Pasta Pasta!

This past weekend, in a whirlwind of cooking ambition, my boyfriend {EK} and I decided to take on an authentic pasta dinner entirely from scratch. There we are! Prepping semolina dough for the pasta machine. Following a recipe for egg noodles, we opted for the elegant linguine shape. Since we happened to be short one pasta drying rack, we improvised with a laundry drying rack instead...and it worked surprisingly well!

Our first attempt at making linguine pasta was incredibly time consuming (as in 3 hours of being hungry for dinner time consuming). BUT nonetheless, it was (and always is) incredibly rewarding to coax simple ingredients together into something genuinly homemade and more complex. It gives one humble appreciation for the hard work, knowledge, and skill that goes into gourmet food preparation...not to mention, it's an enjoyable learning experience that rewards you with something delicious at the end.

When all had been mixed, rolled, chilled, cut, dried, boiled, sauteed, and garnished, every bite of that painstakingly crafted pasta (and sauce), bursted not only with incredible flavor, but the effort and pride of having succeeded in cooking a from-scratch Italian meal.

Several tips to make pasta:

1. Roll pasta dough into flat circle before chilling so it's easier to roll out before cutting for machine.
2. Flour dough and run a few "test strips" through the machine to remove any oil residue.
3. Flour dough before cranking through machine. Flour generously afterwards so pieces don't stick together.
4. Ideally, let pasta dry for at least an hour before boiling.
5. Keep an eye on the boiling pasta. Fresh pasta will cook within a few minutes.

Bon appétit!