By Averi Halbert, Marina Halbert, and Diego Mantelli
Pasta is life. Ask any self-respecting Italian, and they will agree. Pasta has roots in various cultures, from Vietnamese Pho, to Italian Cacio de Pepe. A cheap, easy to make, and easy to elevate ingredient, pasta tastes delicious and only requires a pot, water, and a heat source to make. While store bought pasta comes with convenience, nothing can beat the taste of homemade pasta. Here are some of our favorite recipes for homemade pasta and various pasta dishes.
Marina’s Divine Egg Pasta*:
What you need –
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted
3 large eggs, beaten
What to do –
Pulse the flour in a food processor to aerate
Add the eggs; process until a rough ball forms (30 seconds) (if the dough looks like small pebbles, add ½ tablespoon of water at a time, if the dough sticks to the processor, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time)
Turn out dough on clean work surface and knead until smooth (1-2 minutes)
Cover and allow to rest for minimum of 15 minutes (up to 2 hours)
Cut dough into 6 even pieces, remove one and re-cover the remaining dough
Put dough through pasta machine on widest setting, then fold long ends back to the middle and run again; go to next setting and run through (repeat until pasta has gone through smallest setting) (if the dough is tearing, re-knead it and allow it to rest)
Put pasta through the cutting end of the roller to make fettuccine, or cut pasta into bow ties, squares, etc.
Hang on pasta tree (or leave on workspace)
Repeat with all 6 sections of dough (if you plan to eat the pasta immediately, begin boiling water around the 3rd or 4th piece of dough)
To cook:
Bring 4 quarts of water to boil
Add a tablespoon of salt and the pasta
Stir, then cook until al dente (the pasta will continue to cook after it leaves the pan) (this is a very subjective step; I usually cook for about 3-5 minutes) (CHECK PASTA OFTEN WHILE COOKING)
Add Averi’s Simple Pasta Sauce and enjoy!
This simple egg pasta takes less than an hour to make and is not too difficult; the incredible flavor, improved texture, and increased options in what shapes to make far outweigh any hardships in making it.
*requires manual pasta machine (or serious dough rolling and cutting skills)
Averi’s Simple Pasta Sauce:
What you need –
(3/4 cloves) Garlic
(few tablespoons) Olive oil
(Ratio up to maker, depends on preference)
What to do-
Mince garlic into fine pieces
Put in bowl with olive oil
Microwave (45 sec – 1 min) or put on stove (few min) until you can smell a garlic aroma
Put on pasta and enjoy!
(Quite literally as simple as it gets.)
Diego’s Fluffy Gnocchi
What you need-
2 pounds of potatoes
1 egg
¾ cup flour
What to do-
Bake the potatoes at 450 degrees until fork tender
Take skin off the potatoes and press through a potato ricer
Add one egg and knead
Add the flour and knead
Roll into finger thick rolls and cut into one inch segments
Cook in boiling water until they float (Do not overcook, the gnocchi will turn to mush)
That’s it! It’s that easy, I usually just eat with a little brown butter and parmesan
Diego’s Pesto
What you’ll need-
8 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cups of basil
Half cup parmesan
What to do-
Blend the garlic into a puree
Slowly drizzle in the oil, until a aioli forms
After you have an aioli, add the washed basil and parmesan
If you can afford some, add some pine nuts
Enjoy on top of pasta or a pizza
Hopefully these recipes will help you make and eat healthy, easy to make meals!