I designed the title to give you all a little warning about the contents of this posting. Sadly, little Leo left this world after only one short day at La Gavina. Sergio found him yesterday afternoon. Poor Lana is devastated, as we all are, but Lorena and Sergio agree that it's for the best since the little guy was afraid and without his family. Nonetheless, we'll cherish the moments we had with him. Seriously. He was very adorable.
On a better note, Lorena's friends are here for dinner tonight - which will hopefully commence soon as I am very hungry (spent the morning cutting trees again and piling up firewood). But tonight's dinner is particularly exciting because Lorena asked me to make the pasta! I feel as though I've been officially approved by the Pasta Board of Italy (= Lorena). I made spinach tagliatellini, which are miniature flat noodles. It was good to do the whole process myself from start to finish because now I see what it entails - altogether it took about 1 1/2 hours. Here are the steps:
1. Begin with a bowl of farina dura - which is flour but from a different part of the wheat stalk than regular flour that we eat in bread and other wheat products. In terms of measurements - there are none, really. Just have to feel it out, which I need more time to get used to. But if you make too much it can always be stored. Push the flour up against the sides of the bowl so that there is a little bit of a ditch right in the center.
2. In the center add eggs - again, the number depends on how much flour you use, but we used 3 eggs for 5 people. Add pureed vegetables or beets, even - whatever kind you prefer (make sure they are slightly moist). Add about 1 tspn of oil per cup of flour.
3. Begin mixing the mixture in the center of the bowl with a fork. Allow the liquid mixture to pull in some of the flour as you turn the bowl in one direction and mix in the opposite direction. Add water as a you go, just a bit to make the dough workable. If you don't incorporate all of the flour at the onset, no problem - you can save it for later on in the pasta-making process. Be sure not to force the dough, let it do it's thing gradually.
4. When the dough is substantial enough to work on with your hands, drop the fork and go for it! When it feels mostly dry but still moist underneath the surface, lift the ball of dough out of the bowl and begin to knead. Palms always, no fingers! Fold the dough inward from the top forward, always pulling it toward you. As you knead, add flower until the dough feels only very slightly moist but mostly dry.
5. Let the dough sit for about 1/2 hour. If you have less time, it's ok. But it's ideal to let it rise a bit.
6. It's time to roll the dough! Use a rolling pin to create a large pancake, about 6 - 8 inches in diameter. Make sure you leave plenty of flour on the table underneath the dough, and don't be afraid to add more flour to the top of the pasta either. More flour is ok - the idea is never to let the dough get moist enough to stick again.
7. Place the rolling pin at the top of the circle (i.e. the opposite end from where you are). Pull the top of the dough over the rolling pin and begin rolling it up toward you on the rolling pin, using your palms to thin the dough. Push the dough out to the sides of the rolling pin with your palms as you go. This will expand/thin the pasta evenly. One you have all of the dough rolled around the pin, flip it onto the table so that you can work on the other side. This just keeps it all smooth. Again, add flour as you go! It seems like a bad idea (to me, at least) but it's perfectly acceptable. Just don't let the dough stick because it will break. When the dough is about 8-10 inches wide, stop pulling it out to the sides and just work on making it longer. You want the dough to be only about 1 centimeter high when you cut it into pasta. The more even it is, the better - so that it will cook evenly.
This last step is specifically for tagliatelle - but now that you have the dough flat and ready you can do anything with it! Ravioli, spaghetti, tortellini, manicotti, etc. etc. etc...
8. When you're ready to cut - first, get excited! This part is magical. Really, very fantastic. Cut the dough into pieces that are about 10 by 10 inches or 8 by 10, depending on how long you want the pasta to be. Take one square/rectangle and place it on the table in front of you. Flour it again. Fold the bottom up about three times, and the top down about three times. Begin to make vertical cuts (moving along the pasta horizontally with a good knife) into pieces that are the width of pasta you desire. Don't chop, work the knife through the dough swiftly so it bounces back nicely. Slide your knife underneath the bottom folds, and lift it to unravel the pasta! Place it on a floured baking sheet until you are ready to cook it.
It's always ok to add a tiny bit of water if you need to remoisten the pasta for any reason. In making ravioli, for example, you would use a little brush to add water in a patchwork grid so that when you place the second layer of pasta on top of the first, over the filling, it will create a seal.
Enjoy! I'll let you know how this particular pasta ends up tasting. Let's hope good, because there are guests!!
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