Pasta Perfection

This morning I received this email from Zachary:

On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 10:41 AM, Zachary N Brown wrote:

Can we have spaghetti tonight? Or ravioli.  

What he is doing thinking about this at 10:41 am is beyond me, but this just confirms what Eric and I have realized the last couple of years.  These boys eat, sleep,eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, it never ends!

So before I left for the day to do some errands, I threw my favorite spaghetti bolognese recipe in the crockpot to cook all day.  I remember the first time Eric and I had bolognese in Naples, Italy patiently waiting for Zachary to make his grand arrival.  It is such a vivid memory and I remember it was the best tasting sauce ever.

When I returned home, kids in tow, I asked Avery if she wanted to help me make some pasta.  She has never done this with me before, but as expected, she is a genuine natural!  It is always awesome to hear your child say over and over again "how cool this is" and "maybe I want to do this when I grow up". I just love her  sweet little self.

The best part about it?  The sauce is just that good...but the difference in making your own pasta and the box pasta is like night and day.  It just melts in your mouth! It truly makes any pasta dish so much better.

I use a very basic recipe for homemade pasta, and you can use Kitchenaid attachments that make this much faster, but then Avery wouldn't have thought it was so cool!  A little flash back, Eric bought me this machine in Italy 18 years ago, and who would of known that our daughter would be having so much fun with it?

See below the collage for the recipe if you would like to give it a try! Click on the collage for a larger view.

Homemade Pasta

(I have found a very easy method for making this. I throw my flour in my bread maker, make a dam in the middle and add the egg/water/oil/salt that have been beaten together, and then I let it knead for 10 mins, pull it out and let it sit in a baggie for 20 mins. We roll on each setting twice until we get to 4 and 5. Then, roll thru desired pasta shape, letting air dry until you are ready to use. Boil for 2 mins and drain and serve)

1 1/2 c Semolina Flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 Tbs water

2 Tbs olive oil