Last night I met up with one of my oldest friends for dinner at Il Leone in Green Point. Fresh out of my yoga class I couldn’t think of anything better than a big bowl of gorgeous pasta. After all balance is everything.
Il Leone* is one of my favourite restaurants. You're always greeted with a warm smile and I have yet to have a bad meal there.
As much as I would like to think of myself as being adventurous, I have to come to terms with the fact that I am a creature of habit.
So whenever I eat at Il Leone I am torn between the incredibly light (well light for gnocchi that is) gnocchi smothered in a mouthwatering Arrabiata sauce or the tagliatelle ragu made from real slow-cooked beef. Lip smackingly good.
Last night, with a beautiful glass of De Wetshof Chardonnay (wooded) in hand, I surrendered to the ragu. Bliss. I cannot wait to have the leftovers for lunch.
Some time ago my BF Callan got a pasta machine for his birthday. I don't know who was more excited, him or me! So without further ado we set about making our first batch of homemade pasta. Does it sound corny that we cook together? I hope not, but I promise you life is a whole lot easier (or making pasta is a lot less chaotic) when you don't have to do it on your own.
Nothing could have prepared us for the result. Lesson learnt: never, ever try to make pasta without a pasta machine again!
My recipe, per person, is 100g of cake flour to 1 free-range egg. Lightly beat the egg before pouring into the well of flour with 1 T olive oil and ½ t salt, and gently pull it all together with a fork to form a dough.
Tip: Italians use 00 flour, which is really fine, and you should find it at Italian delis. For me, cake flour works perfectly.
.jpg)
Knead it to within an inch of life – this is where it helps to have a bit of male muscle in the kitchen. Let it rest, covered, for 1 hour. Then simply follow the instructions on the pasta machine's box and once cut, boil in lots of salted water for 2 - 3 minutes.
On the topic, read our tips and tricks for working with pasta, especially spaghetti, with some saucy inspiration.
We enjoyed our pasta with Callan's homemade Italian tomato and basil sauce. The sauce clings wonderfully to every strand of pasta, something I've not really seen happen to cooked dried pasta.
We've promised each other never to create a dish using pasta that wasn’t made by ourselves. Hmmm. We'll have to see how long that lasts, but we haven’t broken the promise yet.
Any tips or hints to help us on our pasta journey are welcome; we have yet to venture towards cannelloni and tortellini. So let us know what you think!
Hannah x
email me @ hannah.lewry@newmediapub.co.za
PS, using 'my' new pasta machine, I created some gluten-free pasta recipes for TASTE magazine. They worked out really well and are a fab option if gluten is not your friend. Gluten-free flour is available from Wellness Warehouse and health shops.
*Il Leone Mastrantonio,021 421 0071
Picture credits: Gerda Genis for Woolworths TASTE