Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Fresh Vegan Pasta

spinach pasta
spinach pasta, drying on a makeshift rack

I've had my Ampia pasta machine for probably at least 4 years. I bought it at the Goodwill for $5, picturing all the amazing fresh pasta in my immediate future. I've never used it. Ever. I've thought about using it. I've watched Jamie Oliver use his. I've read about tons of other bloggers using theirs. Mine, however, has never left the box. Until last week. If there is anyone I trust to lead me through a new cooking process, it's Bryanna Clark Grogan. It's obvious that she puts a lot of thought (and work!) into developing, documenting and explaining her recipes and cooking techniques. Her instructions made my first pasta making experience shockingly simple and made me realize that I'm a total fool for leaving my machine in the box for so long. I made spinach pasta, some of which we ate with a bit of homemade pesto and sauteed mushrooms and peppers. I shaped the rest into little nests and froze them. You can drop the frozen noodles into boiling water and have ready to eat pasta in about one minute. It's so convenient and delicious that I doubt I'll be buying dried pasta again anytime soon.

fresh spinach pasta with pesto

3 comments:

jessy said...

oh my gosh, your homemade pasta looks perfect! it's got me wanting to make some now, too! mmmmmmmmm! i'll have to check our local thrift stores for a pasta machine - we do it by hand right now - and while it's soooo yummy - it's also sooooo time consuming as we roll out the pasta with a rolling pin, then slice it with pizza cutters! ahahahahahahaa! not exactly the fastest method. i had no idea you could freeze little pasta nests. next time we'll do that, too! i love the photo of the pasta drying - and your final product looks super scrumptious! glad your first batch was such a tasty success! yay!

Anonymous said...

You rock. That's fantastic!

Joanne said...

Sweet Jeebus!1 That pasta is beautiful! I have never made home made pasta before but I have eaten it and it is truly a divine thing!