Making a mess of pasta.

Sometimes I am so eager to do something that I don't stop to think about the practicality of what I'm doing. In this case it was making home made pasta. As I was watching the Food Network the other day and I saw some everyday Joe making fresh pasta. I then thought to myself, "Well if this guy can do it, I can certainly do it." In my haste I forgot that I don't own a pasta roller. A pasta roller is a cheap device that allows you to feed dough through two rollers in order to form a long thin sheet of pasta. It looks like this.

By the time I realized I had no roller, I had already made the dough. Now, its not impossible to make fresh pasta without a roller but the roller makes it so much easier. I just ended up having to do a lot more rolling pin work. It's also important to note that fresh pasta is not the same as the dried pasta you buy in the store. Dried pasta is simply water and a hard flour called semolina mixed together and pushed through a mold. Fresh pasta has eggs in it and sometimes oil. With a pasta roller the dish I made would have been very easy to make. I followed the recipe for fresh pasta I found here. I simply rolled the dough out and then cut it into fettuccine-like strands. But you should roll and cut the dough how you like and according to your pasta roller instructions. Fresh pasta cooks much faster then dried pasta. It only takes about 5 minutes. But all the same old rules apply. Cook the pasta in a lot of boiling salted water.

As far as sauce is concerned you can make whatever you like. Just be sure not to go too overboard. If you spent a lot of time and effort making fresh pasta you don't want to totally mask its flavor with a heavy sauce. Making fresh pasta is a real show stopper. People are really impressed by it, so break it out on a date night or when the boss comes over for dinner. The following is my recipe for a basic tomato sauce that I served this pasta with.

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small onion minced
1/2 of a medium carrot peeled and minced
2 tsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped (dried oregano is a fine substitute)
2 tsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place a heavy bottomed pot on medium heat. Add the olive oil. Saute the carrot, onion and garlic until soft and translucent, 4 mins. Add the thyme and crushed tomatoes and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer on low for 45 mins. If at any point the sauce gets too thick feel free to add some of the cooking water from the pasta.

Here are some pictures from my pasta adventure:




The dough, after it rested.



The rolled out pasta.



The finished product.