Homemade Linguine and Marinara
Things you’ll need
Homemade pasta:
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Very fine flour(All purpose will do, but most groceries sell pasta flour)
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Eggs
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Pasta machine (Makes things a lot easier!)
Marinara Sauce:
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Olive oil
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Garlic
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Onions
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Tomato paste
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Crushed Tomatoes
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Spices (Garlic salt, basil, bay leaves, onion powder, oregano, crushed red pepper)
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Sugar
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Red wine (Merlot is preferred)
Tip #1 Prepare to get messy, remove all hand jewelry!
First measure out 3 1/2 cups of flour into a large bowl. Then make a well in the middle and add 4 large eggs into the center. Start beating the eggs gently with a fork and begin to incorporate the flour. When things start to get difficult start using your hands and form the dough. If the dough is not forming and mixture is too dry add one egg at a time until dough starts to form.
Remove dough from bowl and put onto a floured surface. Begin kneading the dough for a good 5-10 minutes until the dough is no long sticky and forms a smooth ball. Wrap dough in plastic and set aside for at least 20 minutes.
Tip #2 Do not let the garlic burn! Adds a bad taste to the sauce
Prep all ingredients. Dice onions and garlic and put aside. Now open all cans of paste and crushed tomatoes (1 can of 16 oz. Crushed tomatoes to 1 can of paste). Then remove all your spices from the rack on have readily available. Take out large pot. Add a liberal amount of olive oil and set on a medium flame.
Tip #3 Sauce can always be frozen, make a lot of it!
Add garlic to the oil and make sure it does not burn by lowering the flame or mixing! Next add the onions and cover pot and let them sweat for about 5 minutes. Then add the paste and stir well. Add all the spices! Using your judgement on how much to put in. Let sit for a couple of minutes and then add the crushed tomato cans. Stir again to incorporate ingredients! Lower flame and add a good amount of red wine and about a couple of tablespoons of sugar, mix, and let simmer on the stove until serving. After about 20 minutes taste the sauce and adjust ingredients if needed!
Tip #4 Add more crushed pepper for a spicy kick to your marinara!
Now back to the pasta. Flatten dough with hands to a thickness of a inch or so. Now using a butter knife or pizza cutter cut dough into smaller sections making it easier to handle in the machine. Feed dough piece into machine on the highest thickness(on my machine that is 7). Change setting to a lower thickness and feed through again(Dial at 5). Next set it even lower(Dial at 3) and feed through again. This should be the final thickness however you be the judge. If the dough still seems a bit thick run it through a smaller setting. Next cut the flattened dough into sections about 6”-12” long and feed through the cutting mechanism of your desire (In the photo I used the linguine cut). If you are making ravioli or tortellini there is no need to feed it through the cutter!
Tip #5 Make sure your flattened dough is very thin!
After cutting each section of your pasta you will need to let them dry for at least 20 minutes. If you have a wooden pasta rack use that; if not plastic clothes hangers do the trick! Now 20 minutes have passed its time to add them to a put of boiling water (Make sure to salt the water and cover to get a good boil going). Now add the pasta simultaneously if you do it at different intervals then they will not cook evenly. Add olive oil to water to prevent noodles from sticking together. This sort of pasta cooks fast give it 3 minutes, have a taste, and drain when ready.
Suggestions:
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To save pasta make sure you completely dry it out and pack it into an air tight container. Store in a dry/dark place and it will be good for up to 3 weeks!
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Hang in a place where pets cannot reach! Dogs love raw pasta, take it from someone who’s made this mistake. HA!
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After straining run cold water through the pasta to prevent from clumping together.
