Handmade Pasta with Asparagus and Cream Sauce

I highly recommend having a pasta roller/pasta machine when making pasta from scratch. It's a delicious and easy way to ensure you have the freshest pasta. The first time I made this dish, I had to hand-roll out the pasta and while it tasted delicious, it was quite thick. If you need to hand-roll the dough, make it tissue-paper thin (break it into smaller batches if you have limited counter space).

The pasta recipe is courtesy of Jamie Oliver.

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Handmade Pasta with Asparagus and Cheese Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:

600 grams/4 1/2 cups of super fine flour

6 organic eggs or 12 egg yolks

1 bunch of fresh asparagus

creamy cheese sauce of your choice or see below

10-12 leaves of fresh sage, chopped

1/4 Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper, to taste

extra virgin olive oil

1. Using a food processor, mix the two ingredients together until you have something that resembles damp breadcrumbs.

2. Lightly flour your work surface and then bring the dough together using your hands. Knead the dough until it begins to soften. This will take some time and muscle. Just keep going until it starts to feel very silky. If the dough is too damp, bring in some of the flour. If it's too dry, add a touch of water. It's much better to be too damp so I err on the side of one extra yolk.

3. Once the dough is silky and brought together, wrap in plastic and set in the fridge to chill for at least a half hour.

4. Set a large stockpot of water to boil. Salt the water and cover.

5. Wash the asparagus and snap off the bottoms where the stalks naturally break. Cut each stalk into 3-4 pieces. Cutting on the diagonal makes the cuts look pretty.

6. When your dough is ready, run your dough through the pasta roller at the widest setting and then fold the dough in half and run it through again. Repeat 3-4 times to just soften the dough. Then roll it out, making it narrower with each run until its very thin. Flour when necessary very lightly to keep the dough workable. Using a knife, cut your own noodles to your desired width. Shake them up to break them apart. If rolling out by hand, use a similar method but be sure to make the dough even and very thin.

7. When the water is boiling, add both the asparagus and the noodles. Cover. Allow to cook for 1 to 2 minutes. 

8. While the pasta is cooking, heat your sauce. Add the fresh sage, salt and pepper.

9. Drain the pasta and asparagus. Toss with your sauce. Plate the mixture and top with the Parmesan cheese as well as a small drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

*Creamy Cheese Sauce

I tend to make my own cream/cheese sauce and each time it changes a little. A favorite is 1 tablespoon of butter, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup creme fraiche, handful of shredded fontina cheese, salt, and pepper. Melt it all together and add in an egg yolk at the end just before tossing with the pasta. Delicious!