Homemade Pasta & Bolognese Sauce
I was craving fancy spaghetti and meatballs and realized that I can make both from scratch! Writing down some notes that I learned in making this. Scroll down to go directly to recipe.
Flour
There are three types of flour you can use: "00" Flour is basically the fancy Italian flour that is perfect for pasta making. I've never used this simply because it's not available at my local grocery, but will definitely try it next time. Semolina Flour is courser in texture also mainly used in pasta. Lastly, the classic All-Purpose Flour that you can use in almost anything.
For this recipe, I combined all-purpose and semolina and used semolina for dusting later on.
I made the pasta dough the night before so work doesn't pile up.
I stared rolling and cutting pasta when there was about 45 mins left in the Bolognese simmer timer.
Bolognese Sauce
I mainly followed Foodwishes.com's recipe for this one. I didn't include carrots and doubled the meat seasoning. After tasting this, I felt like it's missing garlic so I recommend adding a few cloves and mix with the onion and celery.
This is relatively easy but takes a really long time to make. Expect to cook (simmer) for at least 3 hours (I simmered for 4hrs).
Equipment
For the pasta, I used a stand mixer for kneading and a pasta roller and cutter attachment for the dough. I've tried hand kneading a few times and it's not hard to do, just a little time consuming.
I used a food processor for dicing and for crushing tomatoes. This is of course optional since you can do it the classic way (knife for dicing and hands for crushing).
Recipe
PASTA
serves 4 | prep: 15 mins for dough, leave overnight, 30 mins for rolling/cutting
Ingredients
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups flour semolina flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsps sea salt (+ 2-4 tbsp later for the pasta water)
Directions
Add all ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Knead the dough on low speed (KitchenAid- speed 2) until smooth and elastic. This took me about 10 mins and had to add 1 tbsp of water while kneading because the dough was too dry.
Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and leave in counter for for 20 mins before refrigerating overnight.
Cut dough into 4 wedges; keep 3 pieces wrapped in plastic.
Press down the dough wedge into a rectangle thin enough to fit the pasta roller. Dust dough with semolina flour and run dough twice through the pasta attachment using the thickest setting (KitchenAid - size 1 / speed 2). Dust with semolina whenever it feels sticky.
Run pasta through roller twice per setting, the goal is to reach size 4 (which means you have to run pasta at least 8 times. I usually end up running dough 10-12 times)
Cut pasta sheets in half lengthwise and sprinkle with more semolina. Let dry in counter while you repeat steps 4 and 5 with the remaining wedges of dough.
Run each sheet through the fettuccine cutter attachment (KitchenAid - speed 5) and dust with more semolina. Make a nest shape and place in floured board. I usually wait around 10 mins before i cook it to make sure it's dry.
Cook the pasta in a large pot of generously-salted boiling water until it is al dente, usually between 1-4 minutes. My clue is once the pasta floats, I wait 20-30 seconds more then i drain water and mix pasta to bolognese sauce.
Note: when you roll your dough and your sheet creates holes (like photo below), don't worry, just fold your sheet in half, make sure it's floured and not sticky, and run it again in the roller until you rid of all holes.
BOLOGNESE SAUCE
serves 4 | prep: 20 mins | cook: 30-40 mins | step 5 simmer: 4-6 hours
Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 whole onion, finely diced
1/2 cup finely diced celery
salt, pepper, cayenne nutmeg to taste
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)
2 cups white wine ( I used dry chardonnay)
28 ounce canned whole Italian plum tomatoes
Parmesan reggiano and Basil to garnish
(I would also add 2 cloves of garlic)
Directions
Melt butter with olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; cook onion, garlic (see note above), and celery until onion turns translucent.
Stir ground beef into vegetables and cook, stirring constantly. Season meat salt, pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg.
Pour milk into ground beef mixture and bring to a simmer. Cook and stir until you reach sauce texture. Raise heat to medium high and pour white wine. Cook and stir until you again reach saucy texture.
Pour tomatoes can to food processor and mix until you reach desired sauce texture (recipe suggests chunky texture but i opted for watery texture). Pour tomatoes into the saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until mixture cooks down into a thick sauce, at least 3 hours but preferably 3 to 6 hours.
