Pasta time

I have to confess something: there is nothing I love more than a fantastic pasta dish.  In particular, a handmade, fresh pasta dish.  So for my tribute to our trip to Italy, I wanted to make a fresh pasta in a shape native to the region and with a sauce you would find there.  Using Lidia's book as a guide, I found something that I think everyone agreed was their favorite course of the meal.  The shape native to Umbria is called strangozzi.  It's basically like a thicker, shorter linguine or spaghetti (or a shorter fettuccine basically).  What's really interesting about the dough is that it has no eggs.  Zero.  I have only made pasta a couple times, but each time it required an egg.  And contrary to what you may think, the pasta was light with great chew and did a fantastic job complementing the herby, tomatoy, bacony sauce.

Fresh marjoram

The  key for the sauce, I have to say, was the fresh marjoram.  It gave that kind of other wordly, unique edge that I was looking for - it reminded me a lot of the food we ate while in Italy.  If you can't find fresh marjoram, then substitute with dried, but only use about half as much.  I started the sauce earlier in the day and just let it simmer for a while.  Making the pasta takes a little time, but it's not hard.  You kind of develop a knack for it as you hand roll and cut the strangozzi.  Kevin and I did it together and it was just a nice way to spend an afternoon.  PLEASE try this.  I can't speak highly enough about it.

Strangozzi with Tomato Bacon Sauce

Strangozzi
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (or double 00 if you have it), plus more for working the dough
1 3/4 cups fine semolina flour, plus more for working the dough
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups ice water, plus more as needed

Directions
1.  In the bowl of a food processor, place the flour and salt, cover it with the top.  Pulse a few times to blend and aerate the dough.
2.  With the motor running, slowly add the ice water through the funnel.  The dough is ready when it begins to gather around the blade.  It will be slightly sticky to touch.  It should form a ball easily.  Add more flour or water (if it is too wet or dry) as necessary.
3.  Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead by hand a few times until it's smooth, soft, and stretchy.  Nigella once said it should feel like a baby's bottom - and she's right it kind of does.  Form it into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest for about a half hour at room temperature.  You can refrigerate it up to a day or freeze up to a month.
4.  Cut the dough into six equal pieces.  I cut the disk in half, then cut each half into thirds, with a lightly floured bench scraper.
5.  Using a pasta roller (I use and recommend the pasta roller attachment for the Kitchenaid mixer), began to roll out each piece.  Pass each section through "1" setting two times.  Then pass each one through the "2" setting once, and the "3" setting once.  That should do it.  If using a different roller, then you want to end up with the sheets about 1/8" thick.  Place each strip on a lightly floured surface or a sheet pan and cover each one loosely with a kitchen towel.  Let them dry out under the towel for about 20-30 minutes.
6.  Now it's time to form the strangozzi.  Lay a strip in front of you, trim the edges to make it an even-ish rectangle of sorts.  Roll up the sheet from the short side, almost like forming like a jelly roll.  If your machine forms wider strips, you would then roll up from both ends and meet in the middle, forming a long scroll of sorts.
7.  With a sharp and lightly floured knife, cut the jelly roll into pieces at a 1/4" interval.  Once done cutting a roll into pieces, using your floured hands, shake out the rolls so that they become long strands.  Place the cut strangozzi into six nests or piles (one for each sheet of dough) on a floured half sheet pan.  Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for about another 10 minutes.
 8.  Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.  Cook two nests at a time: place both nests in the boiling water and stir gently.  When they are done they will float to the top.  It only takes a few minutes (5 minutes at most), be patient.  Scoop the cooked strangozzi out of the water using a strainer or wire spider and put them into a waiting, large skillet that has 2 cups of heated tomato bacon sauce (recipe below).  Toss everything together over low heat and serve in warm bowls with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some chopped fresh parsley.

Tomato Bacon Sauce
Ingredients
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 medium carrot, roughly chopped
1 medium stalk celery, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
4 slices of thick cut bacon, diced
3 tablespoons of olive oil
two 28-oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
3 tablespoons loosely packed fresh marjoram, chopped finely
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (peperoncino)
1 teaspoon of kosher salt

Hand crushed San Marzano plum tomatoes

Directions
1. Place the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in a food processor, cover, and process until finely minced.
2. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat for a few minutes.  Pour in the oil and then add the bacon slices.  Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until all their fat has been rendered.
3. Add the minced vegetables and stir everything together.  Cook out the liquid in the vegetables over medium heat for about 6-8 minutes.  Sprinkle in the peperoncino.
4. Once the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pan, add the crushed tomatoes, their juices, the marjoram, and the salt.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer.  Cook the sauce, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes.  You want a lot of the water to evaporate and to make a sauce that will cling to the pasta well (basically the consistency of a jarred marinara sauce).