Going Green With Pasta
But while I normally think of pasta as a quick meal, sometimes we like to slow down a little and make it homemade with a pasta attachment that fits on the stand mixer. There is nothing more satisfying than tucking into a dish of pasta made by hand. It may not look as perfect as the store-bought variety, but the taste is out of this world.
If you have never tried fresh pasta before then you are in for a treat. If you don’t have the time or inclination to try it from scratch, you can easily get your hands on some handmade pasta by purchasing it at a specialty Italian or grocery store. If you have a spare afternoon and want to have a little fun in the kitchen, then making it from scratch is the way to go.
The standalone pasta maker is a little more versatile than my mixer solution with more choices in shapes and sizes, though it takes a practiced hand to feed the dough through while cranking the machine by hand. If you have the patience of an Italian grandmother, you can even try your hand at homemade ravioli, a more laborious process.
With the mixer attachment, the hand cranking is eliminated and in no time you can have sheets of fresh pasta to be made into lasagne or tortellini, or cut into fettuccine or linguine. You truly don’t need any special equipment to make homemade pasta. You can roll and cut by hand, with a pizza cutter or sharp knife, any fresh pasta dough recipe. As you roll and cut the pasta, drape it over a broom handle or the back of chair to dry just a little and prevent sticking.
When it comes to making the dough, the basic recipe combines eggs and flour, usually in a proportion of around two eggs per cup and a half of flour. Work the dough, either in the mixer with paddle attachment, or by hand, until it goes from sticky to tacky to smooth and elastic. Once the dough reaches this texture, the glutens have relaxed and the pasta is ready to shape and cook. It's best cooked in plenty of salted water brought to a rolling boil for about two to three minutes.
You can add any type of veggie puree to the mix to make colorful and healthful pasta. Lately I’ve also seen dried pastas in the store including vegetables such as zucchini or carrots and tomato; its an easy way to sneak an extra serving of veggies into your meal. Other flavoring options include beets, spinach, saffron or chopped fresh herbs.
There are a myriad of sauce choices to dress your fresh pasta, from classic Italian Bolognese to simply tossing with extra virgin olive oil and fresh herbs. Italian cooks usually toss the pasta into the pan of sauce with a little pasta cooking water to make a silky sauce.
With Earth Day coming up this Sunday, a pasta dish full of chopped fresh herbs and green veggies sounds like the perfect thing. Classic pasta primavera is a celebration of spring and can include your favorite combination of veggies – sugar snap peas, asparagus, green beans, leeks, zucchini, plum tomatoes, or all of the above. Tossed with a little cream and a simple grating of parmigiano-reggiano it will highlight the exquisite flavor of fresh pasta!
Made with spinach, flour, leeks, butter, eggs, asparagus, salt and pepper, cheese
Serves/Makes: 6
- 10 ounces spinach, washed, blanched, drained, and pureed in food processor
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
***For sauce***
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 medium leeks (white and pale green parts), sliced into 1/2-inch half circles and washed
- 2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into two inch pieces and blanched
- 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper, to taste
Mound the flour in a bowl or on work surface and make a well in the center. Break the eggs into the well, add spinach puree and beat lightly with a fork. With a circular motion gradually pull flour into well, continuing until all flour is incorporated. If using stand mixture, this step can be done using the dough hook on low.
On a floured work surface, knead the dough using the palm of your hand, or continue to process in mixer on medium speed, until dough becomes smooth and pliable. Let dough rest for a few minutes and then process according to pasta maker instructions, or roll out on floured work surface as thinly as possible. Cut into noodles about 3/8 inch wide. Set aside on a floured work surface and cover with towel while preparing sauce.
Melt butter in saute pan over medium high heat and add leeks and a little salt, until leeks begin to soften about 4 minutes. Continue to cook over medium until leeks are tender, about 5 more minutes and add asparagus.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add noodles and cook just until they rise to the surface, about 2 minutes.
Drain noodles, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking water, and toss together with asparagus mixture over low heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately.
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