Pasta

[JohnDB]

Pasta is a staple in some households.
But it's more than macaroni and cheese from a box.
I remember the first time I introduced my wife to home made pasta. Her comment that garlic and butter for the sauce was not going to be good was disheartening to me and she was not looking forward to the experience...
She changed her mind almost immediately once she tasted it. The "velvety ribbons of deliciousness" that came from such simple ingredients astounded her.

My recipe is simple.
1 lb semolina flour
6 eggs
Tsp salt
Crank from peppermill
Tsp ev olive oil.

If you use a mixer be sure to use the dough hook attachment because this dough is stiff.

I often will make the dough the day before I use it. But it's not necessary.
Fran likes to dry hers before cooking. I don't. I cook the pasta fresh.

And from this dough I make everything from ravioli to lasagne.

Anybody else make pasta?

 

[stovebolts]

Wow, looks good! I should make some and have it ready for when my wife returns tomorrow! I make a mean sauce!

I'm not a cook by trade, and my sauce comes out a bit different every time, but this is how I make it.

Ingredients:
Roma Tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
A tad of Fennel
Couple of bay leaves
Fresh Oregano (Or dried in a shaker)
Green Onion (chopped)
Italian Sausage
(Can of Tomato Paste if needed)


A few fresh Roma Tomatoes. Since this is my base, I buy enough to make about what I want. It's all guess work lol.
I dice the tomatoes and put them in a pot to boil down for about an hour.
Brown the Italian Sausage while the tomato's are breaking down. I'll usually put a bit of onion in with the sausage to soften em up, but not all of the onion.
Take a couple of cloves and mince them and put in tomato sauce.
Put about a teaspoon or less of fennel seed in the sauce.

Once the sauce is almost boiled down, I put the browned sausage in and let it simmer till the sauce is consistent.

Once the sauce looks like a sauce, I'll add a few bay leaves and a bit of oregano. I'll let it cook down another 45 minutes and add more of whatever I think it's missing which is usually oregano and garlic.

One thing I found, is don't season exactly to how you like it. After it cooks another 45 minutes, the flavor is still coming out, so don't over do your oregano, onion or garlic salt.

About 20 minutes before serving, I put the rest of my chopped onion on. Sometimes if the tomatoes have too much water in them, or I've added to much water because they cooked down to much, you can get the thickness of the sauce just right by adding a small amount of tomato paste.

Hey, I know the kitchen isn't my wheelhouse, but it's a great tasting sauce!

 

[JohnDB]

Wow, looks good! I should make some and have it ready for when my wife returns tomorrow!

So
What kind of pasta are you going to make?
How are you planning on forming it?

Rolling pins work...
But so does cleaning the floor with a toothbrush.

You have a pasta machine of some kind?

I use one of these

 

[stovebolts]

Show off lol!
My Mom used to just roll it out with a pin and cut it with a knife
BTW, I edited my last post and added my world famous sauce!

 

[JohnDB]

When it comes time for tomato sauce...

Here's the thing...

Peel the tomatoes, cut them in half and squeeze out the seeds.

The easiest way to peel the tomatoes is to place them in a pot of boiling water for around 20 seconds and then place them in ice water to stop them from continuing to cook.
Cook them up just like you have been...but now use an immersion blender to smooth out the sauce.

Immersion blender:

This formula for the tomato sauce is going to make this richer than you think. It's going to create that "back of the tongue burn" which makes it taste super rich and removes all bitterness created by the seeds and skins. (Which contains trace amounts of either arsenic or formaldahyde...can't remember which)

But this sauce becomes almost sweet to the taste...

Try it... you'll like it

 

[stovebolts]

Wow, that's the secret huh?
That's a lot of work, but I can see how it would make a difference.

 

[Christ_empowered]

i dont make my own pasta (aldi has excellent prices, even on tortellini...), but I did make my very own cream sauce the other night. good times. loads of olive oil, chicken stock, spices, and...well...cream (hey, bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? LOL). I was pleasantly surprised, especially since -all- of my attempts at DIY alfredo have come out as massive disasters.

 

[JohnDB]

i dont make my own pasta (aldi has excellent prices, even on tortellini...), but I did make my very own cream sauce the other night. good times. loads of olive oil, chicken stock, spices, and...well...cream (hey, bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? LOL). I was pleasantly surprised, especially since -all- of my attempts at DIY alfredo have come out as massive disasters.

Alfredo sauce is one of my favorites.

Just so everyone can discuss this....that stuff in the jar that claims to be Alfredo...is not.

Classically speaking Alfredo sauce is a particular set of ingredient including:
Garlic
Cream
Parmesan cheese.

Other things can be in the sauce. But those three must be present and "star" in the flavor.

Marie Callendar used an addition of cream cheese to the sauce and gave it added richness and cheesey flavor.

Most of the classical recipe call for a white wine reduction (to the point of syrup) and finishing the sauce with Worcestershire sauce and tobasco. Small amounts to simply enrich the flavors but not stand out to where you can taste them.

Starting off with stock of some kind is an almost given. But I have seen shrimp stock used instead of more traditional chicken or veal...it came out more like a creamy scampi sauce than anything else. But the parmesan cheese was there.


Now the stuff in the jars on the shelf in the grocery store that claims to be Alfredo
That "stuff" doesn't taste horrible. But it certainly lacks flavor. The right flavor at least.
What I have found is that if I put a couple of heaping soup spoonfuls of pesto in whatever I am using it in...the flavor is acceptable. Where it certainly doesn't taste like Alfredo any longer...it's much better than before.

But still not something that I would put on fresh home made pasta.

 

[Book Keeper]

The above pasta recipes are very informative. I'm very lazy with food; lately I've gotten into the habit of purchasing microwavable meals or takeaway food.
Should I ever decided to make my own pasta, I will defiantly try the recipes here.

 

[JohnDB]

The above pasta recipes are very informative. I'm very lazy with food; lately I've gotten into the habit of purchasing microwavable meals or takeaway food.
Should I ever decided to make my own pasta, I will defiantly try the recipes here.

That local curry house gets boring but cooking just for yourself seems like too much trouble.
Both of your (and used to be mine) solutions for dinner aren't good for you.

What broke me out of that cycle was eating with others. Other single people face the exact same thing.
What we did was this: Everyone made one dish... whatever that was. From a vegetable dish to desserts or meat.
If running late a couple of bottles of soda or in your case being responsible for tea was good enough.
And at least we all got one decent meal per week.

I got married and got fat...my wife started feeding me so I had to start skipping lunch.

But that habit of eating and dining with friends has continued. We know other couples with kids that have a difficult time cooking nutritious dinners for their kids.

I'm the kid's favorite non-related "Uncle".
I bribe them at Christmas time with blank gingerbread houses and bring candy and frosting for them to glue the candy on with. But in the meantime they commit to trying the food "Mr. John" makes. Some of it they like... some they don't.
But the fellowship is awesome and I get to closely watch another set of kids grow up.

 

[sunflower]

Anybody else make pasta?

I did once years ago when we were spending the summer running a fire guard station in Alaska mainly because the grocery store was so far away. It was delicious and I remember it took quite a bit of time. Thanks for sharing. I should think it very good with chicken pieces.