Fettuccine Alfredo

There is delicious food and then there is homemade pasta. It is the best thing ever. Nothing compares to it. Mixing the dough by hand, making the well in the center of the flour to mix in the eggs, and the kneading the dough. Letting the dough rest. Than rolling out and cutting the dough. I do not know of any better way to say, "I love you."

The pasta recipe I use is from Tide and Thyme. It yields about 1 pound fresh pasta. I made half of the pasta for dinner tonight and the other half is in the freezer!

Ingredients-

1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surfaces
1½ cups semolina flour
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon water, plus more as needed

Method-

Combine the flours and salt in a bowl or on a work surface, creating a well in the center.  Crack the eggs into the well.  Using a mixer or by hand, slowly mix, incorporating the flour into the egg mixture a little bit at a time.  Once you have a dry, shaggy dough, mix in the olive oil and water and knead by hand until the dough is fairly smooth and homogeneous.  Divide the dough into four portions and cover with a damp towel.  Let rest for 20 minutes.  At this point, proceed with thinning and cutting as desired, depending on equipment available.

To cook, cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 3-5 minutes or until al dente.  Drain well and serve immediately.

I wanted to make something easy for dinner. This recipe is our favorite and only recipe we use for Fettuccine Alfredo. I was going to try a different recipe but it called for heavy cream. I stuck to our old favorite and I am so glad I did.

My rendition of Fettuccine Alfredo, from Epicurious.

Ingredients-
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
Dried egg fettuccine
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)

Method-
Melt butter in a large saute pan.
Cook fettuccine in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, then drain fettuccine in a colander.
Immediately toss the fettuccine with butter and salt in the saute pan, then slowly add 3/4 cup cheese, tossing constantly and adding enough of cooking water to keep pasta moist.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, then sprinkle with remaining cheese.


Today I received an email from my sister letting me know that our Mom's Cousin Elsie had passed away. She was 93 years old. I cried when I read the email. She was my Mom's favorite cousin, or at least I am pretty sure she was. The two of them would get together and just laugh. They were so silly together.  It is nice to think the two of them are giggling up in heaven.

My sister told me a story about Elsie's parents. Elsie's mom, my Great Aunt Josie, took a trip to Florida, by train, with my grand parents. When the train got to New York the four of them got out and went to eat at Mamma Leone's restaurant in Manhattan's Theater District. It was THE place to eat Italian food in NYC. We are talking about the early 1960's. Well my great Aunt Josie did not like her dinner. So she took out an Eggplant Parmigiana sandwich that she had packed in her pocketbook. So today's lesson is you never know when you just may need to have an Eggplant Parmigiana sandwich in your purse.