Spaghetti

I have always loved cooking. When I was in elementary school, I taught myself how to cook because my mother hated cooking and my dad worked too late to cook dinner. I started with spaghetti. It wasn’t much, but it was homemade. I eventually taught myself more and more and soon I found the process rather fun. I learned a lot about other cultures and about the endless processes behind the produce on the shelves. Now I look back and I can’t help but be grateful for it all, because cooking is one of my favorite things in the world.

This is my recipe for spaghetti:

Ingredients:

(Sauce)

Olive oil

Fennel seeds

Celery seeds

Red pepper flakes

Black Pepper

Dried Marjoram

Garlic

Onion

Fennel

Whole Peeled Tomatoes (canned)

Basil Sprig

(Pasta)

4 eggs

6 egg yolks

600g “00” flour

Instructions:

[FYI, I don’t cook with a lot of measurements, so you’re just going to have to use your gut and your palate, and I also salt to taste as I go.]

Heat a good amount of Olive oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven. Bloom the fennel seeds and celery seeds in the oil followed by the ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, and the dried marjoram. Next add a couple smashed cloves of garlic, peeled. The spices/herbs should become fragrant at the same time as the garlic. Next add about one chopped onion and one chopped fennel bulb (more or less depending on size). Once they have sweated down, add the 12 oz can of tomatoes, lightly hand crushing them, and the sprig of basil. Leave to simmer on the stove for at least a couple of hours, covered.

Now, to make the pasta, make a well on the counter with the flour and add the eggs to the center. Now beat the eggs till homogenous and then slowly start incorporation the sides of the well. Once the dough in the center is the consistency of a thick batter, pile the rest of the flour into the dough and begin kneading. Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, discarding the scraps that do not fully incorporate. Once the dough is ready, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least thirty minutes and up to two hours.

Once the dough is just about done resting, remove the sauce from the heat, take out the basil sprig, and puree. Return the sauce to the stove to keep warm. Now divide the dough into 6-10 portions depending on the desired pasta length. Roll out the dough by hand, first, before passing it through the pasta machine at the widest setting. Laminate the dough by folding it back on itself like a broacher and running it through the pasta machine again. Do this process a total of three times before moving on. Now begin the process of thinning the dough. Gradually decrease the width of the machine until the dough is the desire thickness. Once the desire thickness is achieved, trim the dough and then cut it either by hand, or by running it through a cutting attachment. Copiously flour the pasta to prevent it from sticking.

Now bring a large pot of water to a boil and then heavily salt it. Add the pasta to the water for one to two minutes until al dente. Immediately remove the pasta from the water and add it to the sauce. Remove the sauce from the heat immediately and serve. Top with freshly grated parmesano reggiano and/or freshly chopped parsley.