Adventures in Pasta Making: Pasta is both easy and not so easy

My newest obsession has been homemade pasta. It seems so easy: flour, eggs. Maybe some salt and olive oil if you're feeling feisty. So, one day, I followed this little tutorial and was well on my way. Except (there's always an exception, right?) for the little issue of not owning a pasta machine. But, I figured that back in the day, before pasta machines were invented, people somewhere in China or Italy had to be rolling sheets of pasta by hand. I had hands. I had a rolling pin. I could do this!

Ravioli filled with mushroom, spinach, and marscapone came first. The filling was easy, thanks to Giada. And, thanks to the tutorial above, making a seemingly nice mound of pasta dough was easy enough, as well.

This is where brute force came in. I'm about 5 ft 3 in tall and weigh about 110 pounds. I tell my husband that if aliens were ever to invade Earth and eat humans, my meat would be prized and served for ridiculous amounts of money. I would be the kobe beef of humans. I'm weak.

Rolling out pasta by hand is hella hard. In the dead of winter, with heat in my apartment being sub-optimal, I have broken out into major sweats.

The first attempt at ravioli was... well, at least edible. The filling was wonderfully sexy (that's the only word I can think of the marcapone laced mushrooms and spinach). The pasta itself was a bit chewy. I had some left over, which I tried again the next day, but by boiling it for a few more minutes. Still chewy. Props to the husband for putting a big smile on his face and even asking for seconds. I sometimes feel he would eat uncooked grass if I told him I made it, god bless his heart.

The next attempt a few weeks later was a double header ravioli night, with the mushroom-spinach making a repeat appearance, and the new, completely Amni made-up, balsamic and rosemary roasted butternut squash ravioli. If boiling time was not the issue last time, perhaps I did not roll out the pasta thinly enough. This time, I pulled up my hair, changed into a tank top, and pulled out my rolling pin. I stook on a mini step ladder so that I could use all my weight to press the pasta to perfection. Muuuuuch better.

My most recent attempt was a double batch--one for ravioli and the other for other kinds of pasta. Again, an experiment. Half the experiment was orrechietti (with sauteed broccolini, grape tomatoes, and garlic) and the other half, dried tagliatele. The orrechietti was a disaster in much the same way my first batch of ravioli was chewy... only much worse. The tagliatele, on the other hand, was a dream. I rolled out a very, very thin sheet, rolled it up, and sliced the roll. Then I unrolled the strips, hung them on clothes hangars, and waited 24 hours. The noodles broke as they dried and fell to the ground, but a safety net of paper towels made sure that none went to waste.

A couple nights later, I needed to use some ground beef and eggplant. So, the dried noodles came into play. They took a bit longer to cook than fresh pasta but less time than store-bought semolina noodles. But, they were delicious when draped in beef, eggplant, and marinara.

Next up is trying the process with double-zero flour. It's hard to find here, even in NYC... but that's why we have the internet. Muwhahahaha...