Homemade Pasta

Again …..

I know we’ve already had a post about homemade pasta. I just wanted to add a couple of more points and some pictures.

I agree with everything my food blog contemporary has said about making pasta. Its easy, enjoyable and the stuff you buy at the store is crap. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for the dried store-bought stuff. My wife and I eat a lot of pasta, and most of the time we buy it, but nothing beats fresh pasta and home made sauce.

This is a rant for another time, but I do not believe in canned sauces and will only use canned tomatoes when I run out of the jarred tomatoes my mother-in-law gives me. Even then I use bottles of strained tomatoes..

Sorry, I’ll get off my soap box.

As far as recipes go, I use the basic pasta recipe from the Silver Spoon Pasta  (http://www.phaidon.com/store/food-cook/the-silver-spoon-pasta-9780714857169/) book.

1 3/4 cups Italian type 00 flour

2 eggs lightly beaten

salt

This may seem a little obvious considering there are 3 ingredients and it is the main one by volume, but the flour is key. You’ll notice the difference using the Type 00 flour. I got mine at Highland Farms at Steeles and Dufferin; I make a pilgrimage there to refill my pantry at least once a month. I can’t say enough good things about that store. If you haven’t been …go. Spend half a day wandering the isles and filling your cart with items that Sobeys and Metro (spitting on the floor) deem fringe products and refuse to stock. Loblaws might carry it, I think I have seen it at the Great Food at the East Mall. Fiesta Farms (baby brother to Highland farms) on Christie at Dupont should have it too, and deserves as much praise as its big brother…

As far as tips or tricks go, I use my pasta machine to knead the dough. Initially, I combine and knead the dough by hand. As soon as it starts holding together I start running it through the machine on setting 1. After each pass I fold in onto itself in thirds and send it through the machine again. I do this at least 15 times….

Enough of that …. the real reason I’m posting is for the pictures:

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