Fresh Pasta

We went to the coolest store in Camogli... it was called Pasta Fresca (creative, right?). It was this place that made me really want to try to make my own pasta.
Behind the displays of different fresh pastas in the front, we could see a big room in the back where they made the pasta. There were piles and piles of noodles laying around. Bowls of homemade sauces were nestled between the differently shaped and colored fresh noodles. It was pick your pasta, pick your sauce, cook and eat. Simple and yummy!

There were so many interesting looking pastas – black squid ink noodles, pillowy gnocchi, stringy spaghetti, bulging cappelletti, perfectly filled ravioli, flat lasagna noodles, and some kind of pasta that looked like peas – I was sad that I couldn't try them all.

In the two times that we went to Pasta Fresca, we got gnocchi and cappelletti with marinara sauce, meat sauce, and pesto sauce. We took it home, cooked it up, and ate it beside some still-warm focaccia bread from the focacceria next door to the fresh pasta place. It was quick, easy, and absolutely delicious.

The gnocchi was a great consistency – nice and soft and creamy. It had a slightly sweet taste to it, so I liked it with the red sauces better than with the pesto. We make gnocchi at home sometimes, but are still working on perfecting that.

Cappelletti means 'alpine hats', and they do look a little like hats. Cappelletti is basically just ravioli in a different shape, and with more filling. Fillings include meat, cheese, or vegetables (we got vegetables). I liked the cappelletti with all of the sauces we got.

Pesto originates in the Liguria region of Italy (which Camogli is located in). I really liked Pasta Fresca's pesto – the basil wasn't ground too small like I saw in a lot of restaurants in Italy, and the flavor was delicious. It reminded me of my mom's pesto. I will say though, Pasta Fresca added a lot of olive oil to their pesto!

Focaccia bread also originates in Liguria. The focacceria we went to had a few different kinds, but we just got the plain one; it was so fresh, warm, and flavorful that it just melted in our mouths...let's just say we didn't miss all the extra toppings! It did, however, drip olive oil ceaselessly...those Italians love their olive oil.

The second time we went to Pasta Fresca, they didn't have the squid ink pasta so instead I had to get it at a restaurant later. It was fun to try and tasted good (there was actually no distinguishable difference in flavor between normal spaghetti and the squid ink spaghetti)!

In the fresh pasta store, they did have some different types of dried pasta on the shelves that looked very interesting. All different shapes and sizes, some (like simple, flat, disk-shaped ones) you just put some olive oil and seasonings on, or others (like the small grain-like ones) you put in soups.

When we got home we only waited a few weeks to try making fresh pasta because we were so anxious to see if we could make it just as good as the Italians...and ours was ONE THOUSAND times better than dried pasta! So, thank you Italy for inspiring me to make fresh pasta – and, for how good it is, it takes surprisingly few ingredients.

Just make a bowl of flour (literally).

Pour in some of your egg, water, salt, and olive oil mixture. Take two fingers and swirl it around, carefully mixing in the edges of the flour bowl little by little and adding more egg mixture.

Knead the dough and chill in the fridge.

Roll into sheets (this is a good work out) and cut into shapes – some easy ones are ravioli, fettucine, or tagliatelle.

Hang 'em up while you're busy so they don't stick together...we used a clothes rack, but anything works.

Boil for a couple minutes in water with a little olive oil, make some sauce, and you're ready to eat! A bonus of fresh pasta? It is much easier to get al dente (not crunchy, not soft, just firm) than dried pasta!

This method can be a little messy/time consuming/labour intensive, so there are some alternatives:

If you don't want to make a flour bowl, you can use a food processor.

You can use a pasta machine instead of rolling it by hand (in which case you have more options for shapes).

You can make a double batch and freeze some pasta for a quick meal later.

Maybe I should just start my own pasta store. I'm pretty sure it would be a big hit in America! All I would need are a few different pasta types, some sauce choices, some boxes, and a scale, just like Pasta Fresca...brilliantly simple and deliciously yummy.

Watch Alton Brown's video for more details on making fresh pasta...it's only 20 minutes and taught me so much!

Pasta

5 servings

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

3 Tbs. water

1 tsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions :

By hand:

1. On a clean surface, make a well out of the flour; make sure the sides are sturdy.

2. In a small bowl, mix eggs, water, olive oil, and salt.

3. Slowly pour egg mixture into the well. Mix with two of your fingers. Gradually incorporate the sides of the flour well into the egg mixture. Continue mixing in flour until all of the egg mixture is used, but don't force the dough to take more flour.

4. Pasta machine: Make dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour.

5. By hand: Knead dough for 8-10 minutes on a floured surface. Make dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour.

By Food Processor:

1. In the bowl of your food processor combine the flour and salt and pulse 2 to 3 times.

2. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, water and oil.

3. Continuously pour egg mixture into flour while pulsing the food processor.

4. Continue pulsing the food processor until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

5. Follow above directions for hand rolling or machine rolling.

After chilling:

Machine rolling:

1. Follow manufacturer's instructions to create the shape of noodle you want.

2. Boil the fresh pasta according to the directions below or freeze it for later.

Hand rolling:

1. Take 1/4 of the chilled pasta dough and on a lightly floured surface use a rolling pin to roll dough out into a 1/8" thick sheet.

2. Use a pizza cutter to cut pasta into desired shape. Hang noodles up so that they do not stick while other pasta is being cut.

3. Boil the fresh pasta according to the directions below or freeze it for later.

After rolling:

Boiling:

1. Boil some water in a large pot. Add a little olive oil (about 2 Tbs.)

2. Gently drop fresh pasta into water and boil until pasta floats on surface of water and is al dente, about 2 minutes for fresh pasta or 3 minutes for frozen pasta.
3. Serve with sauce of your choice.

Recipe from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ravioli-recipe.html?oc=linkback