For some reason, summer just doesn't seem very "pasta" to me.   Pasta is just too hearty to eat when it is hot outside.  Or maybe it is the temperature and not the heartiness because I eat cold pasta (pasta salad).  I don't know.  But that's not the point anyway.  The point is that it is getting cold in New England!  Hearty meals are welcome in my home again.

At the grocery store yesterday I bought stuff to make lasagna and chili and slow cooker pork.  Look at that menu and try to tell me that winter isn't around the corner. 

Pasta is just fine when it comes out of the box.  Really, it is.  But it is also pretty darn easy to make from scratch, and it ends up tasting so much fresher and just delicious in general.  So why not throw together a homemade pasta recipe every once in a while?  I don't have a special machine or anything, so I use a rolling pin and pizza cutter, but that hasn't caused any problems.  Nobody wants every piece to be exactly the same anyway, right?  Just make sure that you roll it pretty thin because it does puff up a little bit when it cooks.

This time that I made it, I just tossed the pasta with butter and parmesan cheese and then topped with herbs.  But some sort of tomato sauce would be good too.  Or making it into some sort of ravioli or pierogi.  Yum.  Maybe next time.

Homemade Pasta (this serves two, but feel free to double it): Printer-friendly version

1 cup flour 1 pinch salt 1 egg 1 Tbsp milk 2 Tbsp olive oil

In a stand mixer (or if you want to do this all with your hands then more power to you, but be warned that it can be a mess), mix the flour and salt.  Then add in the egg, milk, and olive oil and mix until they are all combined and the dough is a little bit stretchy.  Maybe about 5 minutes. 

Flour a clean surface and put the dough on top.  Adding more flour as needed, work the dough into a ball.  Wrap the ball in seran wrap and let it sit for about half an hour.  Don't rush this part!  Then, roll the ball out and cut into whatever shape you want.  In salted and oiled boiling water, cook the pasta for about 4-5 minutes.  You can taste it to see if it needs more time.

Source: inspired by Gourmet