Recipes: Very Merry Pasta

Prep Time 30 min    Cook Time 2 min    Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Red Pasta Noodles
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1/8 cup, 25 mL Disaronno (or other amaretto liqueur)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon crystallized ginger, crushed
10 drops red food coloring

Green Pasta Noodles
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1/8 cup, 25 mL Disaronno (or other amaretto liqueur)
1/2 tablespoon sage
1 tablespoon thyme leaves (about 8 sprigs)
10 drops green food coloring

Pasta Sauce
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup egg nog

Tools
Roma by Weston Electric Pasta Machine

Techniques
Using a Pasta Machine (see below or follow the link)

Put two separate pots with 3 cups of water each on to boil.

Sift together 2 cups flour and cinnamon in one bowl (this will be your red pasta) and 2 cups flour and sage in another bowl (this will be your green pasta). Mix crushed crystallized ginger into the red bowl and thyme leaves into the green bowl. Mix in eggs and amaretto liqueur. Knead each ball of dough until uniform.

Put each ball into a separate plastic sandwich bag. Add in respective food colorings. Knead dye into each ball of dough for about 5 minutes each. The dough will not be a uniform color after this point, it should just be marbelized most of the way through.

Watch the video below for help with using an electric pasta machine:



Feed a palm-sized chunk of red dough through the pasta machine, folding it over several times. By setting four, the dough should be completely red. If not, fold it over and feed it through in setting seven a few more times, until it is completely red. This pasta recipe can be used for any type of pasta, but for this particular recipe, I use fettuccine and so I only roll the dough out to setting four.

Feed the pasta sheet through the fettuccine cutter, then hang the strands on a Roma by Weston Pasta Drying Rack. Repeat these steps for the remaining red pasta dough.

Inspect the machine for any leftover red dough. If there is any red dough left on the rollers, the green pasta will end up with red spots. Repeat the above steps for the green dough.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg nog and whipping cream over medium heat until sauce is thick.

Drop the red pasta into one pot of boiling water and the green into the other. Boiling them separately ensures that the dyes do not mix - you don't want brown pasta. Cook for two minutes, strain, and then toss with a little olive oil (to keep from sticking together; do not use the old cold water trick, it steals some of your starches from the noodles).

Toss the pasta with the cream sauce and serve.

Recipes: Zapple Pie

Prep Time: 40 min (with crust)
Cook Time: 40 min
Makes 2 pot pies

Ingredients
2 pot pie-sized homemade crusts
(see the recipe for Pie Crust for a Pasta Machine or see my recipe for Pumpkin Pie for a standard homemade crust recipe)

3 zucchini
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup flour
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon



Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel zucchini, then slice with a Weston Mandoline Slicer with the waffle blade attachment.

In a medium saucepan, cook zucchini until tender in lemon juice. Add flour, butter, sugar, and cinnamon and continue to cook until thickened.

Pour the filling into the crust, then cross stripe with lasagnette shaped dough strands made with the Roma by Weston Pasta Machine with a Lasagnette Attachment.  

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, or until strips are fully baked.

Recipes: Pie Crust for a Pasta Machine

Prep Time: 20 min
Chill Time: 40 min
Pre Bake Time: 10 min
Makes one pie or two pot pies

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup hot water
1 tablespoon whole milk
2 1/2 cups semolina
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Place shortening in a large bowl. Pour hot water and milk over the shortening and beat together. Add the dry mixture and beat until dough forms. Chill for 40 minutes.

Roll out a third of the dough with a Roma by Weston Traditional Style Pasta Machine or a Roma by Weston Electric Pasta Machine. You only need to roll it through about half of the thickness settings. Spread over a pot pie tin. Roll out another third for the second pot pie tin.

Use the remaining third to make lasagnette shaped cross stripes for the top of the pie. To make the strips, roll the last third through the machine, then roll it through the lasagnette attachment.  

For a single large pie crust, simply roll a third of the dough through and cover half of the tin with it. Then roll another third of the dough through and cover the other half of the tin. Seam the two sheets together with your fingers. Complete the same steps for the cross striping.

Recipes: Pumpkin Ravioli with Frangelico Sauce

Pumpkin Ravioli with Frangelico Sauce
Serves: 2   Prep Time: 1 hr. 30 min.   Cook Time: 5 min.

Dough
1 1/2 cups Semolina
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/8 cup white wine

Filling
1/2 pie pumpkin, cubed
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Sauce

1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons Frangelico hazelnut liqueur

2 oz crushed hazelnuts for garnish (optional)

Cube a half of a pie pumpkin and sautee in butter until soft. Let cool, then drop the pumpkin into the Roma by Weston Sauce Maker & Food Strainer (you may drain the butter or include it in the filling). Simmer with heavy whipping cream for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.

Sift together Semolina, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Crack eggs and pour wine into center of dry mixture. Turn mixture into center until mixed thoroughly. This dough should be somewhat drier than regular pasta dough. Knead for five minutes and let rest for 20 minutes.

Finish kneading by rolling through the Roma by Weston 6" Pasta Machine at setting seven, folding over a few times. Finish rolling the pasta sheets by feeding them into the machine, lowering the setting each time until setting setting two. Remember to constantly flour the dough.

Trim the sheets with the wheel cutter (comes with the ravioli attachment). Attach the Ravioli Cutter Attachment to the machine and insert the handle. Divide the sheets with a horizontal line into two equal sized sheets. Place the two sheets onto the wooden rollers of the attachment. Start cranking the handle, making sure the dough is being fed into the machine.

Drop the pumpkin filling in between the two sheets. Turn the handle to seal this row, and then repeat. When the ravioli sheets are complete, allow them to dry for 10 minutes before tearing them apart.

Cook ravioli in boiling water for 4-6 minutes. Rather than cooking them, you may also freeze the ravioli at this point to save them for later. Add a little olive oil or vegetable oil to keep them from sticking together if you choose to freeze them.

Simmer Frangelico and heavy whipping cream for 20 minutes, then drizzle over ravioli. Garnish with crushed hazelnuts.