Pasta Fresca

So much has been going on, and so little getting on to this blog... I put it down to overload and a crossroads more complex than I could have imagined. So making pasta today, fresh, with just flour and eggs, is really the pinnacle of a month full of surprises. But let's focus on the pasta, and the rest of the story will unfold.

It was with great joy and pleasure that I attached this wonderful pasta cutter to the bench tonight. I've always wanted one of these. When I finished my job I was given a generous gift certificate for Moore Wilsons, and it wasn't more than a couple of shopping trips that ended me up at the pasta machine section. So glad. After a few months of upheaval, I settled back into the kitchen today.

You can do this right on the bench, but I opted for a bowl. 1.6 oz flour and 6 eggs, thank you Jamie Oliver. (Has anyone heard of the "no dogs in the kitchen" rule? Clearly our dog hasn't.)

Mush together with a fork, until it forms a bit of a ball. Mine was a bit dry so I left the crumbs in the bowl. Knead, just like bread, until it's pliant and feeling alive.

An hour in the fridge, wrapped in glad wrap, will give you time to make a ravioli filling.

Two red onions, quartered and soused with 8 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, a handful of fresh thyme, and a big slow slosh of olive oil. Cover with some damp baking paper -- Jamie said to do this, so I did, but I'm sure foil would be fine too. In the oven at 200. Put some spuds in at the same time -- half a kilo-ish. 40 minutes should have them all cooked.

Finely chopped onions and their juices + the puffy potato insides + a big dab of butter + salt and pepper = a wonderful filling.

This pasta looks so serene. It was a bit of an ordeal, to be honest. But at some point, the pasta went through the wheels and folded neatly into sheets. It took a while, but it happened.

And then I folded the filling into the pasta... giant pillows as it turned out, but lovely and tender, tasty.

The extra pasta mixture became a linguine experiment... so beautiful. I almost cried when I saw it drizzle through the cutters. It was a transformation so easy.

Big pillowy ravioli with browned pine nuts and a salad from the garden. It felt like a miracle.

Miracle, dream? Miracle, dream? It's hard to say, and perhaps it doesn't matter. All I know is that I've been a bit shut down recently. I've made the massive shift from full-time day job to self employment. And I sincerely hope that translates into more experiments in the garden and kitchen... and subsequently more blog posts. So far it has translated mostly into a lot of sleeping, deep heavy afternoon sleeping, followed by deep heavy all night sleeping. Maybe that explains the ravioli pillows?