh Sauce
Makes 1 qt
Inspired by my grandma
4 lbs fresh plum (Roma) tomatoes
salt
basil
Wash and cut the tomatoes, removing any excess seeds or water (though no need to be obsessive). Throw into a large saucepan, add about 1/2 tsp of salt, and cook over medium heat, stirring every few minutes (as to not burn the tomatoes).
Once the tomatoes have cooked down and are sufficiently mushy, remove from heat. WAIT until they have cooled sufficiently, and then blend to a smooth consistency in the blender (if they're too hot, the top will come off and make a mess in your kitchen!).
Return to saucepan, and cook down, adding salt to taste (just till it makes the sauce taste less "tomato-y"). When you are about to serve, stir in a few leaves of basil.
I'd like to make handmade pasta someday. :D
ReplyDeleteThat tomato sauce recipe looks so simple! Soo trying it with the next batch of heirloom tomatoes I buy.
ReplyDeleteNOM!
ReplyDelete