The Gift

My husband normally gives me the best gifts. Ok, aside from the stuffed gorilla for my birthday the first year we were together. I quickly set him straight on the types of gifts appropriate for the one you love; stuffed animals are not in that category. Since then, every gift has been appropriate, perfect, and loved.

Then there was the Christmas of '06, when he decided to buy himself a gift. That would have been fine, but he guised it as a gift for me. It was quickly evident to the family members gathered around the tree that he was much too gleeful about the gift and the vision he had of it in use.

The "gift"? A Kitchenaid Mixer. The big, super-duper capacity model with all the attachments. The next package I opened revealed a variety of attachments for rolling and cutting pasta. The final "gift" was a ravioli maker. His vision: "fresh pasta, mmm, fresh pasta, mmm". My vision: my quick and easy weeknight pasta meal had just become a very time consuming project.

It took me a week to feel ambitious enough to unpack the mixer, wash all the attachments and finally sit down to read about pasta making. A trip to Williams Sonoma was necessary to purchase a drying rack and pasta cookbook. My first few attempts at making pasta dough failed miserably. Choice words were spoken at loud decibels as the dough crumbled each time I put it through the roller. A Type A personality, I had skimmed the directions before making the dough - note: skimmed vs read. When I finally went back and re-read the directions, it was clear what I was doing wrong. You need to let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes after mixing it; if you don't it crumbles when you roll it. Allowing it to rest results in perfectly elastic and smooth dough that glides easily through the roller.

Now that I've perfected the technique, I can make, roll and cut enough pasta for an evening meal in under an hour. The sauce takes longer to simmer (yes, I'm a glutton for punishment - I make my own sauce - more on that in another post). The end product is well worth the effort. I have altered the dough recipe, substituting egg whites for whole eggs and water instead of oil. The result is the light, delicate pasta that simply melts in your mouth. I used to think the fresh stuff at the store was good - not anymore.

But my favorite pasta to make is Ravioli. It takes a little more time because you have to make a filling in addition to the dough. Our favorite filling is ratatouille, but we also enjoy mushroom, spinach and feta and butternut squash ravioli. The ratatouille is the same that I featured in my Ratatouille Crepes post, fat free, flavorful and excellent with both traditional red and vodka sauces. I make enough for several meals, freezing the pre-made raviolis in plastic containers, the layers of the pasta separated by waxed paper to prevent sticking. Twelve minutes in a pot of boiling water (when pulled from the freezer) and my easy and quick weeknight meals now taste even better.

So there was a method to my husband's apparent madness, giving me the gift of manual labor. Not only do we enjoy amazing fresh pasta, but the process of making the pasta is a nice break from the hectic pace of the workweek. Therapeutic and relaxing, it is a perfect Type A Diversion.


Basic Pasta Dough Recipe:

4 egg whites or 3/4 cup liquid egg whites
1 tablespoon water
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh basil or parsley (optional)

Mix ingredients in a Cuisinart for 30 seconds. Remove dough from Cuisinart bowl and place on a surface covered with flour. Sprinkle dough with flour and hand-knead for another minute. Let dough rest for 20 minutes. Divide dough into 4 pieces before processing.