Friday night, Jim made a ragu of ground veal and pork, a large can of Italian tomatoes, plenty of carrots and onions, white wine, and fresh chicken stock. After simmering away for a couple of hours on the stove, the sauce went into the fridge for the flavors to marry overnight.
On Saturday, we put the pasta sauce back on the stove over low heat and set to work on the pasta. Pasta-making is a team effort in our house. During the halftime of the Steelers-Ravens playoff game, Jim made the dough, whisking eggs and a little olive oil into organic flour, kneading until it was supple, then letting the dough rest for an hour. I took over from there, dividing the dough into six portions and running them through our Imperia pasta machine. I had a helper, our neighbor Hedgejo, who had never seen a pasta machine in action. (She was impressed, and declared today that she wants her own pasta machine.) Hedgejo helped me turn the crank, and kept track of which sections of pasta were ready to be cut into tagliatelle.
Just before we were ready to cook the pasta, we finished the sauce with just a touch of cream. Then the pasta went into a big pot of boiling water for three minutes (we cooked two batches). We topped the fresh pasta with sauce and grated parmesan. Everything was perfect: a rich sauce with layers of flavor, light yet sturdy strands of pasta. After eating a meal like this, it's hard to imagine ever going back to store-bought pasta again.
What can I say? We're a great team.
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