Alex making the parpadelle

Parpadelle is a thicker pasta so we hand cut it after the pasta is rolled out. So make the dough, roll it out through your pasta machine. On our machine we rolled it out to the 8th setting. Then hand cut it into 1 1/2 inch width. Remember to lightly dust with flour so it doesn’t stick together after being cut.

We served the Parpadelle with a bolognese with sausage sauce. Recipe below.

Bueno Appetito!

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

6 sweet Italian sausage links squeezed out of the casing (discard the casing). If you like it spicy use spicy sausage.

1 onion chopped

4 cloves garlic minced

3 carrots peeled and minced

2 Tbsp olive oil

Splash of red wine

3 – 28 oz cans of tomato sauce

1 Tbsp dark brown sugar

Salt, pepper, oregano to taste

1/4 cup basil chopped for garnish

Brown the chopped beef and pork, season with salt, pepper and oregano. Once browned transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon and drain the fat.

In same pan brown the sausage. Season with salt and pepper and oregano. Try to break it up into the smallest pieces you can. Sometimes I have to take it out and chop it and throw it back in.

Make a well in the center of the sausage. Add olive oil and sauté the onions and carrots. Season to taste with salt, pepper and oregano. Let this sweat a bit and then add the garlic. Sauté until onions are transparent and add a splash of red wine. Turn up the heat and let the wine cook off. Add the tomato sauce. Add the beef and pork back in. Season again with salt, pepper and oregano if desired. Add the brown sugar. Mix it all together, turn down the heat and let it simmer on low for at least 2 hours. I often transfer to a crockpot if I need to leave the house and let it go on low until we eat.

Serve over any pasta.

Weekend 2 – Fettuccine

We find that homemade pasta melts in your mouth! It is so delicious!

You already know how to make the pasta dough from our weekend one blog (you can look back if you need to). Now you can make any shape you like!

Our pasta machine has an attachment to crank out fettuccine and spaghetti.

Alex and Anthony making the fettuccine

Andy making fettuccine and Anthony making sure the pasta gets lightly dusted with flour so it doesn’t stick together.

We served with homemade Braciola – recipe to follow in another post!

Bueno Appetito!

Three weekends of Home Made Pasta!!

Weekend 1 Ravioli!

Alex and Olivia filling the ravioli

Ravioli with Spinach Ricotta filling

Home Made Pasta

3 cups flour

3 eggs

Drizzle olive oil

Pinch of salt

Water if dough gets too dry

Make a well in the flour and add the eggs

Whisk eggs, drizzle olive oil and pinch of salt in also. Then slowly combine the flour into the egg mixture until the dough forms.

Tony and Anthony making the dough.

Cover the dough with a clean dish towel and Let the dough rest for half an hour. Then roll out so it can fit through your pasta you machine. We use a hand crank roller. You can use this recipe to make any type of pasta you want.

This recipe feeds the four of us so when we are feeding more people which we always are, we make more dough. We usually have at least 12 people so we make three of these doughs.

Tony and Philip rolling out the pasta.

Spinach and Ricotta Filling

2 cups ricotta

1 cup fresh spinach chopped

1 cup frozen chopped spinach cooked and drained very well

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp heavy cream or half and half

2 Tbsp chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

This usually makes a little more than we need for one dough but everyone likes to eat it while they are making the ravioli!

Bueno Appetito!!