Making Fresh Pasta

My latest kitchen tool is a pasta maker. One of my goals for retirement was to make fresh pasta. I have watched many a chef make pasta and it seemed so easy. And it is! I followed the recipe that came with the pasta maker - 2 cups flour and 2 eggs. After letting the dough rest, I divided it into 4 pieces. The hardest part was finding a place to mount the pasta maker. Running the dough through the machine was quite simple. The first batch was for experimenting with the machine. It took a few tries before I realized that the larger number, 6, on the pasta maker was the narrowest setting. So for the second batch, I used the largest setting, 1, and worked down to 6. With the fettucine cutting attachment, I made some wonderful strands of pasta. I lightly floured the dough to keep it from sticking together while I started the water boiling and made the sauce.

With no plan for the sauce, I looked to the garden for inspiration and found 2 of my favorite ingredients, fresh tomatoes and basil.

Garden Fresh Tomatoes and Pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/4 cup white wine

3 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/3 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, diced
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated

Fresh pasta

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add garlic and onions and cook until onions are tender. Add wine and tomatoes and cook on medium high for 5 minutes. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water for 3 minutes or until al dente. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce, and stir in basil and mozzarella. Simmer until the mozzarella begins to melt.

Pour into a serving bowl and top with grated Parmesan and garnish with basil. Serves 2.