Fresh Pasta that's Fun to Make

Pasta is what I call "poor people's food". It's a basic staple food and very versatile.
"Poor people's food" is food that has a few ingredients that are easy to find and are, of course, cheap.
Authentic "poor people's food" is also usually healthy and fresh.

In the US "poor people" are usually overworked, underpaid and don't have the time or resources to make fresh food, so usually end up eating cheap junk food.
(Eric Schlosser's book "Fast Food Nation" goes into the real expense behind cheap fast food and in "Nickel and Dimed in America" Barbara Ehrenreich shows us where the sweet American Dream went sour).

250 g durum flour
250 g regular wheat flour
4 whole organic eggs
1 egg yolk
olive oil
a teaspoon of salt

Of course, the secret behind great food is high quality ingredients. Michal, my girlfriend, uses Italian durum four, regular wheat flour (whole wheat can be used too), organic eggs, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Flour. Durum flour is ground from durum wheat, which is a hard wheat ("duro" - hard). It has a high protein content (higher than regular wheat) and is low in gluten which gives it good elasticity and makes it fun to work with. Your dough wont get tough.
Regular flour adds lightness and is softer than durum flour.
Michal uses half durum, half regular for a wonderfully textured, light, full flavoured pasta.

Eggs. Eggs give the pasta dough its "fatiness". Michal uses 4 whole organic eggs and one extra yolk. Some pasta doughs use forty(!!) egg yolks to one kilo (about 1/2 pound) of flour.

Chickens. (Chickens?)
Chickens that are allowed to roam free, peck and pick as they choose are happier than chickens kept in small (teeny) cages: no room to peck so they peck each other, then they need antibiotics because they're full of sores and their beaks are chopped so that they wont peck their sisters who share their cells. Not a pretty picture.

Always use organic eggs. They come from free-to-roam chickens (and no added antibiotics and hormones).
Remember: Happy chickens make happy eggs...

Olive oil. Always go for the finest: virgin or extra virgin.

Love. That's in your heart and in your hands. Put a lot in your pasta.

1. Put the two flours together in a bowl with the salt and jiggle it around so that they blend a little. Then make a "flour mountain" with a hole in the middle in the bowl or on a clean smooth surface (table or kitchen counter).
2. Break the eggs into the hole and add some olive oil.
3. Start bringing in the flour from the outside to the center, mixing it up with the eggs until you have a nice, slightly sticky dough that you can play with in your hands. It should take a couple of minutes.
4. Throw a little flour onto your work surface and knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes until all the lumps are out and you get a nice smooth ball. Add flour as necessary to keep your hands clean.
5. Wrap your pasta dough in plastic wrap and put it to rest in the fridge for one hour.

Now it's ready to go to work.

As you can see, Michal uses a pasta machine. Italian made, "Marcato". It's small, beautiful and user friendly.
If you don't have a machine you can use a good old fashioned rolling pin (as many Italian mama's do) and a sharp knife.

Hand Made:
Make sure the work surface is well floured.
Roll out the dough a few times until it's about .5 centimeter thin (about 1/4 inch), then roll it out once more.
Using the sharp knife, cut the rolled out dough into thin strips for fetuccini or thick strips for parpadella.
Hang to dry on wire coat hangers or freeze right away until ready to use.

Machine Made:
Flatten the dough ball to size and pass through the machine, dial turned to "1".
Gently flour and pass the dough again, this time with dial turned to "2".
Do this until thickness level "7", flouring each time.
You'll notice how the pasta stretches and turns into a nice long sheet.
It should be smooth and almost leathery in texture.
Now, move the handle to the pasta type you want (most small machines have two types): fettucini or spaghetti.
Pass the flat, lightly floured dough once more through the machine and now it comes out beautifully cut.

There you have it. Amazing fresh pasta!

This recipe makes about eight portions.

You can hang the pasta to dry or freeze it right away. Pasta can be frozen for 3 months.
When you're ready to eat it, throw it into the boiling water directly from the freezer.
Please don't thaw your pasta - it'll turn into sticky dough.

Cooking the pasta:

5 minutes before your sauce is ready, boil very salty water in a nice roomy pot.

When the sauce is ready and the salted water is boiling add the pasta (I recommend parpadella for bolognaise and fetuccini for tomato) directly from the freezer.

Don't put too much in at once - pasta likes room to grow.
Stir it a little to prevent sticking at the bottom of the pot.

Two minutes!

2 minutes is all the cooking time you need.
Drain the pasta, mix with the sauce, grate some Parmesan over the top and add some freshly chopped herbs (parsley or basil).
Enjoy.

Bolognaise:

1 chopped carrot
1 can of chopped tomatoes or 3 chopped fresh tomatoes
1 chopped onion
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 kilo freshly ground beef
3 tbs ketchup
2 glasses of water
salt and good black pepper

Fry onions, carrot and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes.
Add the beef, fry on medium heat, breaking into small pieces.
Add ketchup and 1 cup of water.
Cook on high for a couple of minutes then turn down the heat.
Cook for about 1/2 hour, gradually adding the other cup of water and stirring occasionally.
Season to taste (I usually use more black pepper in than salt).

Basic tomato:

Chop up some tomatoes, about 1 for each person.
Heat about 2 tbs olive oil in a pan, fry some sliced garlic for 1 minute. Careful it doesn't burn, garlic gets so bitter when it's burnt!
Add the tomatoes and fry for about 10 minutes. I add about two tbs of ketchup and about 1/2 a cup of water.
Salt and pepper generously.
Mix with cooked pasta, add herbs and cheese.