"Hey, Girl" Pasta

i am somewhat of a fan of trying things from scratch.  a scratching ho, if you will.  i think it’s something of a challenge to my past self.  young jo always had a glint in her eye and something to prove, and that was okay.  “you wanna try this???  come on, let’s go!” 

look at that, my brother is 3 years older than me, and i am kicking his pasty white bum.  (well, kind of.  let’s, for the purpose of this bloggy post, pretend that i am.)

moving on!  to homemade pasta…  i have a bit of an unadulterated love affair with carbs.  bread?  yes, please.  spuds?  okay, one more.  pasta?  oh, baby…  pasta might just be the one standing outside my bedroom window wearing a trenchcoat, holding a boombox over its noodle, and blaring out peter gabriel’s “in your eyes.”  

now, deciding to make homemade pasta is not a crazy decision.  it’s not terribly hard, it’s actually kind of fun, and it pays dividends that will make your taste buds sing.  however, deciding to make homemade pasta with only a 6 yr-old and a 3 yr-old to help you is a different story.  it might have aged me 10 years, but by god we did it.  now let’s all take some deep breaths and pour another glass of wine…

unsure of what to do with your homemade (and criminally self-aging) noodles?  so many options…  i decided to do some simple meatballs and a quick sauté of garlic, tomatoes and beet greens.  now, i have long championed the much-maligned veg that is the beet, but what about the poor greens?!  they are forgotten faster than a bad revenge movie starring liam neeson.  sadly tossed in the compost faster than they are in the sauté pan, the beet green might be the most overlooked veg in the modern world; the ryan gosling of the People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive awards.

year after year goes by and still poor ryan is overlooked, passed over in favour of other vegetables with manlier chins or longer stalks.  “hey, girl.  how about you go throw those beet greens in a sauté pan and you and i go snuggle by the fire?”  oh, ryan.  don’t mind if i do.

stephanie izard’s basic pasta dough (adapted from, well, let's be honest, stephanie izard)

2 cups all purpose flour

5 egg yolks

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

reserve ¼ cup of flour, put the remaining portion on a clean, flat workspace.  using your hands, make a well in the centre, then add the egg yolks, ¼ cup cold water, and the olive oil into the well.  using first a fork, then your hands, work the dough until it is firm and smooth, about 5-7 minutes.  wrap the dough in cling film and place it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to rest.

divide the dough into four pieces.  set your pasta machine at setting-1 and roll the dough out four times.  try not to shout at kids when it gets buggered up and you have to start over again.  switch to setting-2 and roll it out two more times.  scroll through the settings until you reach your desired thickness (usually 7 for me.  anything less is doughy, anything more falls apart). 

cut to desired length/shape.

basic meatballs:

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

½ cup breadcrumbs (i use panko) mixed with ½ cup milk

1 tsp dried oregano

salt & pepper to taste

mix lightly and form to 1” meatballs.  bake in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until cooked through.

olive oil

3 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

beet greens from 6 beets, washed and chopped

fresh parmesan

lightly sauté greens, tomatoes and garlic in olive oil.  add meatballs to pan, then toss with delicious, ryan-gosling-approved pasta.  sprinkle with fresh parmesan.  

hey, girl, you want another glass of wine with that?