Homemade Pasta Pronto

Creating homemade pasta is surprisingly easy so I found out after taking one of In Good Taste’s cooking classes this past weekend, taught by Italian-Brazilian Chef Andre Pianucci. And the results are much better than any store-bought packaged dry pasta you can buy.

It only takes a few ingredients, about 20 minutes of your time to prep, and 90 seconds to cook and boom! You’ve got some delicious fresh pasta, perfect for a weeknight meal or easy entertaining.

We made three different pastas – ravioli, cannelloini and mezzaluna (a half moon ravioli like pasta), all using the same recipe, which makes it even easier. 

For 1 pound of pasta, it is a simple recipe of 2 cups unbleached flour, 3 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. That’s it. Insanely simple, right?

To make it even easier for yourself, use a food processor to mix the flour and salt. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl then slowly add to the flour mixture. Pulse until it is combined and forms a ball. It should only require kneading once or twice, until elastic. Add just a few tablespoons of flour if it seems too sticky. 

Then start the rolling and stretching to form the pasta shape you desire. While we used a pasta-maker attachment for the Kitchen Aid mixer to make the pasta thin, you can always just use a rolling pin. It will just require a little more patience.

We also prepared lots of great fillings for our stuffed pastas – a roasted beef to go with a simple sage brown butter sauce; spinach and ricotta paired with a pomodoro tomato sauce; and my favorite, turkey and spinach topped with fresh bechemal cream sauce and baked until bubbly and golden brown.

You can never have dinner without dessert! Our fresh apple crostata was a perfect finish to a wonderful, informational class and delicious meal.

Check out more of In Good Taste’s great classes here: http://www.ingoodtastestore.com/