Twist and spout.

As you might guess, I'm an easy person to get gifts for -- if I can cook it, eat it, or use it to cook something to eat, I'm happy as a clam. You may remember one of my Christmas gifts last year -- my very own stand mixer. So treasured is my prized possession that when people (frequently) say, "Oh! your green mixer matches your green kitchen," I quickly correct them, "No, my kitchen matches my mixer."

This year Nick's family got me the crown jewel of attachments I've had my eye on since before I got the mixer itself: the pasta extruder. Bolted to my little workhorse, this gem squeezes pasta dough through plates that generate different shapes and sizes: spaghetti, bucatini, macaroni, fusilli, and rigatoni, and a little cutting wire pivots to slice off pieces of pasta. The tool combines my before-I-can-remember love of pasta with excellent childhood playtime memories (remember this?).

If you are fortunate enough to have the equipment but are intimidated by making fresh pasta, fear not! I found a dozen recipes and instructions that either contradicted each other or seemed otherwise to require special incantations to get to work ("don't add ANY water!" / "the eggs must measure exactly 7/8 c!"), so I shut my eyes and attempted an average of them all.

2 c semolina flour + 2 c all-purpose flour + 4 eggs + 1 t salt + a drizzle of cold water

(Just mix the flour and salt, then add the eggs one by one until incorporated. Drizzle water -- you won't need much.) 

The dough was indeed very dry and crumbly looking (top photo), but it clumps together -- as the recipes say -- when you force it into walnut-sized lumps (bottom photo). In the end, the extruder forces all the bits to come together to make beautiful pasta. Between all my squealing, clapping, and photographing, I managed to remember to cut the lengths about the same as the dough squeezed through at an impressive clip. The first few were a bit wiggly, but they were a cinch after the first couple came through. Just relax and let the machine do the work! The result is absolutely worth it -- a toothsome, hearty noodle; the perfect vehicle for a tasty sauce. And it's so fun to watch:

Nick's sister was in town visiting after Christmas, so it was the perfect time to test out my new toy. An excellent cook herself (and fond Fun Factory veteran), Em prepared a dish she loves, inspired by shrimp fra diavolo. We all love spice, and the sriracha in her version adds not only heat but a pleasant bite of acid from the vinegar. We made fusilli, and the deep ridges in the corkscrews perfectly trapped the flavorful sauce.

I was thrilled with the result -- but as they say, making fresh pasta is both art and science, and I look forward to perfecting the dough recipe through many reps.

*

Em's Shrimp Fra "Thai-"avolo
(Serves 4)

1 lb shrimp, cleaned, peeled, and de-veined
1/2 large onion, diced
1/2 large bell pepper, diced
1/2 large green pepper, diced
6 oz mushrooms, sliced
olive oil
salt
cayenne pepper
basil
oregano
Sriracha sauce
half a jar of vodka sauce
12-16 oz fresh fusilli
chopped cilantro

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cook for about 2-3 minutes, seasoning with salt, cayenne pepper, basil, oregano, and Sriracha sauce -- just so everybody gets some (maybe 1/2 t cayenne, 1 T basil, 2 t oregano, 2-3 T Sriracha?), and the flavor is the way you like it. (You can always adjust.)

After the shrimp has cooked for a few minutes, add the vegetables and continue to saute, adjusting seasoning if necessary, another 5 minutes until tender. Add vodka sauce and heat through. Toss with freshly cooked pasta (the moment it's drained) and serve.