Pasta Pomodoro & Fresh Pasta Recipe - by Jess

What my lovely, ambitious sister has not considered is that in order to make pasta, (unless you have Madonna’s biceps and Gandhi’s patience) one needs to own a pasta maker. Morgan does not own a pasta maker.

Finding a pasta maker in southern Vermont may be as easy as buying skis in Florida but the first place I would look is Linens ‘n Things.  Otherwise, she can order one for $70 at williamssonoma.com.

I can think of a million things my sister could do with an extra $70 (Fixing her oven, maybe? Or hiring her cleaning lady for an extra couple hours to clean out her fridge?). But, my sister has never been known to spend money wisely. So, here you go Morgan – a recipe for handmade pasta. And, just in case this new venture never takes off, a recipe for Pasta Pomodoro – a fresh tomato sauce that is TO DIE FOR. It makes jarred sauce taste like baby food, it is a great way to make use of ripe summer tomatoes and it tastes just as fabulous with a box of Barilla linguine as it does with fresh pasta (which, let’s face it, is probably never going to happen!).

Pasta Pomodoro:

A few summers ago we had an Italian pharmaceutical tycoon charter the yacht for 2 months. He ate this dish every other day. That may be a bit drastic but once you’ve tried it you will understand – it’s simply satisfying. And, unlike chartering a 150-foot yacht for 2 months, it is very inexpensive to make.

Unless you live in South America this dish should NEVER be made in the winter! There is a reason why tomatoes in the supermarket in December are not red – tomatoes don’t grow in the winter!!!! However, some of them find themselves on 10 hour flights destined for American supermarkets because apparently we can’t live without tomatoes in February. But please, leave them for your salads and don’t put them in this dish.

1/3 Cup Olive Oil (does not need to be Extra Virgin, save that for later)

1 Large Yellow Onion, finely diced

1-2 large garlic cloves, minced

2 ½ - 3 lbs Ripe Plum Tomatoes (they have less seeds) or  Grape Tomatoes, diced

SALT

A large handful of basil leaves

Some Extra Virgin Olive Oil, optional

1 lb. Barilla (the best, but it’s up to you) Linguine

Parmesan cheese for serving (please don’t use Kraft, use real cheese!)

In a large sauté pan heat your olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and gently sauté the onions for a few minutes until soft but don’t let them brown. Add the garlic.

When the garlic is fragrant wait a few more seconds (don’t let it burn) and add the tomatoes. At this point add a generous amount of salt. The amount depends on your tomatoes but the salt is crucial. (If you have tomatoes left over, cut two slices and try one without salt and one with a nice sprinkling of salt – the difference is huge! Tomatoes taste better with salt on them!) Don’t go overboard though, you can always add more salt later but you can never get rid of it.

Allow the tomatoes to come to a nice gentle simmer and simmer the sauce uncovered for about 15 minutes until they have released their juices, the flavors have blended and the sauce starts to thicken a bit. Stir it from time to time and make sure the heat is not so high that the sauce sticks to the bottom of the pan or becomes too thick. Try the sauce and test for salt – it should taste like tomato deliciousness and in no way resemble jarred sauce – remember this is FRESH tomato sauce!

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Always make sure you have plenty of water otherwise the starch of the pasta will be too much for the water and cause the pasta to stick and clump.

The key to perfectly cooked pasta is this:

1)      1) Have a kitchen timer – sooooooo important – otherwise you are likely to completely forget when you put the pasta in and will over or under cook it.

2)      2) Use it! Barilla pasta cooks PERFECTLY al dente if you cook it for exactly one minute less than it says on the box.

Generously salt your water and then add your pasta and cook it as I have said above. Drain immediately when your timer goes off.

Chop or tear your basil into pieces and add it to the sauce, stirring to incorporate.

The next VERY IMPORTANT STEP is this:

You must incorporate your pasta into your sauce. I lived in Italy for 2 years. If Italians saw how many Americans make pasta (put pasta on a plate and pour sauce on top) they would just about die! Instead, you add the pasta to the sauce in the sauté pan and with the heat on low-medium introduce the two to eachother. Toss the pasta with the sauce, for at least 1-2 minutes, tossing constantly, allowing the pasta and all it’s starch to soak up the sauce and allowing the sauce to nicely dress the pasta. If you want drizzle a little good quality extra virgin olive oil on it while tossing.

Finally, you can tip it onto a nice pasta plate and serve parmesan on the side. Voila! Mamma Mia!

Homemade Pasta

When we were growing up our Nonnie used to make her own pasta - without a pasta machine! Her upper arms were about the size of my thigh (Sorry Nonnie, but let’s face it, you weren’t a size 2!). She would roll the pasta by hand until it was as thin as paper and then cut it into perfectly thin linguine. Then she would dry it on hangers in her basement, wrap it in tissue paper and send it to us in Vermont in Lord and Taylor’s shirt boxes. The woman loved to cook and, apparently, had a bit of time on her hands. Let’s see if Morgan does too. If so, it is well worth it.

1 lb all purpose flour (this works out to be about 3 ½ cups – but spoon the flour in to your measuring cup instead of scooping it otherwise you can pack the cup too full and end up with too much flour)

5 large eggs

Place the flour on a cutting board or clean counter and make a well shape in the middle. Add the eggs to the well. Gently scramble the eggs with a fork, gradually incorporating the flour as you go until you have a ball of dough that can be kneaded. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes then wrap in plastic and let it sit for a half hour to relax a bit.

Cut dough into 5 pieces. Pat one piece into a disc that is thin enough to feed through the largest setting on the pasta maker. Cover the remaining pieces with a clean damp cloth while you work on your first piece.

Roll the dough through the largest setting on the pasta maker. Fold it into thirds and then roll it through that setting another 4 times. Change the setting on the pasta maker to the next size. Roll the pasta through, fold into thirds and roll through again another 4 times. Change setting to the next size down and roll the pasta through once. Continue to do so until you get to the second smallest setting on the machine. When the dough is being run through the rollers catch it but do not pull on it. Once you have your pasta to desired thickness you can cut it into ravioli sheets, lasagna, pappardelle or tagliatelle or you can add the linguine cutting attachment to the machine and run the dough through the cutters.

Repeat with the remaining dough.