Strega Nona Visits

“Bubble, bubble, pasta pot,
Boil me up some pasta, nice and hot.
I’m hungry and it’s time to sup.
Boil enough pasta to fill me up.” ---Strega Nona

From Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona

Semolina flour, eggs, extra virgin olive oil, my kitchenaid mixer and, of course, my pasta maker, can mean only thing in my kitchen, - homemade pasta night.  Yes, Thursday night Big Anthony's appetite for pasta inspired me.  I have made pasta before, of course.  Just as my dear old neighbor and friend, Tommy Capelli, taught me when I was a little girl.  Tommy is the sweetest, dearest seventy-something year old Italian man I know and love.  (Except, of course, for my own Italian grandfather, Aldo, whose sweetness is not easily matched.)

I moved into a new house when I was 4 and half years old as my family was nearing the arrival of a third child, my little sister.  Being mildly talkative and slightly engaging now, I may have had a tinge of these qualities as a child.  Ok, ok, fine.  Hell...I talked to anyone.  I loved adults as a kid, and quickly, I walked into my neighbor's back yard as he was digging a hole for a pond, and said, "Hi.  My name is Kimmi.  What's yours?"  To which he replied, "Tommy."  From there, he put a shovel in my four and half year old hands, and I started to help him dig what would become a beautiful little fish pond.  And, thus, Tommy became another sort of grandfather, who lived next door.

Menu:

Rosemary Semolina Pasta (#11)

Chicken with Roasted Shiitake and Baby Portabellos with Pine Nuts (#12)

Both recipes came from the wonderful vegetarian cookbook, although, I simply added the chicken breasts with the mushrooms.  Although the use of rosemary in the pasta came from that book, I've found Lidia Matticchio Bastianich's recipe for pasta in Lidia's Family Table to yield incredibly meticulous and delicious results with a crank style pasta maker.

Although pasta dough recipes often call for well style dough making, I use the dough hook on my standing mixer, and find that to work nicely.  I give it a bit of kneading when I take it out and shape it into a nice circle to cut in quarters to roll through the crank.

Most people who've come over for a pasta night at my house, know one thing.  That is, I spend so much time taking care of the pasta making, which in my humble opinion, is an inimitable act of culinary love, that I normally fall short on the other dish, be it meatballs, chicken, etc.  However, they also know that it is fun and includes lots of dancing and singing and flour all over my face.  Look at Schaeffer go!

Thursday night was no exception to any of these claims, including, regrettably, issues with the 'second dish'. 

Ribbons of lasagna await a pass through the fettuccine attachment.  The fragrance of the fresh rosemary in the dough was wonderful, and they looked so pretty just hanging out to dry a bit.

Fresh pasta takes about one minute to cook, so stand very close, have the colander ready and taste quickly so as to not overcook. 

And to think the chicken started out so nicely...

The chicken and mushrooms and pine nuts were nestled nicely in the big blue pot, and although the flavor was great, the chicken was dry. 
And the aftermath of too much minutes in a hot hot hot oven was this...

All was certainly not lost, as the flavors were wonderful, and the crispy bits made for a get topping to the pasta, drizzled simply with a nice olive oil.

Nonetheless, the result was two happy people and bellies as we continued what we've dubbed the "Potter Marathon", making it through every Potter to make up for the fact that Schaeffer, to my dismay, feels no inclination to read these epic modern classics of our time.  Not that I have a serious opinion about Harry or anything...


It is a good thing I, unlike Big Anthony, remembered both the end of the Strega Nona's song and the three kisses to her pot...

“Enough, enough, pasta pot,
I have my pasta, nice and hot.
So simmer down my pot of clay
Until I’m hungry another day.”

288 to go...