The flexitarian prescription

I have always wanted to make pasta from scratch, and now I can officially check it off my bucket list : ) Truth be known, my husband bought me this pasta attachment over a year ago, and my mom got me the ravioli form two years ago. And they have both sat. In the kitchen. Untouched. Until now …

As for an official recipe, I don’t have one—we used the most basic of pasta recipes we found online. But, the key, I think, is using a quality olive oil and semolina flour IF YOU HAVE IT. But if you don’t, that’s fine, just try and use an organic, unbleached flour to keep the integrity of the pasta. And when it comes to olive oil, I’m not going to start a debate here but are those who will insist on using one with olives grown and processed in Italy. Truth be told, I’ve had some amazing olive oils from other regions, alas I’m no expert—but you can read what this Iron Chef had to say about olive oils when I interviewed him a few years ago.

I will tell you, it’s a labor of love. You have to feed and refeed the pasta through the attachment a number of times, so I highly suggest setting a Saturday afternoon aside the first time you attempt this. As for the stuffing, you do you. We stuck with a simple mixture of:

• Mushrooms
• Ricotta
• Parmesan
• Basil
• Garlic

TIP: MAKE SURE you sprinkle the ravioli with a little flour before adding to the boiling water.

And because I love garlic and mushrooms, sauteed a whole bunch of them and added to the cooked ravioli.

Would I do it again? Yes. 100 percent! It’s fun, and it’s pretty damn cool to see how it all turns out : )