10-16…Sunday homemade pasta

The house has been wonderfully quiet and still this morning. P is working, the dogs resting or lounging about the house and yard, no radio or iPad playing, and not street noise. I will open the gallery later, but until then I’ve enjoyed the solitude, thinking about any number of things, including today’s pasta.

Since it’s Sunday the choice is simple; I’ll go with the Italian-American classic…pasta with a rich, meat based gravy, of which there are countless variations. To make it special, I’ll make my own pasta today using my mother’s old chitarra.

For the dough I used a recipe I haven’t used before…1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of Semolina flour, plus 2 large eggs and 1 yolk. The addition of the semolina flour produces a sturdy dough that is good for long pastas. I used the machine to roll the dough into two thicknesses, #4 and #5 and found that the thicker dough was easier to work on the chitarra. Of course I could have avoided some of the frustrations by using the machine to cut the pasta…but it had to be the chitarra!


The chitarra is a two sided instrument with a center panel that slides out to remove the pasta.
On one side the wires are separated by linquine thickness, and on the other side, spaghetti thickness. Tonite I wanted to make spaghetti, although with the chitarra they are square and not round.

The sheet of dough is placed on the strings and pressed down with a rolling pin, falling onto the removable panel where they are recovered and hung out to dry.


The sauce is sausage based and uses imported San Marzano peeled, whole tomatoes. For the recipe see my post on May 8th and simply substitute sausage for the chicken.

COMMENTS:

The addition of the semolina flour was very evident after the first bite. P thought it was a bit too heavy, but I enjoyed the nuttier texture. Of course with this gravy I would probably enjoy cardboard. There is another option…simply use less semolina. Something for another dinner.

Was it worth all the effort? Absolutely!!

10-7 Homemade pasta w smoked salmon & asparagus in a cream sauce

After 103 pasta dishes it is becoming increasingly difficult not to repeat some or part of previous recipes. It is probably possible not to do so, but that would require me to continually shop for different ingredients, and one of my goals with this exercise is to show the many ways pasta dishes can be prepared using primarily the everyday ingredients available to us locally. My only routine exception to this is the Imported San Marzano tomatoes I purchase online.

Tonight’s dish is almost a repeat of one I posted on the 28th of May. The ingredients are identical except for the homemade pasta , the addition of cream, and the substitution of dill for Leeks.



INGREDIENTS:

Pasta…homemade fettuccini
Olive oil, shallots, garlic, celery
Fresh dill, parsley, and basil, finely chopped
Asparagus, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
Smoked Salmon
Red pepper flakes
Butter
Lemon juice
Heavy whipping cream

PROCESS:

Saute the garlic, shallots, and celery in olive oil with some butter and herbs. Add the asparagus and lemon juice and cook while waiting for the pasta water to boil.

About 5 minutes before the pasta is ready add the cream, more butter, and the salmon and stir frequently. Add the pasta to this sauce with pasta water if needed.

COMMENTS:

I love the combination of the smoked salmon, asparagus, and cream. Of course everything was twice as good with the homemade pasta. (I’m getting better at that with each effort.)


My face freezes whenever a camera is pointed at me. Patience suggests I practice smiling in a mirror. Don't know if I can handle that.

9-27 HOMEMADE FETTUCCINI WITH BOLOGNESE SAUCE

We’re having guests for dinner tonight, one of whom has a lifetime of experience with Italian food. So I will admit right now…I want to impress them. Only time will tell if I’m successful.

A west coast and an east coast guy.

Here is the menu:

Before dinner…wine, Asiago cheese, Antonella cheese (with Scallions and crushed Rosemary), and my own blended dipping oil with Josh’s Ciabatta bread.

Salad...mixed greens with olive oil and lemon dressing

Main course…Homemade fettuccini in a Bolognese sauce (my variation of such…posted on July 31)

Desert…Vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries. Chocolate sauce optional

INGREDIENTS:

Celery, chopped
Carrots, sliced
Garlic and onions
Ground beef
Fresh basil and oregano
Olive oil
Butter
Sweet Vermouth
Cream or whole milk
Whole, peeled tomatoes, 28 oz. can
Tomato sauce, 8 oz. can

PROCESS:

In olive oil and butter cook the garlic, onions, and veggies for about 5 minutes. Add the meat and cook until browned throughout. Add a splash of sweet vermouth while the meat is cooking. Then add the tomatoes and herbs and simmer for about one hour.

While the pasta is cooking add the cream to the sauce and stir frequently.

For the pasta…14 oz. flour and 4 large eggs.




COMMENTS:

The company was great and the pasta a success. There were no leftovers to send home with anyone.

HOMEMADE PASTA IN FRESH TOMATO SAUCE 8-17

I’m still working out the kinks in my pasta making. Each batch shows some improvement, but there is still a ways to go before I can feel totally comfortable with the process.

The sauce tonight is pretty basic, fresh tomatoes and herbs. The only twist is the addition of the butter, about 2-3 tablespoons.

INGREDIENTS:

Pasta
3 large fresh tomatoes
Olive oil
Butter
Red pepper flakes
Fresh basil, finely chopped
Dry oregano
Bacon

PROCESS:

The pasta…. 7 oz. all purpose flour and 2 large eggs.

The sauce…Peel and coarsely chop the tomatoes. Saute the garlic in olive oiland butter, then add the tomatoes, red pepper flakes, basil, and oregano and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add the pasta to the pan with the sauce, mix well and serve with grated parmesan cheese.

Nuke the bacon until crisp, crumble and spread over the pasta.

COMMENTS:

Patience says “YUM… OMG, I ate too much’!

The sauce was delicious. The combination of the fresh tomatoes, butter, and bacon was delightful.

With a few minor variations this sauce would make a great tomato soup.

HOMEMADE TAGLIATELLI IN BUTTER-CHEESE SAUCE 8-14

The gallery closes at 3 on Sunday and Patience won’t be home from work until near 8 PM leaving me 5 hours with nothing to do except make pasta. The last attempt was pretty pathetic and I have been anxious to redeem myself. So…I set out armed with the knowledge of our mistakes, and with that I was able to create dough of the right consistency and dryness. I used my mom’s chitarra to make a handful of linguine but the dough, which I hand rolled, was not thin enough and I turned to the pasta machine. The result was a delightful batch of tagliatelli.

THE PASTA…I used 3 large eggs to 21/3 cups of all purpose flour.


THE SAUCE…In the pasta serving bowl combine Mascarpone cheese, grated parmesan cheese (aprox. ratio of 2:1), about 1 tbsp of gorgonzola or blue cheese, 2-3 tbsp of butter, and freshly chopped basil and coarsely mix by hand.

Add the cooked pasta to the bowl and mix well…the heat of the pasta will melt the ingredients. Add pasta water if needed to maintain moisture.

COMMENTS:

Aw man….this was so F-ing good! I have nothing else to say on the matter.

HOMEMADE PASTA 8-11

Grandson William is here so it was time to make some pasta. We remembered well the fiasco of our first attempt when the eggs broke through the walls of our flour wells, and I am pleased to say we avoided that, only to face another one further along in the process.



Apparently our dough was too sticky (not enough flour) and kept clogging up the pasta machine. We managed a few passes of spaghetti before giving up and resorting to hand rolling the dough, cutting it, and passing it through the cutting rollers. We ended up with a little over a pound of fresh pasta that was not much to look at. however, it cooked up just fine, not into the sticky mess we feared, and with the sausage rich gravy tasted fantastic.




And we were fortunate enough to have our friend Keyth to share the meal with us.