Putting our empty nest time to good use

You all think we sit around doing nothing other than watching Madam Secretary since our house emptied out. Well, we do do plenty of that, but we do lots of other stuff too. Last Saturday morning I finally got Mom to go to the City Market with me, and we loaded up on good veggies (more on that soon) and eggs and sausage from Free Union Grass Farm, among other things. On the way home, we stopped at Krispy Kreme to watch the doughnut machine like the old days. On Sunday night, we capped off a great weekend by going to the Downtown Mall for some gelato before seeing Mary Chapin Carpenter at the Paramount. Her concert was so good even Mom is a fan of MCC now! And next weekend, we have the book sale starting on Friday night, then on Saturday afternoon we're seeing "Free Solo" as part of the Virginia Film Festival, and who knows what else?

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In between all of the outings, Mom and I also made some spelt pasta from scratch together. It's a fun project, and definitely a time saver to have some help cutting and separating the pasta strands, just like it is when forming gnocchi with a group.

Here is the dough ball looking all nice and shiny after its 30-minute rest after kneading:

Homemade pasta is a lot easier to make using both hands thanks to the KitchenAid pasta roller attachment that my buddy Ed gave me, but it works fine with a hand-crank pasta machine the way I used to do it. [Update: Those are actually Brad's hands in the photo and videos below, from when we made the pasta together on Memorial Day in 2020.]

Here is a video of the KitchenAid in action:

That's so good you need to watch it again in slo-mo:

Here are the pasta strands after we cut and unfurled them and hung them on a (clean) clothes-drying rack:

And here is the finished product, dressed with the Quick Sausage Ragù that Mom was so impressed with:

Homemade Spelt Pappardelle Alfredo

Homemade Spelt Pappardelle

Adapted from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals (2011) by Maria Speck via Wizard Recipes

Time: ~2:15 (with Mom's help and using the pasta maker attachment for the KitchenAid)

You can make the pasta dough by hand too. For directions, go the recipe linked above.

285 grams/10 ounces whole grain spelt flour, plus extra for rolling and for the work surface (I use Bob’s Red Mill organic)
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus 1 tablespoon for cooking the pasta
2 large eggs (~57 grams each in the shells), at room temperature 
2 tablespoons (27 grams) extra-virgin olive oil
3–6 tablespoons water 

    1. Place the flour and the salt in the workbowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade (see note). Blitz for a few seconds. In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup, use a small whisk or a fork to mix the eggs, oil, and 3 tablespoons (44 grams) of water until thoroughly combined and uniform in color. Turn the food processor on, and pour the mixture slowly through the feed tube. Process just until a dough ball forms, about 10 seconds. If a ball doesn’t form, drizzle water in through the feed tube a teaspoon or two at a time until a ball does form.
    2. Lightly flour a work surface. Using your hands, knead the dough until it is elastic, smooth, and slightly tacky, about 3–5 minutes. If the dough is a bit too dry, moisten your hands; if the dough is sticky, flour your hands.
    3. Place a glass bowl over the dough, or wrap it in plastic wrap. Let the dough relax on the counter for 30 to 60 minutes, after which the dough will be soft and shiny.
    4. Unless you have a pasta-drying rack (we used a clean clothes-drying rack), lightly flour two 18-by-13-inch baking sheets. Lightly flour the work surface again. Using a bench scraper or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 4 roughly equal pieces. While you work with one piece of dough, re-cover the others.
    5. Lightly flour each piece of dough as you start working with it, and then as needed. Roll the dough into a small rectangle, about 6-by-3 inches. Pass the dough through the widest setting (#1) of your pasta machine. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter, with the short sides towards the center. Pass through the machine again, on the same setting, sideways, with the open edges facing up and down. Fold into thirds again and repeat. Now pass the dough through the second widest setting (#2) and then the third (#3). The sheet will be getting pretty long at this point, so cut it in half crosswise. Pass each half through the next two settings (##4 and 5). (You can even stop at #4 if you want thicker, easier-to-handle strands of pasta. You can also stop at this point and use the pasta sheets to make the best lasagna you'll ever taste.)
    6. Make sure the work surface and both sides of the long pasta sheets are thoroughly dusted with flour to prevent sticking. Starting at the short ends, gently fold the sheets up in 3-inch folds. Using a sharp knife, cut the folded-up sheets into ¾-inch-wide strands (for pappardelle; you can also cut them into ½-inch-wide pieces for fettuccine). Immediately unfurl the strands and hang them on the drying rack or lay them on the floured baking sheets, trying your best to keep them from touching each other. Repeat with the other 3 pieces of dough. Let the pasta dry for 30 to 60 minutes (you can make the sauce during that time). The pappardelle are ready to be cooked when they’re not sticky anymore. If any of the strands stick together at any point during this process, just pass the dough back through the pasta machine and start over.
    7. When you’re ready to cook the pasta, bring 4 quarts of water to a roiling boil in a large stockpot. Add 1 tablespoon fine sea salt and stir to dissolve. Add the pappardelle and stir gently. Cook until al dente, only about 90 seconds. Drain and serve promptly. Makes 1 pound of pasta, to serve 4.