Springtime Pasta

Wow, it's been quiet over here!  I guess a couple of presentations in as many weeks can get me behind on posting ;)  The good news?  It finally feels like spring!!  To celebrate I decided that the fate of the two meyer lemons seeking refuge in my fridge were going to become pasta.

The zest of the two lemons made it into the dough and I reserved the juice for a sauce once the pasta was cooked.  The pasta came together in no time, and in under an hour I had my pasta drying so I could use it another night.  (If you want to see the awesome pasta drying rack my dad made for me, scroll to the bottom of this post)

Now, I went and made a pretty good pasta dish.  But....  there's always a 'but', no?   Well, bear with me.  I added shaved asparagus to the pasta in the last minute or so of cooking.  Once drained, this mixture was tossed with goat cheese, the reserved lemon juice, and a bit of the pasta cooking water to make a sauce.  Some sundried tomatoes and smoked salmon, and a tasty dinner was had.  But I couldn't taste the lemon :(

Moral of the story?  Sometimes simple is best, and I should've left well enough alone, dressing the meyer lemon pasta with some good olive oil, meyer lemon juice and perhaps a shaving of parmesan or grana padano.  Next time!!


Meyer Lemon Pasta
Serves 2-3

150g Italian-style 00 flour
50g white whole wheat flour
zest of two meyer lemons
generous pinch of sea salt
2 lg eggs

Mound the flours on your work surface (a granite countertop or a large wooden pastry board work well).  Make a well in the center and crack eggs into the hole.  Add a generous pinch of salt.

Beat the eggs well with a fork, then slowly begin to incorporate flour from the inside perimeter of the well into the eggs.  Once enough flour has been incorporated, knead dough until smooth and elastic.  If the dough is too dry (maybe your eggs are a little small or the mushrooms are absorbing more liquid), add water, a few drops at a time, until it is easier to knead.  If the dough is a little wet (eggs a little large, etc), add a little extra flour until the dough is not sticky.  Wrap the dough ball tightly in plastic wrap and let rest for a few minutes.

Divide the dough in half, and wrap one half back up as you work with the other.  Roll out one part of the dough on a slightly floured surface.  Fold in thirds, roll out with rolling pin.  Repeat two times.  I really wanted to get more pictures while I was doing this, but I needed another pair of hands.  To get the idea, check out this post!

Run dough through the widest setting of your pasta roller (this was a 1 on my machine), fold in thirds, and repeat twice more, almost like you were making puff pastry.  Adjust your pasta roller to the next thinnest setting and run dough through.  Continue this process until your pasta dough is nice and thin (I did this to 7 or 8), the dough will start to ripple a little bit and if it was regular dough would almost be transparent.   To finish the pasta, cut your pasta sheets into desired shapes using appropriate cutter (I chose fettucine).

At this point you can cook right away in boiling, well-salted water for a few minutes.  Or, you can dry overnight and then cook one night when you're more pressed for time!