Homemade Fettuccine with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Shrimp

Homemade Fettuccine w/ Spicy Tomato Sauce and Shrimp

Chuck made me a homemade pasta dish the other night because he is awesome (Chuck's note: this is true). If you try (and hopefully succeed) to make homemade pasta, your girlfriend will think you are awesome too.

This is the second time we've used our pasta roller (thank you, Mom). I completely regret not appreciating all the homemade pasta my mother made for me in my younger years (I was one of the pickiest eaters around, just give me some chicken fingers and call it a night). Chuck did a great job with the pasta. There really is a difference between boxed and homemade (it's okay if you use boxed, we know most people don't want to spend a bunch of time cooking like we do). The sauce was incredibly flavorful, and quite spicy (similar to a fra diavolo sauce, but we used peperoncino instead of hot pepper flakes). You could really add any protein to this dish, we chose shrimp because a) it's summer and b) seafood is whatsup.

 Spicy Tomato Sauce
Recipe from Lidia's Family Table

1 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes, whole with juices
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
3 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
8-10 whole Tuscan-style peperoncino in vinegar, drained, seeded and sliced in strips
Water from the pasta cooking pot
1/2 teaspoons salt


Rich Man's Golden Pasta (makes one pound)
Recipe also from Lidia's Family Table

2 cups flour
9 (yes 9) egg yokes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons water

The delicious tender Rich Man's Pasta is no yolk

Making the dough:

• Separate 9 egg yolks, there are a lot of devices/techniques for this, the easiest way is to just crack the egg into your hand and let the egg white flow through your fingers into the sink or a bowl if you want to make an enormous egg white omelet later
• Lightly beat the eggs yolks, olive oil and water then add to the flour in a large mixing bowl
• Mix until the dough comes together
• Transfer the dough to a large floured surface
• Kneed the dough until it becomes smooth, elastic and golden in color, about 5 minutes
• Brush dough with olive oil, wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap, and let sit for 20-25 minutes

For the sauce:

• While the dough rests...
• Place medium size pot over medium heat, coat bottom with olive oil
• Saute onions until translucent, 10-15 minutes
• De-seed the peperoncino and cut into strips, add to pot along with garlic (minced) and bay leaves, saute and additional 2-3 minutes
• Crush the canned tomatoes with you hands (keeping all the juices) and add to the pot
• Add salt
• Reduce heat to low and let simmer while you make and cook the pasta
• Add some pasta water if the sauce thickens while simmering
• Add the shrimp to the sauce 5-7 minutes before you plan on serving

Making the pasta:
There are two options for making the pasta, using a pasta maker or rolling by hand:

Pasta Maker:
If you are like TWSF and  have a pasta maker you've probably done this before. Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer.

The second time making pasta was Much easier

For the rest of you who don't have a pasta maker...

• Cut the dough ball in half 
• Roll out the dough from the middle with a rolling pin, flipping it occasionally, and flouring it as necessary to keep it from sticking
• Try to work the dough into a rectangle-ish shape about the thickness of a nickle. The width of the rectangle will be the length of your pasta.
• Roll the sheet of dough up into a tube, then slice the tube into rounds of the desired width of the pasta
• Repeat with the other half of the pasta dough
• The dough can be dried and stored in tupperware for up to 4 days

Cooking the pasta:

• Add a handful or two of pasta to a large pot of salted boiling water
• This Rich Man's pasta will cook VERY fast, 2 minutes or less, monitor closely
• Remove pasta from water with slotted spoon and add to the sauce pot
• Repeat this process until you have cooked all of the pasta
• Serve the pasta and garnish with freshly grated Parmesan and fresh basil

TWSF will admit that making homemade pasta and sauce can be labor intensive and a bit frustrating in the beginning, but the satisfaction of eating fresh pasta is defiantly worth the effort.You'll never want to go back to the box.