Macchina per pasta

Tonight I have been making fresh pasta and finding it every bit as easy and satisfying as I'd been told it was. I got my machine from the dusty back of my mother's kitchen cupboard, but you can easily get a new one for much less money than you might expect, under $40.

I am in love with this machine. There is something so satisfying about such squat, uncomplicated technology. It does what it is supposed to do, the same way it's been done for ages, without a fuss. It's ridiculously easy and takes no special ingredients (eggs, water, and all-purpose, not semolina, flour). The main thing is to have faith that the machine will turn your dry, unpromising lump of dough into smooth, lovely pasta. There is one extra thing you can do to help everything go smoothly, a tip I got from Eric of the Phoenix Pastificio: fill a shaker with rice flour or arrowroot powder and give your pasta a good dusting as it comes off its final turn through the rollers, plus another after you've cut it. This (along with resisting the urge to make your dough too wet) will ensure that the ribbons stay separate.

So, tonight's dinner: Bread, salad, and plain fresh fettucine tossed with a very spare amount of uncooked tomato sauce, just canned tomatoes that I pureed right before using them, minced garlic, olive oil, a shaking of chipotle powder, and lots of fresh basil. I've been trying to sauce my pasta more along the lines of the proportions I got in Italy; I remember reading one writer (Carol Field?) who said the right amount of sauce to put on your pasta was "less than you think." I probably used about 6 oz. of tomatoes for three people, and it tasted just right.

Posted by redfox at June 24, 2002 09:29 PM (recipes)

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