Look what we did!

If you have ever come to our house for dinner, you have probably been forced to make your own pasta. Work for your dinner, that's our policy. Plus, we think it's fun; ergo, we also think you should think it's fun. Doesn't this lady look like she's having serious fun? Maybe? Maybe we should rethink our social activities? Recently we had a visit from a beloved college pal, who we traipsed around Boston in the nose-numbing weather--including a stroll across the frozen swan pond and a detour through the tiny, specialty groceries of the North End--only to conscript her into pasta duty at the end of the day. We made a very, very simple filling of blanched kale mixed with absurdly fresh ricotta (absolutely no substitute here), salt and nutmeg, and popped out a couple dozen capelli. Italian for "tiny hats" (a.k.a. tortellini). Despite my ill-timed snapshot of her serious folding focus, she was a great sport about it.

We didn't really do a Downslice here, but if you wanted to try, you can use this or this recipe for fresh egg pasta, roll it out but don't cut it into noodles. Instead, use a round cookie cutter to make circles, then plop down about a teaspoon of filling. You can use anything: from cooked squash to just cheese to sauteed mushrooms to whatever you feel like. Try this: 1/2 cup blanched greens (spinach, kale, collards, mustards, etc.) plus 1/2 cup fresh ricotta plus 1 tsp salt plus 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Yum.

Now, fold the circle in half and, wetting the edges with water if you like, press the edges of the semicircle together very firmly. Bring the pointed edges together and pinch hard. Repeat endlessly.

Voila! Serve tossed in tomato sauce or just some butter and cheese.

The Unnameable Pasta Dish

Somewhere between the enchilada and the manicotti lies last night's dinner: the noodle roll. A debate raged as we ate and continues this very day over what exactly to call these little beauties. I think they're no longer manicotti when they're not in manicotti pasta (the whole point of referring to them as "manicotti" in the first place, duh). David feels quite differently, and he will tell you so, at length.

The point is, those brilliant folks at Cook's Illustrated understood our collective pain at par-boiling, stuffing, splitting, and ultimately wrecking manicotti tubes, and came up with a genius solution. They softened no-boil lasagna noodles in hot water, dried them on kitchen towels for just a minute, then rolled them up with a prepared filling the way you would a jelly roll cake with, well, jelly.

What follows is an adapted-in-strategy but original creation with freshly rolled sheets of pasta (some leftover from spinach-shrimp, some super herby dough thrown together at the last minute, using our basic egg pasta recipe but swapping half the flour for spelt and adding about 2 tbsp of finely chopped parsley and thyme). If the pasta isn't dried, then there's no need to soften it, so we just plopped in some filling, rolled them up, drowned them in tomato sauce, and scarfed down our unnameable dinner.

Noodle Logs (a.k.a. Manicotti, I guess)

8 sheets freshly rolled pasta or 8 no-boil lasagna noodles

1/4 - 1/3 lb ground turkey

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup ricotta or cottage cheese

1 egg

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

1 Jar prepared tomato sauce

-OR- about 2 cups homemade sauce

-OR- 1-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes in puree/juice

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1. If you are using fresh noodles, follow the tricks in the links above to shrimp-spinach and basic egg pasta. If you are using no-boil noodles, put a teakettle on the stove. When it boils, pour it into the pan you'll be using to bake the pasta. Slide the noodles in one by one, moving them around with the tip of a sharp knife to make sure they don't stick together. You want them soft, but not cooked, about 5 minutes. Remove to a clean kitchen towel.
2. Meanwhile, brown the turkey in a small pan with some oil. When turkey is just about done, throw in the garlic and allow to cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool just a bit.
3. In a large bowl, combine cheeses, egg, and spices. Stir in meat. Pour some tomato sauce into the bottom of your small baking pan, just enough to coat the bottom.
   
   
4. Now, put about 1/4 cup of the filling onto the bottom 3/4 of each noodle. Starting from the bottom, roll all the way up and place seam-side down in the pan. Repeat until filling and noodles are gone. Cover with lots and lots of tomato sauce--even add some water to your prepared sauce if you need to. Especially if you are using the no-boil noodles, which will soak up a lot of the moisture during baking.
   
5. Cover with foil and bake at 375º for 25 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with parmesan. Return to heat 5 minutes, or until bubbly and melted. Yum.

Garlicky Shrimp and Fresh Spinach Pasta

I just about flipped my lid when I saw this lasagna recipe from Lynne Rosetto Kasper, via Zoe Bakes. If you are a normal human, you now want to dive into a swimming-pool sized vat of this and eat your way out. Not quite ready to commit to a full pan of lasagna, but (as you well know) still a big fan of fresh noodles, I took to scaling this spinach pasta recipe down for a regular, weeknight meal. I may have mangled it (sorry Lynne!) but it tasted just fine to me and my pasta-loving laborer, who always graciously and tirelessly does the rolling.

I don't know if it's the spinach or the whole wheat flour that I subbed in, but letting the dough sit for an hour or so before rolling helps with the consistency, so build that into your planning. You want the spinach really finely chopped, so a food processor is ideal, but some patient knife work will do just fine. Half of this recipe served us both well; I'm really excited about the other half that's still waiting in my fridge...

Secondly, the shrimp. This is a really simple, classic way of preparing shrimp that takes no time at all. Garlicky, lemony, and delicious, the only was we stretched this was by adding some additional chicken broth and lemon juice at the end to make enough sauce to toss the pasta in. It would be great with just a piece of crusty bread, no pasta necessary.


Fresh Spinach Pasta
3 oz frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeeeeeezed dry
1 1/2 cups flour (we used half all-purpose and half barley)
1 tsp salt
1 egg
water

If you're processing, toss spinach, flour, salt, and egg in the machine and turn on. Slowly stream in water just until a shaggy dough starts to come together. Turn dough out and knead it a couple of times to form a ball. Wrap in plastic and let rest at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.

If you're not processing, make sure your spinach is finely, finely chopped. Place flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add egg and spinach and stir to combine. Gradually add water 1 Tbsp at a time until you get a shaggy dough. Turn dough out and knead to form a ball. Wrap in plastic and let rest at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.

*The ball will moisten as it sits, ok, so don't add too much water during the mixing process. If you do, no problem, you'll just use lots and lots of flour as you're rolling to offset.

Roll out the pasta and if you have the time, let it sit to dry out for a little while. [We did not do this.] Cut into noodles and boil 1-2 minutes. Serve immediately.


Garlicky Lemon Shrimp
8 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 cloves garlic, minced and divided
1 small onion, minced
1/2 cup white wine, plus 2 Tbsp
1/2-3/4 cup broth
1/4 cup lemon juice, divided
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 Tbsp butter
Parmesan or Asiago cheese to grate over

Film a medium skillet with oil. Saute onion with a little salt, 2-3 minutes. Add half of garlic and cook 1 minute more. Stir in 1/2 cup wine and let reduce until almost gone.

Salt and pepper both sides of shrimp and place in a single layer in the pan; let cook about 2 minutes, until pink about halfway through. Flip and cook 1 minute more. Remove to a plate and cover with foil.

To the now-empty skillet, add remaining minced garlic. Cook 1 minute. Introduce 1/2 cup broth, lemon juice, and remaining 2 Tbsp wine . Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer until reduced by about 1/2. [Keep extra broth on hand in case you need to add more liquid.] Taste and season with salt and pepper.

When you're happy with the sauce, return shrimp to pan and toss. Turn off heat and add parsley and butter. Layer shrimp and scrape sauce out over pasta. Cover with a healthy coating of cheese.

Pasta for Uno (or Due)

If I told you that you could have fresh, homemade pasta in LESS TIME than it takes to cook those wooden, dried skewers you're used to eating, would you believe me? Since dried pasta usually takes up to 10 minutes to cook, fresh pasta kicks its butt, with a mere minute-or-two cook time. And you can do all the prep while your water is coming to a boil. Well, there are a few caveats....you must have a pasta rolling machine and a little bit of counter space, and if you have a second pair of hands to help you, that's even better--it will cut your prep time (mathematically unsurprisingly) in half.

You just need some proportions is all. We're BIG fans of freshly rolled pasta up here, so much so that we do it probably once a week. It's so good all you need is a little butter and parm cheese and you've got a delicious (read: kissing my fingertips in exaggerated Italian gesticulations) meal.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. Use whatever flour you want. Durum/semolina is traditional; all purpose works great; we like to go halfsies with some whole grain flours (spelt, barley, whole wheat, and kamut flours have all worked for us in the past). Just be sure to use about half regular white flour and half grain flour.
2. Throw in other stuff too. As you can (or maybe you can't because I'm a saaaad photographer) tell, we had lots of fresh thyme in the fridge, so I chopped it up and threw it in the dough. This is your chance to un-bland one of the blankest canvases in the food universe.
3. This multiplies pretty well (so just double to serve 2-3).
4. Speaking of which, it will also last up to 2 days in a zipper baggie in the fridge. So if you feel like pasta 3 days in a row, double up.

Homemade Egg Pasta

(Serves 1, generously)

1 egg

2/3 cup flour

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

Throw all ingredients in a bowl and beat with a fork until combined (dough will be very shaggy and dry). Turn out onto the counter and knead 5 or 6 times, until you can form a pretty solid ball. It will be dense. If it's just absolutely too dry, sprinkle a little water (say, up to 1 Tbsp) on the dough while you knead. DO NOT over-water your dough. You'll end up with chewing gum instead of pasta.

Meanwhile, fill a small pot with water and put on stove to boil.

If you have time, let the dough hang out for about 20 minutes. If not, proceed to divide your ball into 4 chunks. Flatten slightly with your hand and begin running through pasta roller. You want to do it 7-8 times on the largest setting, folding dough in half between each run. It will seem like a tragically lost cause at first, but eventually you will end up with lovely sheets of dough. Once you've completed 8 rounds on the largest setting, turn the dial to the next-narrowest setting, running dough sheet through once on each number. If your machine is numbered like mine (1-7, 7 being the widest and 1 the most narrow), stop at 3. We found that when we went all the way to the end our pasta was almost nonexistently thin. Repeat with all four dough chunks.

If you do not have a pasta roller, break out the rolling pin. If you have the patience to roll that dough out into a super thin sheet (1/8-in), more power to you.

Finally, run the sheets through the cutter--we like the wide fettucini noodles--or cut sheets with a knife, you non machine-owning reader.

By now, your water is probably boiling. Drop your pasta into the water and push it around a little. Cook for 1-2 minutes (seriously, that's all!), then drain. Toss with a little olive oil and parmesan cheese -- not the powder, for the love of pete -- salt and pepper.

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If you need a little more than just the noodles, get creative with what's in your fridge or pantry. We happened to have some brussels sprouts and leeks, which I sauteed, and some ground turkey, which I made delightful little meatballs out of (but this is another post for another day). Beans work nicely, leftover meats cut bite-size, you see where I'm going with this...

For a fuller meal, chop up some veggies and saute them until soft. Don't forget the garlic, people. Save that water your pasta cooked in, dip some out with a ladle and throw it in to your veggie saute pan. Instant sauce!