Make your own pasta for New Year's dishes

By J.M. Hirsch
Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. — New Year's resolutions are looming, but there still is time to squeeze in a bit of indulgence.

Start by thinking beyond cookies, cakes and candy. Instead, make way for the fourth (and some say most sinful) comforting carbohydrate — pasta.

If you are going to spoil yourself, do it right and don't waste time with dry pastas from the store. While those do fine in a pinch, making pasta fresh at home takes just minutes and makes a world of difference in taste.

For an easy and versatile pasta, measure out 3 tablespoons of semolina flour (don't use all-purpose flour; it turns to glue) per serving desired. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl.

Add roughly 1/2 tablespoon of water per serving and begin mixing with a fork. As with bread, water measurements in pasta are somewhat tricky, as humidity and moisture content of the flour influence the recipe.

If additional water is needed, add it only in 1/2 tablespoon increments; it is very easy to add too much.

Once the dough begins to come together, turn it out onto a lightly floured (with semolina) counter and begin kneading by hand. Knead for roughly 5 minutes. Dough should be very smooth and dry. Pinch it; it should feel like your earlobe.

When the dough is ready, break it into golf ball-size pieces and roll them into finger-thick logs. Cover the remaining dough with a damp towel while working with each piece.

With a knife or pastry scraper, cut the snake-shaped logs into half-inch chunks. To make orecchiette (or little ears) pasta, squash the center of each chunk with your thumb. To make a gnocchi shape, press each chunk across the back of a fork.

To cook either shape, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Lightly salt the water, then add the pasta. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes, or until the pasta floats. Drain and rinse with cool water.

Use this basic recipe for just about any pasta. For tomato pasta, use tomato paste instead of water. For spinach, use a puree of thawed frozen spinach. Or add fresh herbs.

With a bit of practice, the whole process can take as little as 15 minutes — not much longer than boiling the dry stuff.

There also are some great gadgets that help churn out a variety of pasta forms. Pasta rollers let you turn the dough into thin sheets, which then can be cut into either spaghetti or fettuccini, or used as wide lasagna noodles.

For another great fresh pasta, try butternut squash gnocchi (say no-kee) in rosemary butter, in Micol Negrin's cookbook "Rustico" (Clarkson Potter, 2002, $35).