sweet and pea

Should I, or shouldn’t I? It’s question I’ve been asking about a lot of items in my house as I declutter and minimize. Some things (3 foot tall mechanical Santa we inherited five years ago and promptly hid in the garage) are very easy to say goodbye to. Others leave me more conflicted, and nothing more so than my pasta machine.

I bought the pasta machine about a decade ago, and like a lot of kitchen purchases it was more aspirational than practical. I mean, homemade pasta is good, but is it aching arms, clothes covered in flour, dough stuck under my nails for days good?

It’s been so long since I actually made it, than when faced with the decision, should I send this pasta machine to a better home, or return it to a place of glory and regular use, I couldn’t make a decision.

My only option was to give it one more try, and as E loves all things noodly, she was more than willing to help. For our homemade pasta day I chose a recipe from “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi.

I love pasta, I love goat cheese, and I love lemon so this recipe looked pretty awesome. The end result was delicious, soft, cheesy, and melty. I served myself five raviolis, but 3 would been a much better number, with a large salad on the side because this pasta is rich!

So will I keep the pasta machine? Although the ravioli was a fair bit of work, it was miles better than any store bought ravioli, and I made a double batch of the pasta dough, so I have a nice amount in the freezer. Pasta Machine, you’re safe…for now!

Recipe adapted from: “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 60 minutes

Special Equipment: Standmixer with dough hook, pasta machine

Pasta Dough

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 medium eggs

11 1/2 ounces “oo” flour

1/4 teaspoon turmeric (optional)

Zest of 3 lemons

Steps:

1. Whisk together olive oil and eggs
2. In a separate bowl combine flour, turmeric, and lemon zest.
3. Place egg and oil mixture and half of the flour mixture in stand mixer, stir on low for one minute.
4. Add remaining flour mixture to stand mixer and mix on low until dough forms a firm, elastic ball.
5. Cover dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to 2 days)

Filling

Ingredients:

11 ounces of goat cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch of chile flakes or Aleppo pepper

black pepper

1 egg white, beaten

Steps:

1. Combine goat cheese, salt, chile flakes, and pepper in a bowl

Assemble:

1. Divide dough into four balls, roll each ball into a ‘snake’ and press flat
2. Roll each ‘snake’ through the pasta machine, staring with largest setting, and continuing to smallest, or second smallest.
3. Using a cookie cutter or wine glass cut rounds from the flat pasta dough
4. Once rounds are cut, fill with goat cheese mixture, 1-2 teaspoons depending on size of round. Brush the edges of the round with egg white and smooth another over top, pressing gently to seal the edges

Cooking:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil
2. Cook ravioli for 2-3 minutes, don’t crowd the pan
3. Top with additional lemon zest, olive oil, pepper, parmesan (optional)