| | Published August 17th, 2011
| Dinner and a Movie - Pasta, Anyone?
| | By Susie Iventosch | | |
The Lamorinda Film & Entertainment Foundation (LFEF) will feature the Italian comedy, Loose Cannons, later this week at the Orinda Theatre. Because the film is about a young man who works in the family's pasta factory (see article above), I was inspired to take a stab at making my own pasta right at home. Since I have no special pasta-making utensils, devices or machines, I was not really anticipating much success, but was rather pleasantly surprised with the results! I did manage to find a metal ruler, and a pizza cutter, both of which came in very handy when cutting the rolled pasta into strips.
The entire process takes about 20-30 minutes or so, and the whole family can join in the fun. If you feel particularly adventuresome, you can try adding pureed spinach, roasted red bell peppers, or even tomatoes and garlic to your dough by mixing them with the egg and oil before integrating with the flour.
If you plan to see Loose Cannons, but don't have time to make your own Italian feast before the show, Shelby's in Theatre Square is featuring a special dish just for the occasion-Rouge Risotto, made with oven-roasted beets and grilled New York steak. Or, you can drop into La Piazza across the street, to sample the "Film Festival" special they have in store for theater-goers!
Wherever you decide to dine before the movie ...
Buon Appetito!
|
Shelby's
2 Theatre Square
Orinda, CA
(925) 254-9687
www.shelbyseatbetter.com
La Piazza
Pizzeria Trattoria
15 Moraga Way
Orinda, CA
925-253-9191
|
Handmade/Homemade Pasta
|
|
 |
|
|
(Yields approximately 8 oz. of pasta)
INGREDIENTS
1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup semolina flour (made from Durham wheat)
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS
1. Sift flours and salt into a large flat bowl, or serving platter
2. Make a well in the center, using the bottom of a cup or bowl
3. Place oil and eggs in the well
4. With a large fork, make a sweeping motion, stirring the egg and oil and integrating a little more of the flour with each stir. Keep stirring until you have a sticky ball. You might have leftover flour, but only use what you need to make the ball.
5. Dump the dough ball onto a floured surface and knead for about 4-5 minutes, incorporating more dough into the ball as needed until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky.
6. Shape dough into a small rectangle
7. On a clean flat surface dusted with flour, roll the dough out to a very thin 1/16-inch rectangle, approximately 14 x 12 or so. Now, you will not automatically be able to make a perfect rectangle, but do your best, or trim it to resemble a rectangle after it's rolled out. Turn surface as necessary to allow for even rolling. (You will need to use some muscle to roll this dough out to the desired thickness!)
8. Using a metal ruler, or some other straight edge on top of the dough, roll a sharp knife or pizza cutter along the edge to cut pasta in the desired width.
9. At this point, you can either wrap the pasta in plastic keeping it airtight and refrigerate until ready to use, or you can cook it immediately. Just remember this pasta has raw egg, so you must refrigerate it if you don't intend to cook it immediately!
|
 |
|
|
|
Family's Favorite Pasta-Sundried tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Feta Cheese and Garlic-infused Olive Oil
|
|
 |
| Family's Favorite Pasta Photos Susie Iventosch
|
(Serves 4-5 as a main course)
INGREDIENTS
1 pound Angel Hair, fettucine or linguine pasta (double recipe of homemade pasta on left or one 16-oz. package store-bought pasta)
1/4-1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and slightly crushed, but kept intact
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2 cup coarsely chopped, pitted Kalamata olives
1/2 cup drained, chopped sundried tomatoes
*1/2 cup diced fresh tomatoes (optional)
1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan
1/3 cup finely sliced fresh basil
DIRECTIONS
Prepare oil in advance
In a saucepot, heat olive oil, but do not bring to a boil. When hot, add garlic cloves and herbs and heat for about 10-15 minutes over medium-low heat. Turn heat off, cover pot and allow flavors to infuse for several hours or overnight. Before serving, discard herbs and garlic cloves.
To Assemble Dish
Reheat garlic-herb infused olive oil. In a separate pot, cook pasta to al dente, drain and dump pasta back into cooking pot. Pour warm oil over pasta and stir. Add olives, sundried tomatoes, (tomatoes), and feta into pasta and gently toss. Serve on plates and garnish with Parmesan, basil and pine nuts.
Serve with insalata mista (mixed green salad) and crusty Italian bread.
|
| | | | | | | | | | Advertisement | | |
| | | print story
Before you print this article, please remember that it will remain in our archive for you to visit anytime.
download pdf
(use the pdf document for best printing results!) | | | Comments | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA