It’s still a gazillion degrees outside but we just had pasta – and it was heavenly!
Light, refreshing, full of the flavors of summer. Pasta.
Victor made fresh tagliatelle pasta today. It’s a pasta he has seriously mastered over time. It is pure silken perfection.
And atop that pure silken perfection was an uncooked sauce comprised mostly of fresh garden produce. It was unbelievably fresh-tasting; the perfect hot-weather meal.
The tomatoes, peppers, and basil came from the yard. Fresh asparagus, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes pretty much finished it off.
There are no measurements for the sauce. Use what you have to make as much as you need.
Salsa di Tagliatelle Fresche
- olive oil
- cherry tomatoes
- bell peppers
- roasted red and yellow peppers
- asparagus
- garlic
- sun-dried tomatoes
- fresh basil
- parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper, to taste
Cut asparagus and quickly blanche. Drain and drop into ice water immediately to stop cooking and chill.
Meanwhile, halve the cherry tomatoes and slice the peppers and place in bowl with asparagus, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and olive oil. Add minced fresh basil, shredded parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper, to taste.
Leave at room temperature for flavors to meld up to an hour or so.
Tagliatelle Fresche
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- Coarse sea salt
Instructions
On a clean work surface, mound flour and form a well in the center. Add eggs and egg yolks to the well. Using a fork, gently break up yolks and slowly incorporate flour from inside rim of well. Continue until liquid is absorbed, then knead for 10 minutes. Wrap dough tightly in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.
Divide dough into 3 pieces. Cover 2 pieces with plastic wrap. Flatten remaining dough piece so that it will fit through the rollers of a pasta machine.
Set rollers of pasta machine at the widest setting, then feed pasta through rollers 3 or 4 times, folding and turning pasta until it is smooth and the width of the machine.
Roll pasta through machine, decreasing the setting, one notch at a time (do not fold or turn pasta), until pasta sheet is scant 1/16 inch thick.
Cut sheet in half widthwise; dust both sides of sheets with flour. Layer sheets between floured pieces of parchment or wax paper. Cover with paper and repeat with remaining dough.
With the short end of 1 pasta sheet facing you, loosely fold up sheet, folding sheet over two or three times from short ends toward the center. With a large chefs knife, cut folded sheet into ribbons, a scant 1/4 inch wide. Unroll strips and lightly dust with flour; spread on a lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pasta sheets.
To cook the tagliatelle, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain pasta, transfer to a large serving bowl and toss with sauce.
It really brought out the flavors of summer. I had actually been craving ravioli for the past few days but kept thinking about how heavy they can be – and I just didn’t need heavy food with this weather.
This solved the ravioli craving and brought summer’s bounty indoors.
I made a loaf of beer bread at the last minute just to have something to sop up the juices on the plate.
Quick Beer Bread
- 3 cups self-rising flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 12 oz beer
Use a 4″ x 8″ bread pan. Mix ingredients and place in buttered pan. Top with melted butter and bake at 350° about 1 hour.
There was enough of the vegetables left over to have as a salad for lunch tomorrow.
A perfect summer dinner.