It’s been a while, but I’m back and I am pumping with culinary fire. With all the culinary education, fancy Michelin starred restaurants, and the pressure to achieve perfection in the kitchen, I cannot forget the simple pleasures of life like homemade pasta and sauce. This is just another night at home, debuting the luscious ingredients bursting with ripeness in California like the tomatoes and basil. I must say that I respect the French and their culinary mastery, but the Italians bring it home and never fail to remind me why exactly I love cooking so much. “Let the ingredients speak for themselves,” a statement Italian cuisine truly lives up to.
Here, I made the pasta a day ahead and floured it generously and wrapped it well, and stored it in the refrigerator. It is important to let it dry for a couple minutes right after passing it through the combs of the pasta machine, AND flour generously. I’ve learned the hard way and what took so much work making the pasta turned into a gluey inedible mess, so don’t skimp on the flour. I know I speak as if anyone has time or the patience to make homemade pasta, but I know its intimidating feat to most. I am willing to show you in more detail if you would really like to learn so you can enjoy the best pasta you have ever tasted. Just leave a comment and let me know.
Before cooking the pasta, I marinated the chopped tomatoes in olive oil, minced garlic, basil, and a little salt and pepper. I just set this aside until the pasta was done and plated it around the pasta.
Once the fresh pasta was al dente, I poured it over some fresh pesto and tossed gently to coat the pasta until it looks like a nice spinach green. I used tongs to loosely grab the pasta and twirl it on the center of the plate to give it height. Then I plated the macerated tomatoes. I finished the dish simply with a sprinkle of parmesean and pepper, a basil leaf, and some drops of extra virgin olive oil.
