Lemon and Lavendar Shortbread Cookies

Homemade Pasta

Handmade or Homemade - doesn't matter what you call it, but once you do make pasta from scratch, you'll never go back to dried. Pinkie swear.

I know it sounds daunting, but it's really quite simple. Sure, it takes more time than just opening a box - but the ultimate difference in taste is absolutely worth it.

Once you have the base down pasta dough down, then you can make ravioli, linguine or pappardelle, anything really. I make fresh pasta for soups and lasagna even. Once you start making your own pasta a few times and really get the hang of it - then you can begin to experiment with wheat flours and flavored oils.

A couple of quick notes- you will need to use some water, otherwise you'll end up with an egg noodle. I know first hand that they do not use water in Italy- but their eggs are different. Something to do with feeding the chickens carrots, which produces a protein rich yolk; the yolks are seriously orange in color!

To oil, or not to oil. Growing up, I've witnessed knock down, drag out fights in my family about whether too add oil or not. I add oil and since this is my blog- the recipe I'm giving you has oil, extra virgin of course.
Let's not anymore waste time- there's pasta to be hand!

Homemade Pasta
4 cups flour
3 eggs, have your eggs a room temperature
3 tbls oil
warm water (depending on the humidity, anywhere from 1/4 to 1 cup)

Make a well in the flour, add the eggs and oil. Mix with a fork, beginning to incorporate the flour around the edges.

You'll need to add the water, but add just a few tablespoons at a time. Depending on the humidity, and how the flour is reacting that day, you may need to only add a little. If you get it to wet, it will be a mess and never form a ball. Too dry and it will crumble. But pasta is relatively forgiving.




Give up the fork for your hands. The dough will feel and look like it's never going to come together- but keep working it, it will get there. This is a work out for your hands, forearms and core muscles! Once it gets to a final ball, continue to knead the dough for about 10 minutes.

Kneading:
If you are not used to kneading, try to think about the goal of one silky pliable ball. Using the heal of your hands, push the dough together and forward. Now give it a quarter turn, pull the section farthest away from you back towards you, push the dough together using the heel of your hand again. You want to essentially pinch the dough together. Continue in this same manner.



Eventually, you'll have a smooth, silky ball. Cover the ball with a piece of plastic wrap, and then a warm, moist cloth. Let sit for 20 minutes.





Rolling the dough out:
Once your pasta has rested, you are ready to roll. Cut the dough into four quarters, use one quarter at a time and keep the rest covered so it doesn't dry out. Lightly flour the dough, Begin by slowly rolling out the and the first setting. Fold that in half and roll it on the same largest setting again.

Now move the setting to the next size and slowly roll again, adding more flour if necessary. use one to roll and one hand to hold up and help the dough from piling and sticking together. Repeat this pattern until you have the thickness desired.

At this point, add the secondary cutter to your pasta machine (it usually offer a linguine and a spaghetti cutting option.) Be sure to use lots of flour here to help keep the strips from sticking together.

Another options is to take your long strip of pasta and lightly fold it in half, in half again and then one more time (if needed). Take a sharp knife and slice 2" lengths for Pappardelle. Or you can make ravioli, or simply cut what ever size you desire.

Always use much more water you think you need, get the big pot out! Bring the water to a boil, add salt. Even if your not a salt fan, you must salt the water. Drop in your fresh pasta and you'll be amazed to see it floating in minutes. I'm talking like one or two minutes and your pasta is ready!

If you're making ravioli, look to my classic five cheese Ravioli recipe or be adventurous and try my Fennel Sausage Ravioli recipe! Both are super tasty. Let me know how your pasta turns out ...after your done stuffing your face!

**the dough pictured is flavored with chevril and lemon, which explains why it looks spotted!

Beet, Chickpea and Grapefruit Salad

Beets are deceiving. Honestly I have no idea why I didn't like beets before now. They are sweet, tasty and really so versatile that I find myself dropping them into all my salads.

This particular day was another classic day for me which the fridge and cupboards were quite bare. We had a Pork Loin in the freezer but not much else. The one lone piece of fruit I had was a grapefruit that was on the verge of being wasted; this became the base of the dressing. The rest just came together nicely with the tang from the grapefruit and sweetness from the beets; you'll find a real nice change from the typical lemon or lime base used in so many dressings.

Beets and grapefruit- again, not your typical combination, but if you only keep to what you already know you like.... well then you won't experience something new. I may have never given beets a second chance.

Try this odd sounding concoction, what the worse that could happen? You might find a new flavor combination and there again lies the basis of being fat and happy.

Beet, Chickpea and Grapefruit Salad

Always using fresh ingredients when you can as it will make a difference, but in the frozen tundra of the Midwest winters- I opted for canned and it's just fine.

1/2 can chickpeas
1/2 can corn
1/2 can of beets, diced
1/2 cup of diced Havarti cheese
1/2 cup of diced roasted tomatoes

Place all the above in a bowl, don't mix yet. (In general you should try not to overmix salads, you'll see the ingredients get muddy making a less appealing presentation.)

In a small bowl whisk together:

Juice from 1 large grapefruit
3 Tbls white balsamic vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 cup Olive oil (more or less for your liking)
salt & pepper to taste

Pour the dressing over the salad mix, and toss gently. Let the salad sit for the flavors to meld, serve at room temperature.

Pine Nut Ice Cream

If you've been reading this blog at all, you would know I'm completely addicted to making ice cream. It started over a year ago with Guinness Ice Cream; it's rare for me to use recipes I haven't created, but that was the first and only time I've used some else's ice cream recipe. Since then I've been making it up; might have had something to do with the 15 yolks in that recipe!

The idea for the pine nut ice cream came from Dave and I trying to come up with a flavor to match the anise cookies we were making for Easter. Sure, a basic orange, lemon or even coffee would have paired well with the anise, but I do like to try for 'random' flavors. Plus I see the pine nut as a very Italian nut.

This may be the creamiest ice cream I've created yet. So creamy that you could almost eat it straight from the freezer without letting it thaw slightly. My friend Carolyn thought it reminded her of the Spanish turron (nougat) candy from her days of living in Spain.

Once again, this is slightly savory, not a super sweet ice cream- so one small scoop will do. And I think it's a more of a holiday ice cream rather than an everyday- but go nuts! When you're craving a truely creamy ice cream, this is the one! Try it today and tell me you're not Fat and Happy!

Pine Nut Ice Cream

2 cups cream
1 cup milk
1 cup pine nuts

Begin by warming the cream and milk (make it hot, but do not boil it) and toasting the pine nuts.

Place in a blender:
the warm, toasted pine nuts
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of sunflower honey

Begin to blend, adding in small scoops of the warm cream mix to help the nuts blend. Continue to blend until completely smooth.

In the mean time, whisk together until light and thick:
3 yolks
1/2 -3/4 cup sugar (use more for a slightly sweeter taste)

Pour the blender mix back into the cream pan, heat to just below boiling. Temper the egg yolks with the hot cream. Over medium heat, stir until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Be careful not to push this step too fast using high heat, you don't want to cook and scramble the eggs. Strain the cream to get any nut chunks out of it. Cool in an ice bath.

It's now ready to be placed into your ice cream machine, follow directions that came with your machine. At this point I prefer to let the ice cream sit in the refrigerator overnight before freezing in the ice cream machine- I've tested this theory before and I truly believe it helps the ice cream to be smoother and more flavorful. But if you need it immediately, go ahead and make it, it's still going to be fabulous!

Ricotta Cheese Ravioli

Making ravioli at Easter is a tradition in my family, one that Dave and I have continued with our friends. We hold a pasta making party on Saturday night- which of often times is attended by more people than the actual Easter dinner itself... and has been known to continue into the next day!

This year's party was a blast- a whole new group of friends attended, made pasta, drank wine and played Wii. Everyone got their hands in the dough and everyone was sent home with fresh pasta. I can't wait till next year!

We offered two types of fillings this year, one was a classic ricotta cheese filling and the second was the turkey sausage and fennel filling I created just a few months ago. Both stand up wonderfully to a simple drizzle of olive oil with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper. Because of the holiday, I did create a classic red sauce (often times referred to as Sunday Gravy) as seen in the photo below . The cheese ravioli is superb with a drizzle of balsamic reduction, the balsamic vinegar becomes so thick and sweet it only takes a little to be powerful.

Every time I make this ricotta cheese filling it's different, similar- but I don't measure ingredients so I just go by what tastes good to me that day, adding a little extra this or that. The recipe below is pretty much the basis of what I put in every time I make this particular filling, so feel free to deviate from it- add more cheese or less garlic. Just taste it and decide what tastes good to you!

For the pasta dough itself, look to my posting for Homemade Pasta. For an interesting meat filling, do check out my Fennel Sausage Ravioli, or make this super simple cheese filling. Both are amazing and will have you starting your own ravioli making tradition. A Fat and Happy tradition.


Ricotta Cheese Ravioli or Quattro Cheese Ravioli

16 oz Ricotta cheese
2-6 cloves sauteed garlic
2 cups shredded mozzerella
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
1/2 cup shredded Romano (or Asiago)
1 cup shredded Cheddar (medium)
1/2 - 1 cup chopped parsley
1 egg
Salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until well combined, taste, adjust accordingly. I like to make this before starting to make the pasta dough so that all the flavors have a chance to meld. Just set it aside on the counter. You can make this the night before too! Simply refrigerate.

Follow my homemade ravioli directions for how to roll out the pasta using your pasta maker and how to fill and shape.