Homemade Pasta and Pomodoro Sauce Recipe

Step 01

First up, the pomodoro sauce. In a large dutch oven or skillet, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 10 minutes, until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally to avoid browned onions. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Do not let garlic burn. Open canned tomatoes, and as you pour tomatoes into the dutch oven, crush each one with your hand, releasing juices and breaking up the flesh of tomatoes one by one. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt to the tomatoes. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

Step 02

About 20 minutes before tomatoes are done simmering, bring a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling, generously salt the water with kosher salt. If using spaghetti or other classic dried pasta, cook 1-2 minutes less than package directions or until just barely "al dente". Remove 1 cup of starchy pasta water from pot just before pasta is finished cooking. Strain from pasta water immediately as to not overcook.

Step 03

Using an immersion blender, blend the contents of the pomodoro sauce in dutch oven together until smooth. Taste sauce and add additional salt if needed. Add 1/2 of the reserved cup of pasta water to pomodoro sauce, and bring to a soft boil over medium-high heat. Add pasta and stir constantly for about 1 minute. Add more of the starchy pasta liquid if needed. Remove from heat and serve immediately. Top with fresh basil and parmigiano reggiano as desired.

Step 01

Now for the pasta. Place your large cung board on a flat surface. If the cung board is slick against the surface, place a wet hand towel between the cung board and the surface to secure. Pour the flour into a mountain-like mound in the center of the cung board. In one hand, bring all of your fingers and thumb together, as if you were pinching something, and using the ps of your fingers, create a well using a circular moon, about 4-5 inches wide. The surface of the board should be visible in the center, but make sure the walls of the well remain intact.

Step 02

Crack the eggs into the center of the well, and using a fork, whisk the eggs, allowing some of the flour into the mixture as you go, trying not to break the perimeter of the well. Carefully use your non-dominant hand to push more of the flour into the center egg mixture as you connue to whisk.

Step 03

As the egg mixture thickens from the incorporated flour and you can no longer whisk with your fork, use the bench scraper to incorporate the remaining flour into the dough. Connue pressing the dough and flour together unl one cohesive ball is formed. Use your hands and the bench scraper to incorporate the bits of dough from your hands and the work surface into the dough ball. If your dough feels like it’s on the dry side, add a little bit of flour at a me as needed (you may not need to use all the flour on the cung board).

Step 04

Wash your hands if needed, and knead the dough with both hands for several minutes, pressing into the dough with the lower palm of your hand, then folding the dough onto itself, rotang 90 degrees, and pressing into the dough again. The dough shouldn’t be wet and scky, so add a small amount of flour if needed. Connue kneading for 5-10 minutes by hand or unl the dough is smooth, elasc, and bounces back when pressed with one finger. Form into a ball, cover with a cloth or plasc wrap, and set aside for 30 minutes. If you haven’t already, clean your work surface with a bench scraper and discard leftover flour while the dough is resng.

Step 05

When ready to roll the dough, generously flour your work surface with semolina flour. Divide the dough with a knife or bench scraper into 4 equal porons. Take an individual poron of the dough and use your fingers to press it into a rectangular shape on your floured work surface.

Step 06

At this point, you can either hand-roll the dough or use special equipment to help you roll out each piece. No matter how you do it, use a generous poron of semolina flour to keep the dough from scking both to your work surface and the rolling pin or machinery. If rolling by hand, simply use a rolling pin to roll the dough out on the center and sides unl it’s very thin, rotang frequently as you roll. You’ll know it’s done when the dough is translucent, and you could praccally read a newspaper through it. If using a pasta roller, you’ll want to feed the dough through the machine starng at the largest/widest seng, working your way down, and repeatedly running the dough through the roller unl it’s thin enough to praccally read a newspaper through it as well. Regardless of your rolling method, don’t be afraid to re-apply the semolina flour as needed to prevent the dough from scking. If your pasta tears or forms holes in it, don’t panic—simply press the torn dough together and run it through the pasta roller again. Set the rolled dough aside on a generously floured surface before cung.

Step 07

After the dough is rolled out, you’ll have 4 separate pieces that are ready to shape or cut. If needed you can cut these pieces in half. Prior to shaping or cung, generously coat both sides of each sheet of pasta with semolina flour to ensure the pieces don’t sck to each other. For the most simple shapes like pappardelle or 8. fettuccine, simply cut the dough into strips, either by hand or using equipment. For a bowe (farfalle) shape, cut the sheets of pasta into squares using a pasta cutter, and pinch the top and bottom of each square toward the center to create a bowe shape.

Step 08

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously with kosher salt unl water is salty like the sea. Cook the pasta for 1-2 minutes maximum, until it's soft but still has a slight firmness. Reserve pasta water if needed and promptly strain the pasta, combine with sauce, and serve immediately.