Old-time Pasta Dough

When my nonna didn’t have eggs, she made this Old-time Pasta Dough.  It is simply flour, water and salt.  I let it rest and then put it through the pasta machine.  Nonna rolled it by hand and she was a master at it.  Today we take the easy way out and my Kitchen-Aid is my best friend. If you want an egg pasta recipe:  https://recipesatmytable.com/homemade-pappardelle-with-pork-tenderloin-ragu/

Today’s sauce is my left-over Arancini sauce; it is the traditional Sicilian meat and pea sauce.  This is one of my favourite sauces to make and I also do a great baked pasta with this. Working from memory and old recipes is not easy, and like other recipes I worked on the measurements until they were perfect.  This is a beautiful silky and pliable dough.  It is easy to handle.  The sauce comes together with no fuss and it smells heavenly.

The dough wrapped and ready to sit.

The Pasta comes through the machine and it is silky and smooth.

I use my new pasta attachment and this makes the work much easier.

Use lots of flour to keep pasta from sticking.

The Sicilian side of me prepares this typical meat and pea sauce.

See how thick this sauce is as it clings to the spoon.

Plated and ready to go to the table.

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Old-Time Pasta Dough

Old-Time Pasta Dough is a three ingredients easy to make dough for home-made pasta.  

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 3 minutes

Total Time 43 minutes

Servings 8

Author Renata Solski

Ingredients

The Pasta Dough

• 3 cups all purpose flour a little extra for dusting
• 1 1/4 cups cold water
• 1 tsp salt

The sauce

• 1 lb lean ground beef chicken or turkey is good too
• 1 cup frozen Green Giant Sweetlet Peas
• 4 cups marinara sauce
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp died oregano
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup parmesan or romano cheese for dressing the pasta

Instructions

The Dough

1. Put the flour and salt into a food processor.  I used my Kitchen Aid.

   Stir the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the water until it forms a ball.

   Turn onto the counter and knead until the dough is smooth, silky and pliable.

   Wrap in plastic wrap for 30 minutes.  Leave it out on the counter.

   Cut the dough into 6 pieces and put it through the pasta roller.

   Here is an excellent short video to watch.  

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx9Ewh_QbwY

   I put the pasta onto a well floured cookie sheet.

   Then I place the pan in the fridge until I am ready to cook it.

   Use a large pot with plenty of water.

   Remember to never salt the water until you put the pasta into the pot.

   Cook for about 3 minutes.  Fresh Pasta does not need a lot of time to cook. 
   

The Sauce

1. Put one tablespoon of olive oil into a large sauce pan and sauté the onion. 

   Add one tablespoon of Italian seasoning,, the garlic and add the ground meat.  

   Brown the meat and then add the sauce.

   Sprinkle the second tablespoon of Italian seasoning and the dried oregano over the sauce.

   Let simmer for 30 minutes until everything thickens.

   Add the frozen peas and continue cooking for another five minutes.

   Sauce is now ready.  

Recipe Notes

Use a generous amount of cheese to dress the pasta with the sauce.