pasta » Living Lou

Homemade Fresh Pasta

You would think that making homemade pasta would be this cathartic, religious type of experience, but for me, it was just a relaxing, genuinely happy hour or so in my kitchen. You see, I have made pasta before, when I was around twelve I used to make homemade pasta all the time with a friend of mine, for no reason at all. It’s kind of funny to think back to rolling out the dough on my counter and cutting and twisting these oddly shaped noodles, not really realizing what I was doing; that I was making pasta.

I haven’t made pasta for eight years, and in those eight years I have become intimidated by the idea. And then I went to the most fabulous KitchenAid Canada event “Get Attached to the Versatility of the KitchenAid® Stand Mixer” hosted by Chef Lynn Crawford, and watching her make pasta made me want to jump right in and make some too. Suddenly, making pasta seemed like something I could do again, something that would be fun.

To see more photos like this, follow me on Instagram!

And let me tell you, if you are intimidated by making pasta at home, you need to check out the Kitchenaid Pasta Press Attachment. Seriously, this thing is fool-proof. It makes homemade pasta a weeknight thing! So far I’ve only used the rigatoni shape, but I can’t wait to try the others

This is a standard recipe for your basic pasta dough. Now that I’m not intimidated by the idea, I’ll be experimenting with all sorts of different types of pastas! Stay tuned.

Basic Homemade Fresh Pasta

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp water

Directions

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine flour, eggs, salt and water on low speed.

Increase the speed slowly until a dough has formed. Knead for 2 minutes. Dough will seem crumbly, but I promise, it will come together.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10-12 minutes. To see if it needs more kneading, slash the dough with a pairing knife, if there are lots of air bubbles and pockets, continue kneading for another 2 minutes.

Let dough rest for 30 minutes under a kitchen cloth.

Cut dough into walnut sized balls and use your KitchenAid mixer and attachments as per instructions.

Have you ever tried making Homemade Fresh Pasta?

Disclosure: I was invited by KitchenAid to the “Get Attached to the Versatility of the KitchenAid® Stand Mixer” event and was given the KitchenAid® Pasta Press Attachment. The decision to post about my experience is completely my own and all opinions expressed are mine!

Pasta Salad with Grilled Vegetables and a Maison Le Grand Giveaway

It’s OK to start grilling vegetables, right? I know technically summer isn’t for another month or so, but I feel like I’ve been in the summer mindset forever – I started grilling in April!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but it will come as no surprise that I love, love, love Julia Child. I had a phase where I would watch her cooking DVDs every night, even today, I’ll put on her DVDs if I’m feeling stressed out or just need a break. But did you know that Julia Child hated grilled vegetables? She once said “There’s nothing worse than grilled vegetables!” I’m sorry Julia, but I’ll have to disagree with you on that. The grilled vegetables in this Pasta Salad add a nice smokey touch to the dish.

Along with the smokey flavour from grilling the vegetables, the other flavour element of this dish is an amazing Spicy Rosée Sauce made by Maison Le Grand. Usually pasta salad can be a heavy dish, filled with mayonnaise, but using this healthy sauce to bring the dish together was not only really easy, but also delicious.

I don’t know about all of you, but I find vegan/dairy free cooking to be pretty intimidating (confession, I have never cooked with tofu!) and with all the substitutes out there, it almost feels like cooking with your eyes closed. This Spicy Rosée Sauce literally eliminates the fear because Maison Le Grand does it for you – it’s pretty tough to make a delicious dairy-free rosée sauce but Maison Le Grand has cracked the code.

Since I loved the sauces so much, I’m so excited to give one lucky reader a selection of pesto and rosée sauces valued at $50 courtesy of Maison Le Grand.

To enter, leave a comment letting me know what your favourite Maison Le Grand product or which would you like to try? You can also earn additional entries by filling out the contest widget to increase your chance of winning!

Pasta Salad with Grilled Vegetables (serves 4-6)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 zucchini, sliced 1/4″ thick (roughly 20 rounds)
1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2′ thick rounds
1 red pepper, cut in 8 pieces
1/2 cup Maison Le Grand Spicy Rosée Sauce (or any of their rosée sauces)
1 375g box of whole wheat pasta (you can also use your favourite gluten free pasta)

For dressing:

1/2 cup Maison Le Grand Spicy Rosée Sauce (or any of their rosée sauces)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

In a large bowl, toss vegetables with spicy rosée sauce.Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Meanwhile, prepare your dressing. Whisk spicy rosée sauce with balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Slowly add olive oil in a steady stream to emulsify.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Toss with half of the dressing mixture.

Preheat grill to medium-low heat. Cook eggplant and peppers for 5 minutes per side. Slice grilled eggplant into long strips, and grilled peppers into bite sized chunks.

Next, cook zucchini for 2 minutes per side. Remove grilled vegetables and add to pasta. Toss with remaining dressing.

Give this Pasta Salad with Grilled Vegetables a try at your next barbecue, you’re vegan friends will thank you!

- Lou

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway is open to residents of Ontario and Quebec over the age of 18.
See widget for terms and conditions.

Disclaimer: I was provided with samples of Maison Le Grand’s line of pestos and rosée sauces. I was not compensated in any other way for writing this post – the decision to write about the product was my own and all opinions are 100% mine.

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

This Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is one of the simplest pasta sauces you can make and I’ve definitely been in the mood for simple these days. I’ve been trying to simplify everything whether it be enjoying simple meals or simplifying my routines, I’m a little tired from going 100 miles an hour 24/7. The thing about simplifying is that it can easily come across as just being lazy, but I think this pasta dish is the perfect example of how simplifying can lead to some stellar results and not to mention delicious flavours.

This Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce is perfect if you’re craving pasta (which let’s be honest, who isn’t craving pasta?) but feel like something different from tomato sauce, bolognese sauce or pesto sauce. Other than the addition of a teeny tiny bit of cream at the end, this sauce is extremely healthy and is made with all fresh ingredients. After all of this talk of simplifying things, you might be wondering just how is this sauce simple? Well, if I told you that all the ingredients are roasted in the oven and then pureed (in a bender or with an immersion blender) would you believe me? There is no stirring and there are no tomato splatters all over the kitchen to clean up – you don’t even have to be in the kitchen, you can sit on the couch and watch Oprah reruns…if that’s your thing.

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce (serves 4-6)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients
3 red peppers, quartered
1 onion, quartered
2 large tomatoes, quartered
3 whole cloves garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes (if you don’t want it spicy or are making this for kids, use less red pepper flakes)
2 tbsp cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place red peppers, onion, tomatoes and garlic in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Roast in the oven for 45 minutes.

Once vegetables are done roasting, remove to a blender or a pot. Add cream and puree in the blender or with an immersion blender.

Serve over whole wheat pasta with parmesan cheese.

This Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce is so simple you’ll be wondering why you hadn’t made it until now.

- Lou

World’s Best Meatballs

I know, calling this recipe World’s Best Meatballs is a huge statement. But guys, these are actually the absolute best. Maybe it’s the addition of a little sausage meat, or the Italian spices or Parmesan cheese, but whatever it is, it just works. To me, spaghetti and meatballs is probably my favourite comfort food, and I could definitely go for a little comfort right now.

I’m in a bit of a rut right now. Maybe it’s because it’s mid March and it. is. still. snowing. Or maybe it’s because I’m less than a month away from my twentieth birthday, which is a scary thought. Maybe it’s because since January I have been burning the candle from both ends. Or maybe it’s because I have five finals and seven assignments due within the next three weeks. If this was a multiple choice question, the answer would be D. All of the above.

So how does one get themselves out of said rut? I’ve been trying to spend more time doing things I love, like watching 2 hours of Dance Moms. I’ve also been trying to get back into the kitchen, my happy place. The past couple of months have been a little slow and my oven is feeling a little lonely. These meatballs are the kind of dish that will get you excited to get into the kitchen because they are so delicious – you’ll never go back to your old meatball recipe again!

World’s Best Meatballs (makes 24 med/large meatballs)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
1 lb hot Italian sausage meat
1 egg
1/4 cup flour (can easily substitute a gluten free flour here – I’ve used rice flour before.)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a baking dish with olive oil.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. I like to use my hands for this, it’s easier than with a spoon. Shape into 24 meatballs and place on the baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until fully cooked.

To make a quick, easy and delicious weeknight dinner, I like to serve my World’s Best Meatballs meatballs with my favourite Easy Spaghetti Sauce.

- Lou

Easy Spaghetti Sauce

I’m constantly in the kitchen; creating new recipes, photographing new recipes and eating new recipes – this Easy Spaghetti Sauce is a result of one of those sessions. But sometimes, when it comes to writing about the recipes, I can’t think of anything to say.

I could tell you that this spaghetti sauce doesn’t have any onion in it.

Or how when one of my profs asked how The Beatles suddenly got so much fame, I was ready to rattle off about their years in Hamburg.

I could tell you that I tore a muscle in my back and started going to massage therapy. And that I’ve come to the conclusion that massage therapy will always have a place in my heart.

Or that I have that can’t-eat, can’t-sleep, reach-for-the-stars, over-the-fence, World Series kind of stuff love for my dog. (A little It Takes Two reference for my 90s guys and gals.)

Or how scary/exciting/amazing/nice/panic inducing it is that people I know in the “real world”, people I went to high school with, people I work with, people I go to school with now, actually read my blog.

Or how sometimes I think about how I could live off of chicken wings and spaghetti.

If you’re like me, and love a good spaghetti dinner this easy recipe is for you. There is hardly any chopping involved (just a couple of cloves of garlic). There aren’t 25 ingredients. It will be ready in less than 20 minutes.

Easy Spaghetti Sauce (serves 4-6)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

In a pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

Next, add the herbs. Stirring and cooking for another minute. Add the crushed tomatoes and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Lastly, stir in the balsamic vinegar and butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spaghetti Sauce doesn’t get much easier than that. The flavours are rich and the balsamic vinegar gives it a little je-ne-sais-quois!