For my 25th birthday, Talal was really struggling with what to get me. His original plan came to a halt when he found out my parents were getting me the same thing. For weeks, he tried to brainstorm or ask for ideas. He knows me well, so, he went to the food-related drawing board.
I turned 25 on May 30, 2018. At midnight, Talal woke up to give me my gift. In reality, he asked me to wake him at midnight, but.. details.
I got the Kitchenaid pasta roller and cutters. YES!!! I always eye this item when I’m online shopping or walking around Sur La Table.
I eagerly waited for a chance to buy semolina and eggs to make the pasta. Finally, Friday came and I went to the store after work.
We switched up our dinner plans so I could make homemade fettuccine and carbonara sauce. I made and rested the dough: flour, semolina, eggs, salt, and water. I attached the roller at thickness 1 and pushed half the dough through. I repeated until I made it to thickness 8. The dough was so long that Talal was helping me with both arms to hold the dough. We learned the hard way that the dough sticks to each other and needs a continuously generous helping of flour. I took a smaller piece of dough and and tried again. It was far more manageable this time around. I pulled out the roller and switched to the fettuccine cutter. I quickly zipped them through and fluffed them with flour in beautiful little bundles of fresh homemade pasta. I threw the pasta into salted boiling water and realized that I had no idea how to cook it. After a speedy Google search, I learned it only takes about 3 minutes to cook. Speedy indeed.
In a separate pot, I crisped some pancetta, threw in the pasta and poured in my egg/cheese mixture. I tossed them around with some pasta water and let all that creamy goodness come together.
The pasta did not disappoint. We plowed it down and dreamt dreams of our new pasta-bilities.
The next morning, Talal headed to the golf course and I took my leftover dough along with my equipment to my parents house. I made pasta for them - Spaghetti Al Tonno. My dad and I sautéed onions and roasted bell peppers with a can of petite diced tomatoes. After they stewed for a while, we broke up the tuna and tossed it in with lemon zest and capers. As soon as the pasta finished boiling, I put them in with the tuna sauce with a touch of pasta water.
Yum yum and now we’re done until next time.
At Home
With Talal