Primi

The first course of Italian meals typically means pasta, so brace yourselves. I have to say that as I write this, I'm craving Thai, Indian, Japanese...anything that does not involve cooked flour and sauce, but I am suffering from pasta overload...despite Italians boasting the versatility of pasta, there are only so many ways you can do it. Regardless, I'm proud of the fact that I can now make pasta without a pasta machine and know how to cut tagliatelle :)

Pasta fatto a casa

Ingredients
Flour - half durum wheat, half strong bread flour, approx 400-500g each
4 eggs

Method
Make a well in the centre, and break the eggs into the well
Keep a small heap of flour to one side to clean hands every now and then, and incorporate these bits into the mixture
Knead the ball into a smooth homogeneous mixture, using the palms of both hands vigorously
Place a few drops of oil over the ball, and then leave to rest for 1 hour

Use the rolling pin on a floured board/table to flatten and roll out the dough
Start with rolling out the edges, leaving the centre more heaped, because later the edges will be thicker and the centre will start to tear

When the dough is around 8 inches in diameter, start to roll the centre as well as the edges.
When around 12 inches, begin the following method:
- Roll the edge furthest from you a little, then gather that edge around the rolling pin (put flour on the rolling pin)
- Roll the pin towards you gradually, and as you incorporate another roll of pasta, use both palms on the rolling pin in an action that extends the pasta laterally along the pin
- When the whole piece of dough has been gathered onto the pin (Except the closest part which must not be allowed to stick), lay the whole round out form left to right, so that the piece lies flat but turned at 90 degrees.

Repeat this convoluted process, always ensuring that the pasta is floured and does not stick

Be careful not to tear the centre which will be getting thinner from more rolling than the edges are (I am feeling rising anxiety levels as I write this - too much to think about - arrrghhh!)

Leave to dry for an hour or so, take or leave this step I reckon...

Use 4 semicircular edges for lasagna sheets, they won't be useful for tagliatelle, and make a nice rectangle with the rest that you can use for tagliatelle.

TO CUT TAGLIATELLE:

Fold furthest side of pasta rectangle over on itself by about 2 - 3 inches
Then do the same thing on the side closest to you, folding by the same amount, don't push down and make sure they don't stick together (use a bit of flour to stop sticking)
Fold these 2 folds over each other, repeat until the folds meet int he middle and you can then fold one on top of the other.

Use a sharp knife to cut 2-4mm strips. Gather a few of this onto the knife with the blade sliding between the last fold i.e. the middle - as you life the knife, you will see your miraculous creation unfold and know that you have created pasta, amazing!!

Make these into a loose nest and repeat with the other strips to form other nests. Use preferably within 24 hours, as if you could wait any longer!

Bring salted water to the boil, plunge nests into water and when water reboils and pasta is firmly al dente remove.

Add chosen sauce with some of the pasta water and stir to finish cooking with sauce to amalgamate sauce with pasta

SAUCES

Tomato & Basil sauce (I know this sounds so simple, but it really is the perfect combination of ingredients and I've never done it like this)

Ingredients:
Cherry tomatoes (about 2 punnets
Basil
EVOOil
Onion
Carrot
Celery
Basil
Salt and Pepper

Method
Place oil, diced onion, carrot cut in half, celery stick cut in  pieces and basil in a pan and cook gently
Add tomatoes then salt and pepper
Let this boil for what seems like forever until the oil no longer rises to the surface
At the end of cooking, put the mixture through the sieve (to avoid 4 and 6 year old children picking out every tomato skin or not eating altogether - hmmmmm)


Herb sauce
Garlic clove
Wild fennel
Rosemary
Sage
Basil
Wild mint
Majoram
Mint (one leaf only)
Thyme
EVOOil
Salt and pepper
Saffron
Water

Method
The herbs above are listed in order of a lot to only a little bit (very important!)
Use 1 clove of garlic with the centre stalk removed if present (the green part)
Mix with rosemary to form a paste
Place a little water in a frying pan to cover base and add some oil for frying
Slice all herbs finely, place immediately into frying pan to prevent oxidization
Add salt, pepper, saffron (and some sliced cherry tomatoes if you like), boil for 3-4 mins, leaving covered.

Place cooked pasta through frying pan so pasta absorbs the sauce.

More pictures on the process at www.umbriacucina.com/testimonials.html