What a way to end a wild and crazy week – homemade Pasta alla Victor!

It’s been a great week to be a Liberal, but life continues on and dinners have to be made. Part of our Gay Agenda is getting his Mom fed and her medications in her on schedule.

Victor bought me a pasta roller years ago and then proceeded to master the art of perfect pasta-making. I don’t go near it – I don’t think I could do it justice after the light as a cloud pasta Victor continually makes. Besides… I ain’t no fool. The man is cooking me dinner – I’m ready fork in hand.

Making pasta isn’t difficult, but it does take time and a feel for the dough that only comes through practice. As in bread-making, where I can just tell when it’s right, Victor just knows when the pasta dough has reached the perfect consistency. It is an art, for sure.

A silken, edible art.

Victor’s Pasta

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• up to 1 teaspoon water, if necessary

Instructions

On a clean work surface, mound flour and form a well in the center. Add egg and egg yolk to the well. Using a fork, gently break up yolks and slowly incorporate flour from inside rim of well. Add drops of water, if necessary. 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 width-wise; 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.

The sauce was his sauce we made and jarred a few months ago, along with a few hot Italian sausages.

Sauce made in small batches with real ingredients and no fillers, chemicals, or extraneous ingredients placed solely to trick the mind into thinking it’s eating real food.

It is good.

The final plate was rich sauce with silken pasta and a just-spicy-enough sausage. I ate more than I should have and loved every bite.

Real good.