It's gonna be a wet and blustery day here, a good day for cooking. My eggplant parm went over so well with the wife I figured it was time to whip up a little something for me.
Pasta:
2 cups Semolina flour
3-4 eggs (I have to use about 6 bantam eggs)
pinch of salt
1 Tbls EVO
Preparation:
In your mixer bowl (or make a well with the flour and break your eggs in one by one) place the flour, salt and one egg. Start on low speed with the dough hook and add eggs one at a time until the dough starts to come together just a little. The trick with pasta dough is you want it to look like good pie dough: barely holding together. Work the dough on a medium speed for about 5 minutes, it's ok if a tiny bit of the flour is still in the bottom of the bowl. Stop mixer and bring dough out onto your work surface, knead by hand about 2 minutes and then wrap in plastic wrap and let rest 2 hours. After two hours remove from plastic wrap and cut into 3 equal sections, then each section in half. Run thru roller attachment at 1, fold and run thru again two more times, repeat with other sheets. Roll out again on setting two and then on setting three. You want the dough a little thick. Lay the pasta strips over the backs of kitchen chairs lined with soft towels to dry, about 1 hour or more. At assembly time lay the pasta sheets on a cutting board and trim to the correct length using the 13 x 9 pan as a guide (mine were a little long). My KitchenAid pasta rollers gave me sheets about 4 1/2 inches wide, so I only needed two sheets per layer.
Sauce:
2 small mild italian sausages cut into tiny chunks
1 medium onion small dice
3 cups white mushrooms, sliced
1 large carrot grated
1 Tbls crushed garlic
1 Tbls Herbs de Provence
1 Tsp red pepper flake
1 cup dry white wine
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 Tbls capers or 1/3 cup chopped dark olives
5 cups grated mozzarella
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan
2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
2 cups fresh spinach chopped
1 cup fresh parsley chopped
Preparation and final assembly:
Heat dutch oven on high, add 3 Tbls EVO and when it is hot add sausage bits and saute about 5 minutes until they're browned, now add onions and mushrooms and saute about 5 minutes, add carrot and garlic and herbs and cook a couple minutes. Deglaze witht he white wine, when the wine is reduced to about half add the canned tomatoes, bay leaves and capers and simmer about 45 minutes on low, stirring occasionally. Let sauce cool and rest.
Bring a very large pot of salted water to a rapid boil and cook off your pasta sheets two at a time. In a 13 x 9 pan lay down a layer of sauce, then after the pasta sheets have cooked six to seven minutes carefully remove them and lay over the sauce. Lay down 1/3 of the cheeses and some fresh spinach and parsley, now ladle on another layer of sauce. Repeat until you have used up the pasta, cheese and sauce. Let this rest 1/2 hour so the pasta and sauce can "mingle". Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 20 minutes before serving. Serve with a hearty green salad and garlic bread.
Pasta:
2 cups Semolina flour
3-4 eggs (I have to use about 6 bantam eggs)
pinch of salt
1 Tbls EVO
Preparation:
In your mixer bowl (or make a well with the flour and break your eggs in one by one) place the flour, salt and one egg. Start on low speed with the dough hook and add eggs one at a time until the dough starts to come together just a little. The trick with pasta dough is you want it to look like good pie dough: barely holding together. Work the dough on a medium speed for about 5 minutes, it's ok if a tiny bit of the flour is still in the bottom of the bowl. Stop mixer and bring dough out onto your work surface, knead by hand about 2 minutes and then wrap in plastic wrap and let rest 2 hours. After two hours remove from plastic wrap and cut into 3 equal sections, then each section in half. Run thru roller attachment at 1, fold and run thru again two more times, repeat with other sheets. Roll out again on setting two and then on setting three. You want the dough a little thick. Lay the pasta strips over the backs of kitchen chairs lined with soft towels to dry, about 1 hour or more. At assembly time lay the pasta sheets on a cutting board and trim to the correct length using the 13 x 9 pan as a guide (mine were a little long). My KitchenAid pasta rollers gave me sheets about 4 1/2 inches wide, so I only needed two sheets per layer.
Sauce:
2 small mild italian sausages cut into tiny chunks
1 medium onion small dice
3 cups white mushrooms, sliced
1 large carrot grated
1 Tbls crushed garlic
1 Tbls Herbs de Provence
1 Tsp red pepper flake
1 cup dry white wine
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 Tbls capers or 1/3 cup chopped dark olives
5 cups grated mozzarella
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan
2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
2 cups fresh spinach chopped
1 cup fresh parsley chopped
Preparation and final assembly:
Heat dutch oven on high, add 3 Tbls EVO and when it is hot add sausage bits and saute about 5 minutes until they're browned, now add onions and mushrooms and saute about 5 minutes, add carrot and garlic and herbs and cook a couple minutes. Deglaze witht he white wine, when the wine is reduced to about half add the canned tomatoes, bay leaves and capers and simmer about 45 minutes on low, stirring occasionally. Let sauce cool and rest.
Bring a very large pot of salted water to a rapid boil and cook off your pasta sheets two at a time. In a 13 x 9 pan lay down a layer of sauce, then after the pasta sheets have cooked six to seven minutes carefully remove them and lay over the sauce. Lay down 1/3 of the cheeses and some fresh spinach and parsley, now ladle on another layer of sauce. Repeat until you have used up the pasta, cheese and sauce. Let this rest 1/2 hour so the pasta and sauce can "mingle". Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 20 minutes before serving. Serve with a hearty green salad and garlic bread.
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