Linda's Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Fresca

Submitted by Secret Agent

"This is a variation on my Pasta Fresca recipe I came up with when I had dried a ton of Roma tomatoes in my food dehydrator. It is very pretty to look at and goes well with light sauces so it is economical as well. It is a little more difficult to roll out than the Pasta Fresca egg noodles but worth the extra effort. Serve simply with olive oil, butter, minced garlic, kosher salt and cracked black pepper and lots of fresh basil and flat leaf parsley. Pass the parmesan!"

 

• Ready In: 29mins
• Ingredients: 3
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 cup sun-dried tomato (not oil packed, chopped fine)
• 4 large eggs (you may need one additional yolk to get the pasta to the right consistency)

directions

1. Put flour and sun dried tomatoes into your food processor and whiz for about 30 seconds. Check the size of the tomatoes since they should be pulverized. Whiz another 30 seconds if you need to.
2. Add the eggs and pulse a few times, scrape down the bowl, and whiz until the pasta starts coming together.
3. If the pasta dough is too crumbly to hold together when you squeeze it in your hand you should add another egg yolk and whiz some more.
4. Just as in the pasta fresca recipe you should dump everything into a zip lock bag and press together to form a log.
5. Store in the fridge for 30 minutes to relax the gluten.
6. Cut the log into 8 discs.
7. With your pasta machine or mixer attachment knead the discs 4 or 5 times until they are smooth and satiny. Flour is your friend so make sure you use lots of it when rolling and cutting pasta!
8. When all are kneaded, roll them to the desired thickness one setting at a time. On my Kitchen Aid I roll to #6 and on my Atlas I roll to #7.
9. Attach your fettuccine cutter and cut strips flouring like mad so they don't stick. Spaghetti and other cuts do not work as well as fettuccine cutters.
10. Let dry while you boil a large pot of salted water with a tablespoon of olive oil in it and make the simple sauce described above.
11. Remember, fresh pasta cooks lots faster than dried pasta from a box. Check fettuccine after 2 minutes and keep checking until the desired tenderness is reached.
12. To freeze pasta fresca, separate into four portions and loop them into little nests. Freeze in small containers so they are not crushed and don't stick together.
13. In my pasta fresca recipe I neglected to say that I stir my frozen pasta with either a chopstick or the handle of a wooden spoon. This works better than spoons and the many pasta ladles on the market.
14. I hope you enjoy this recipe.