Good morning. I’m telling you to make your own pasta this weekend and I understand that, for some, the command will lead to rolled eyes, to sighs and protestations. Fresh pasta seems like such a pain.
But it isn’t. Melissa Clark’s recipe, which combines flour, eggs, egg yolks and a little olive oil into a springy, rich, fantastic dough that you can roll out by hand and knife into ribbons, is dead simple to make. It’s an hour’s work at most and delivers incredible returns when you use it for her pasta primavera with asparagus and peas (above). The soft chewiness of the ribbons against the not-quite crispness of the gently cooked vegetables? Perfection.
Featured Recipe
Pasta Primavera with Asparagus and Peas
You’ll need some resting time for the dough. There’s no instant satisfaction in the fresh pasta game. So plan accordingly: a morning at the market getting your vegetables, followed by lunch (egg salad sandwiches!), the initial kneading of the dough, a little nap, the rolling and cutting of the pasta, some time outside doing something springlike and enjoyable, and then the preparation and consumption of dinner, in advance of a screening of, say, “Road House” on Amazon Prime. Weekends are awesome.
It’s so great to have asparagus back. I love it in Melissa’s pasta, and in Yotam Ottolenghi’s grilled asparagus with miso and olives as well. Susan Spungen has a great recipe for sheet-pan pizza with asparagus and arugula. Kay Chun stir-fries asparagus with tofu and loads of black pepper.
