Project #5/Recipe #1: Fresh Pasta!

Growing up Italian American meant the pantry was always well-stocked with blue Barilla boxes because, despite their CEO's "traditional" (aka backwards) views, Barilla is the best dry pasta brand out there. But sometimes it's nice to take a break from the processed, pre-made perfection of the blue box in order to make a meal from scratch. I'm not the best cook in the world. I'm barely capable of boiling water without setting fires. (No really, I've managed to almost set a fire just by boiling water.) BUT! I can make pretty tasty homemade pasta. And that means you can, too.

Here's what you need:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (can substitute whole wheat flour)
- Pinch of salt
- (If desired: Fresh, de-stemmed, finely processed spinach - usually ½ to 1 cup pre-processing is a good amount)
- 1 egg
- Water as needed
- Semolina flour as needed
**Makes 1-2 servings depending on how hungry you are**

On a clean, flat work surface or in a medium bowl, combine all-purpose flour and salt (and spinach).

Make a well in the flour and add the egg in the well. Break up the yolk a bit with a fork to make life easier when you:

Begin to mix with the fork, adding the flour from the sides of the well a little bit at a time.

Continue mixing with your hands, adding water as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, to form a soft and supple dough. Do NOT over-water. Dough should be tacky but not stuck to your hands when done with mixing. Knead dough for about 4 minutes, adding extra flour or water as needed.

Let the dough rest in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap or in a Ziploc bag, for about 20-30 minutes.

After the dough’s nap, divide each ball of dough into quarters to make them more manageable for rolling/cutting.

Sprinkle the table in Semolina Flour (NOT all-purpose) and coat each of the mini balls of dough in the Semolina.

Roll the dough out with the machine. Be gentle, work slowly, and occasionally add Semolina to the dough as you work it through to your desired thickness. If the dough tears or starts to pull, fold it over, add Semolina, and run it through again slowly. It can tear when too wet, when you try to roll it too fast, or when you skip a level that shouldn’t be skipped. Start out moving one level at a time, but as you get used to working with the machine, you can skip level 2 and sometimes even 4. Just add extra Semolina when you do. You do not need to get to level 7. Levels 5 or 6 are usually a great thickness for eating.

Lay the rolled-out dough on the Semolina-sprinkled table and sprinkle a little more Semolina on top of the dough. Let it dry a bit before you proceed to cutting, and try to flip the dough over after 5-10 minutes to ensure even drying. (Usually with multi-recipes, by the time you finish rolling the dough, the first sections will be dry enough to cut)

Once the dough is no longer tacky to the touch, cut it with the machine. Again, go slowly and be gentle.

To avoid clumping, loosen the strands as you lay them back on the table. Add extra Semolina if needed

To cook, add to boiling water and let the water return to a boil for about 3 minutes. Fresh pasta cooks FAST. Don’t leave it in much longer than 3 minutes!

Drain, serve with your favorite sauce, and enjoy.

*If you have extra uncooked pasta, let it dry on the table for about an hour, then pack it loosely into a Tupperware. It keeps up to 5 days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer. Cooking process is the same – about 3-4 minutes in boiling water.

*When adding spinach, use slightly less water than normal. When substituting whole wheat flour, use slightly more water. The water is all done by feel, so focus on aiming for the right consistency for the dough rather than a set amount of water.