Leftovers are the hot new commodity.
In my last newsletter, I talked about taking the pantry challenge. We used to open the fridge or pantry, see lots of food staring back at us and say "there is nothing to eat in the house". We’d then go out or order in. The pantry challenge encourages us to be less wasteful and more responsible and use what we have on hand to make a healthy meal.
I haven’t shopped for two weeks, because I have been traveling. But the fact remains there is nothing new or fresh in my pantry. So for Sunday night dinner, this is what I came up with:
Thick, hearty homemade noodles (who doesn’t have flour, olive oil and water on hand all the time? I added an egg because I had one left) with mini-meatballs (that had been in the freezer), tomato sauce (which I made from an onion, garlic, tomato sauce and a random sprig of rosemary, that maybe wasn’t so fresh but still smelled good!) and parmesan cheese. Always have a hard cheese in the fridge because it lasts for months!
Here's my formula for homemade pasta:
(1 batch will feed 2 people, but as you see the formula doubles, triples etc. easily)
3/4 c. all purpose flour
1 egg
pinch of salt
1 t. olive oil
enough water to all the dough to come together
Place flour, egg, salt and olive oil in the food processor fitted with the metal blade. Turn processor on and allow dough to combine. With processor running, add water, a tablespoon at a time until dough forms a ball. Allow that dough ball to go round and round in the processor for about 20 seconds. This takes care of the kneading process. Yep, done, just like that!
Remove dough from the processor and knead into a smooth ball. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap, for 30 minutes.
Flatten the dough into a disk. Lightly sprinkle both sides with flour and feed the dough through a pasta maker, starting at the widest setting and working down until it is the thickness you desire. Flour as you need to if the dough is sticking or looking rough.
Cut the dough by hand or process through the fettuccine attachment on the pasta machine. Sprinkle pasta with flour and hang on a rack until you are ready to boil it. Don't pile it up on the counter or you'll end up having to start again.
Cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (2 quarts water, 1 t. salt) until al dente, 2-4 minutes. Fresh pasta cooks very quickly. Save a little pasta water and then drain the pasta and do not rinse. Immediately toss the pasta with the sauce and some of the reserved water to get a saucy consistency. Enjoy with lots of grated cheese.