fresh pasta

I grew up with the belief that i could do anything if i tried. I believe most of my generation was brought up this way, and I happen to believe it, in its most basic meaning. However, there is one thing in life that i aspire to be that can never be no matter how hard I try, and that thing is to become an Italian grandmother.

I want to have huge, elaborate Sunday meals with my hoards of grandchildren running around, fresh pasta with ragu, fresh mozzarella, imported olive oil, cured meats, a huge perfectly cooked roast, or maybe a perfectly roasted chicken, polenta, spaghetti, you name it... the sad thing is that to my knowledge i have no Italian ancestors, and I'd believe it because I'm about as pale as one can get and freckled from head to toe; Irish, would be one way to describe me.

Kevin had an Italian great-grandmother, who as much as I know about her was a phenomenal cook, and in fact once or twice a year I get to eat her homemade cavetelli (pronounced govadill, naturally) with an all day on the stove meat sauce full of sausages, meat balls, ribs, the list goes on. Kevin also had a Italian grandmother who said "damn" a lot, which is also something I would totally expect to do if I were an Italian grandmother.

Since I just don't have the blood-line, and can never actually be an Italian anything (grandmother or not), I've resorted to perfecting roast chicken, teaching myself to cook polenta properly, drinking lots of red wine, and learning to make phenomenal fresh pasta. After many attempts and many different recipes from as simple as it gets, flour + water, to egg-yolk loading the dough, this is the way I like to make my fresh pasta. It's a version that has stuck in my head since I read the book Heat (which, by the way, I totally recommend), because it's easy enough to remember: 1 etto (100 grams, of flour that is) + 1 egg (1 good egg specifically, though I just use what I can get). I also glug in just a little olive oil for good measure, and the result is always amazing.

It's also easier to make and throw together than one might think... completely inspiring guests, I can assure you. This is also part of that pasta recipe I mentioned to you last time, which I promise is on the way!

fresh pasta

serves 4

400 g flour
4 eggs, lightly beaten
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

Measure out flour and place in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add eggs. Using a fork, begin folding in flour from the edges of the well. Continue to fold until flour is all wet. Add olive oil and salt and fold until dough comes together. Place dough on a work surface and knead for a few minutes until dough is very smooth, flouring the work surface as necessary. Cover dough with a bowl or wrap in plastic wrap and let rest at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

Roll out dough by hand or with a pasta machine to desired width.

For the spaghetti you see here, I cut the dough into 6 pieces, and rolled it out to the 3rd smallest setting on my pasta machine. For fettuccine, I unusually roll to the thinnest or 2nd thinnest setting. I then let the strips rest on a floured surface about 10 minutes then cut into the desired shape with the machine. Pasta is then tossed in a little flour and immediately cooked or covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated until ready to cook.

To cook, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in pasta and cook 2-5 minutes, depending on pasta shape. Taste pasta for doneness and once it reaches desired consistency, drain.