Hello, my name is Mario and I’m a pasta addict. I’m from Germany but I have a big love spot for Italian food in my heart (belly).
The New Years Resolution for 2017 was to produce handmade pasta in my own kitchen without using any machines. Except of course for cooking it.
On December 30th of 2017 (sehr knapp) i finally made them. It was less difficult than I expected but my guests were “waiting” for 3.5 hours to eat them.
I used flour (Germans Weizenmehl 405) 150g and durum wheat semolina (Hartweizengrieß) 50g and two eggs. Nothing more. No water, no salt, just my hands.
Then I was kneading it to a beautiful dough and let it rest in the fridge for half an hour.
Next step was only to flatten it. I used my hands and a rolling pin (Nudelholz) until it was so flat, that I could see my hands through it. I folded it several times and then cut stripes of it.
Next was only to put them in salty boiling water and cook them for a few minutes.
In the mean time of all, my wife produced a wonderful meatball tomato sauce.
I was so glad that I fulfilled my New Years resolution, that I wanted to share it here with you. I know we have some Italians here and I wanted them to confirm, that this is ok pasta and how they would produce them, if it is not too much to ask for. Or other recipes.
It was indeed delicious. And I was very glad afterwards that I put so much effort in it. Just to flatten the dough took a long long time. I made two batches for three people in total. Everyone had about 200g of pasta.
I’m so glad that I posted it here. You guys understand me. <3
Hi Mario. Your raw pasta looks awesome. You must be proud of your result.
I must say that home made pasta is very different from industrial pasta… I just have a recommendation…
A few MINUTES should be good for an industrial pasta. Usually a home made pasta only needs a few SECONDS. Ravioli can cook up to 3-4 minutes due to their filling, while a thin pasta like yours probably doesn’t need more than 60 seconds.
Anyway, your result is visually impressive, and I’m sure it was really good in taste.
But… I have one secret to tell you.
Pasta with meatballs isn’t an italian recipe.
I know that it could be hard to believe, but you won’t find it in any restaurant or home in Italy.
Next time you could try a good ragù (ragout).
take celery, one carrot, half onion. Cut everything into small dices.
Put the vegetables in a pot whose bottom is covered with a thin layer (3 mm) of extra virgin olive oil.
Let it fry slowly with a very low flame. The more you can let it fry without letting the onion get brown the better it will be.
When the onion is about to get brown, prevent this adding 500g of minced beef raw meat. You can add also if you like it, 200g of minced fatty pork meat. As soon as you put meat, pump up the flame.
Add half glass of white wine, let dry.
The add meat broth, in small amounts, every time your meats gets dry. stir well.
After ten minutes or more, you can add tomato sauce. I’d say 500g.
Put 3 leaves of laurel and a little branch of rosemary. A small spoon of sugar to milden the acidity of the tomatoes.
Now you’ll have to turn down your flame and let everything boil slowly for many hours (usually 3 or four).
You can put a cover on the pot, but don’t forget to stir sometimes and check it doesn’t become too dry. If it happens, just add more broth. Don’t forget to taste it every time you are going to add broth, in order not to make the sauce too salty. If your sauce is good in salt but it needs more cooking, just cook on and dilute only with plain water. If the sauce is ready but it needs more salt, just add it.
When your ragù is ready, you can use it immediately or you can keep it into your fridge for 3-4 days.
And always remember: ragù is always better the next day!
You can also freeze it and keep it for 6 months.
When yo want your pasta, put your ragù in a pot with a little water, warm up.
Cook pasta, mix, add parmesan cheese on top.
And don’t forget a good bottle of italian red wine.
True, I guess (though I never heard or given any thought about the origins of meatballs)… but that kinda destroyed my joke there
Great classic ragù recipe you’ve shared, by the way. I especially appreciate your directions to keep it on track in different situations. I have a book that is only about “spaghetti bolognese” recipes (as ragù alla Bolognese is better known outside of Italy) and variants, as everyone seems to have their own favourite or secret recipe or a personal twist. And yes I know, in Italy it never served with spaghetti, but rather with tagliatelle. I’ll add a print of your recipe.
Well, I have to disclaim: my recipe is not a real recipe, nor the official one…
It’s only the way I do ragù, without being too much precise about doses… I don’t even know how many people could eat with that amount of sauce, I just make, use it, and freeze the remnant.
Anyway, you can find various recipes for ragù, but I hope that my recipe could help with the little tricks I described, which are very common among italians, but they’re not written in recipes…
According to Wikipedia, it seems that meatballs are originally from China - just as pasta, as @Sushi wrote above. Though, I’m surprised that meatballs can really be seen as an invention, since they are basically just balls of meat and therefore extremely common. Just take a look at the list in that article on Wikipedia.
