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The second thing that Maddy and I make best is pasta. You might think that requires three steps

– boil water

– add pasta

– serve after 8 minutes.

Sorry but that would be the instructions for cooking the pasta not making it. Pasta does not grow on trees. Before it got to that box someone actually had to make it. I’m often surprised at how many other people are surprised we make pasta from scratch. The process is not complicated nor does it require expensive or hard to find ingredients. I think the real reason why more people don’t make their own pasta is that it is one of those things that absolutely requires enough advance prep time. For best results minimum prep + cooking time is 90 minutes with no Rachel Ray 30 min versions currently available(1) UNLESS you are making pizza dough which can be done with warm water and quick rising yeast but that’s not important right now.

I feel the same way about making pasta I do about playing chess: I can teach you how to do it simply and you can spend the rest of your life perfecting the art. Since 90% of the time I make the same pasta with Maddy let’s stick to basic pasta noodles(2) and meatballs.

HOMEMADE PASTA DOUGH


2 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. water
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour and rest of ingredients. Mix about 2 minutes with spoon; stir in enough flour to make a soft dough; knead about 20 times until smooth and not sticky, adding more flour is necessary. Cover with towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Makes 1 pound pasta dough.

If you do not have a Kitchenaid Standmixer(3) or similar with the fancy dough hook I recommend doing this whole process by hand. If you do have one good for you. I’m not at all jealous. The secret to this is to make the very wet version of the dough using only 1 cup of flour then add more flour a little at a time until it becomes not sticky at all. I find most times we wind up using around 2 cups of flour. This whole process is perfect for kids. It’s basically mixing a bunch of stuff in a bowl. I let Maddy do almost everything in the beginning when we’re adding ingredients so I can do most of the kneading of the dough. I let Maddy help with kneading as well but I find it requires more arm strength and bigger hands than she has.

Once you have a ball of dough you’re happy with put a tiny amount of oil on your hands and hold the ball of dough quickly so that the oil just coats the outside a little. Then put it in the bowl with a towel over it and leave it for at least 30 min. I recommend 1 hour if you have the time.

During that hour its time to make the meatballs. I like Bison. I’ve never met one personally but they taste good. The meat is lighter than beef and I find the consistency to be better especially for meatballs. You can find Bison in your local grocer by the beef. According to www.mobisonassoc.org “The American Heart Association recommends bison meat for a heart healthy diet due to its low fat and cholesterol content. Buffalo is high in protein, iron, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, potassium, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamins B6 and B12.”(4)

BISON MEATBALLS:

½ lb ground bison

Breadcrumbs

Oregano

Vegetable or Corn oil

Tomato Sauce

Flatten the meat on a plate and cover with breadcrumbs (around ¼ cup). Knead the meat until the breadcrumbs are totally absorbed by the meat. Flatten the meat again and add a handful (1 ½ tablespoons???) of oregano and mix into the meat. Form into meatball shapes / sizes of your liking. Coat a medium pan with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Flash fry the meatballs enough to cook the outsides but not all the way through (about 3 min turning often). Then place meatballs in small pot with tomato sauce. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 min or until JUST cooked all the way through.(5)

After an hour it’s time to roll/cut the pasta. I suggest you invest in a pasta roller. Ours was around $40(6) . I put wax paper down under the roller and flour on the wax paper to keep it not-sticky. Take the dough ball and dust lightly with flour before pressing into a flat disc sized shape. Then cut the disk into quarters. Set the roller to the largest number and crank the dough through. Then close the setting on the roller 1 and crank through again. Do this one time for each setting until the dough is a long very flat rectangle. Repeat this process until you have 4 flat rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half (or you will have 3 foot long noodles) and run it through the cutter side of your roller. I find that about 50% of the noodles aren’t cut perfectly by the machine and I still have to pull them apart by hand. You may want to put a small amount of flour on the cut noodles to prevent them from sticking as well.

Maddy helps by turning the crank on the roller while I feed the dough through. This can be an exercise in patience because she can’t always do it as fast as I would like and the crank is designed to come out which it does inexplicably all too often. There are always scraps of dough not being used after the noodles are cut and I give them to her to play with.

Once you have your cut noodles drop them in batches in boiling water for no more than 2 minutes(7) . This is where the art part comes in because depending on how much flour you used, the humidity where you are and other random things the cooking time will vary. Take each batch of noodles out and put them in a strainer with a nice splash of olive oil on them. Then add the next batch as its ready with more oil. Once all the noodles are done toss to distribute the oil before transferring to a bowl for serving.

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(1) It wouldn’t surprise me if someone in her empire is currently working on a genetically engineered dough that rises/sets instantly on her quest to have her face printed on every product on every shelf in every grocery in the universe

(2) Notice the clever omission of the type of pasta noodles. Most people think spaghetti naturally but I prefer linguine simply because I find it easier to cut out of my pasta roller.

(3) I do not have one so if you are not using yours feel free to leave it on my doorstep in the middle of the night or if you are my wife and are looking for gift suggestions…

(4) And how can we NOT trust the Missouri Bison Association

(5) Please don’t do this on high heat for a long time and turn them into molten rocks – that’s just sad.

(6) Minus the required 20% from a certain store that carries everything for your bed your bath and beyond.

(7) If you cook your noodles the same 8 minutes as dried pasta the terrorists win.