Every day there are more and more people who dare to prepare pasta at home. You choose the ingredients you use, you enjoy making it, it is fresh and it tastes better. Although I think the best thing is something else: the surprise you get the first day you try to make it, when you discover that it is much easier than it seems.
This time it was Beatriz, author of the blog To Be Gourmet (and author of the recently published book To Be Gourmet, style on your table ), who decided to prepare it using the Imperia machine . The results have been exquisite. Don't miss the recipe!
I have been wanting to start making homemade pasta for a few weeks now, as we are now in September, back to our routine and with more time to cook at home.
I had bought what they say is the best pasta machine, the “Imperia” , but I have to admit that deep down, and despite having bought it with great enthusiasm, I was a bit lazy: the assembly, the instructions, were sure to take up my time and for one reason or another I kept putting it off.
Yesterday I decided to take it out of the cupboard where I had it stored. The truth is that it doesn't take up any space at all. And look, in five minutes I had it installed. And in another five I skimmed through the instructions, which I didn't really need, because the assembly is absolutely intuitive and there's not much more to do than pass the paste through the slot and, if necessary, cut it with a second accessory that fits in a snap.
I haven't gotten around to it yet, because I made some plain sheets for ravioli, but I confess that I'm looking forward to it, because I find it really fun and I have no doubts about the result.
Imperia pasta machine and Pallarès carbon iron knife
Ingredients
- A bag of mesclun salad containing lollo rosso
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar of Modena.
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Salt
For the pasta:
- 300 g of flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of EVOO
For the filling:
- A handful of trumpets of death
- ¼ onion
- ¼ apple
- A little extra virgin olive oil
Preparation
First, we make the dough for our ravioli. We sift the flour and place it on a smooth surface. We make a hole in the middle and place the beaten eggs and the extra virgin olive oil. The amount of flour is approximate, because depending on the size of the eggs we will need more or less. We gradually integrate, mix and knead until we obtain a firm but manageable ball, which does not stick but is not too hard.
We wrap it in transparent film and leave it in the refrigerator for approximately one hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Sauté the mushrooms in a pan with a little oil and set aside. Add a little more oil and sauté the onion with the finely chopped apple. Mix it with the mushrooms and leave in a bowl. Add a little salt.
We take the dough out of the refrigerator, make four parts, take the first one and roll it out with the help of a rolling pin until it is thin enough to fit through the hole in the Imperia machine in its widest mode.
We pass the dough through several times, in an increasingly narrow position so that it becomes thinner and thinner.
This post explains perfectly how to carry out this process .
We do the same with the other piles, until we have 4 sheets. Once we have the sheets, we place some small piles of filling with enough space between them, and then we cover them with another sheet. With our fingers, we press around the filling to mark and delimit it, and then we cut the ravioli into square shapes.
With the special ravioli accessory that exists for the Imperia machine it would have been quicker. So if you fancy the complete kit, you should know that this option is available.
I did it with a knife . I always have the ones from Pallarés on hand in the kitchen because they work really well. You get used to them and you don't want any other ones anymore, besides being ideal and acquiring a beautiful, very vintage look over time.
Once the ravioli are cut, we make sure to press the edges well with our fingers so that they do not open and we let them dry for half an hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the salad sauce by mixing the oil with the vinegar, salt and honey.
Next, boil the ravioli in salted water. They are ready in 5 minutes as they are fresh pasta.
We place the salad leaves on the plate, the ravioli (2 or 3) and drizzle with the sauce.
A warm salad with seasonal produce. The black trumpet mushrooms are delicate and very tasty; they grow from late summer to early autumn, and with the taste of honey they are a delight. When you cut the ravioli and take out the filling, they mix with the rest of the salad and blend in with the lollo rosso. A luxurious salad that couldn't be easier.
Beatriz
