Last night I got to try out my new pasta-maker. t! got this action shot of me:
I made linguine using Allison’s recipe (except that I added a half-tablespoon of olive oil to the dough, a tip I found in a book that’s meant to make the dough easier to handle), and it turned out really well. Unsurprisingly fresh pasta is completely different from the dried, boxed kind, but I don’t think it will take us very long to get used to it. We had the linguine for supper with tomato and smoked sausage sauce, and I realised part-way through cooking that the meal was pretty much 100% local and organic – flour from the Berwick mill and eggs, vegetables, and red deer and wild boar sausages, all from the Vankleek Hill Farmer’s Market. It was very, very yummy, and felt very much like traditional food. Next time I make it I’m going to grate some pepper into the dough, and next time I’m at the mill I will ask if they have any flour that’s better for pasta than the standard hard white wheat bread flour I’m currently using. And with any luck this time next year, I’ll be making pasta with our own eggs. Now to learn to make tortellini!
Oh, and I really need to either a) keep the door to the guest bedroom/sewing room closed, or b) put that quilt top away somewhere safe:
out here 
I often use 1/4 to 1/3 semolina flour with the white flour. I’ve never tried whole wheat flour; I imagine it would be tougher.
If you want to make the pasta for drying, skip the eggs and use 1-2 Tbsp olive oil plus enough hot water to make the dough.
Also fun is adding beet puree (just a bit) to make it red or extracting chlorophyll from spinach to make it green. (Essentials of Cooking by James Peterson has the instructions for the latter).
Here’s my blog post from the summer about making ravioli:
http://allisongryski.blogspot.com/2008/04/crafting-something-yummy.html
Be sure to cover the pasta that’s waiting with cling film so that it doesn’t dry out.
Allison: Awesome, thanks!
Hey, you look just like yourself!
I was actually wondering on Saturday what you look like now.
Action shot! That camera must have an awesome speed, because neither you nor the pasta are blurry.
It looks terrific. And your description of the meal makes me want to show up unexpectedly around dinner one day and bang on your door.
Also: Saash approves this quilt top.