Fresh Pasta

Pasta-making has been on the to-do list for years since receiving a pasta maker as a gift, but I just haven't gotten around to it, until a little snow storm slowed the pace enough to seek an educational project in the kitchen.

I had no idea what I was doing, but it was super fun, and in the end, worth every single bit the effort. Fresh pasta is pretty incredible.

Here's how it goes:

You crank the dough through metal rollers, reducing the width gradually, ending up with sheets of pressed gluten and egg, and if you use a bit of whole wheat; flecked with bits of wheat hull.

Place the sheets on a slightly damp cloth to keep from drying out while you crank the rest. Then you send the sheets (of your desired thickness and shape) through the cutting device.

This is where the manual that came with the machine left me without any further instruction. So I winged it:

Drape the cut pasta over one hand and dredge in more flour to prevent noodles from sticking to one another.

From here I was a little lost, but felt like I wanted to air dry the noodles a bit before cooking, so I got out the trusty laundry racks, and this worked just great (but was perhaps unnecessary?)

If left too long they would dry out too much and become brittle.

After about 20 minutes bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, meanwhile sauteing some frozen asparagus with chicken and garlic, and dousing in marinara. When water reaches a rolling boil, reduce heat to a gentle boil, then drop in the pasta. The noodles will only need about 3-4 minutes.

Then drain and add to the saute pan of marinara with a pinch of of the pasta water, to simmer for another minute or two. Plate and cover in grated Parmesan.

And this marks the beginning of a new love story.

Fresh Pasta Dough:
*3 cups organic all purpose flour
*1 cup organic whole wheat
*1 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
*4 fresh eggs

Blend flours and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Make a well in the center. Add eggs and blend into flour with a fork. Add enough water to create a mailable dough, but not sticky. Kneed dough until consistency is just right (not too sticky, not too dry) adding water or flour to adjust. Then follow instructions above combined with those that accompany your pasta machine.