Homemade Spaghetti, Pasta and Sauce

Last week we went on vacation to see the MIL.  It was a much needed break from work but it is good to get home and back into our routine.  J had to work on Sunday so I decided to make a somewhat time consuming dinner to occupy myself during the day.  I find if I just sit at home with no pressing work to do I just end up watching TV, and if there is food in the house, eating.  Since we don’t have cable, watching TV for a good part of the day is actually pretty boring, but I somehow turn super lazy when I am home alone, not really sure why.  So I decided to make homemade pasta, spaghetti sauce, and rolls, which all turned out fantastic.  I also got quite a bit of housework done, and also watched some TV, so this didn’t take quite as long as I had thought it would.  I still wouldn't recommend this much work for a weeknight though.

Fresh Pasta Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
Corn meal for dusting

Make a well with the flour on a clean work surface (optimally a warm countertop or cutting board, not stainless steel).  Crack the eggs in the well, add the salt and garlic powder, and gently whisk the eggs.  With your hands bring up the flour on the outside of the well into the egg, trying not to break the wall and letting the eggs spill everywhere.  Continue to incorporate all of the flour until it forms a ball.  Knead the dough until it becomes elastic and smooth.  If it doesn’t seem to be holding together well, add water to it, 1 tsp at a time, and continue to knead.  It should take about 10 minutes to knead it to the desired texture.  Flatten the dough into a disc, dust with corn meal and wrap in plastic wrap to rest for 30 minutes.  

Cut off the desired amount and wrap the rest up and store in a Ziploc bag, trying to evacuate as much air out as possible, and store in the freezer.  Work with about 2 oz at a time; flatten a piece out with your hands or rolling pin so the pasta will fit through the roller.  On the largest setting, roll the pasta.  Fold the pasta in thirds then roll again, repeat one more time.  Begin lowering the setting by one and rolling the pasta until desired thickness (for spaghetti roll to 2).  Set the rolled pasta sheet aside and continue to roll out the desired number of sheets for your recipe (1 oz of pasta is 1 serving).  Do not put the pasta sheets on top of each other or they will stick together.  When you have all your sheets rolled out, roll them through the cutter to make your noodles.  Set the noodles aside in mounds while you cut the remaining sheets and dust each mound with flour to keep the noodles from sticking together.
When ready to cook, put in boiling water and cook until the pasta is al dente, 3-5 minutes.

Yields about 15 oz (15 servings), 75 calories, 1 g fat


Spaghetti Sauce

6 lbs tomatoes, chopped
1 cup onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp crushed red pepper (if desired)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbs fresh basil
1 lb ground turkey, 99/1
1 cup mushrooms, sliced

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Put the tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt, and peppers in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil.  Cover the dish and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove the dish from the oven and mash the tomatoes to break them down.  Return the sauce to the oven uncovered and cook for another 45 minutes.  Remove the sauce from the oven, season with oregano, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Brown the turkey and mushrooms in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once the turkey is no longer pink, add the sauce and heat through.  Make sure both the turkey and mushrooms are cooked before adding the sauce, you don’t want to boil them.  Season with oregano, basil, salt, and pepper to taste if needed.

6 Servings, 200 calories, 5 g fat

I sort of forgot about pictures while I was making all this, so I failed you on that one, but I was very pleased with the meal.  It may be more time consuming than Ragu and store bought pasta, but there us a significant difference, well worth the effort.