Who doesn’t love a fresh pasta dish you can make at home, that disguises itself as something you’d order at a fine dining restaurant? Well this is one that is simple, can be made relatively quick and will have your friends and family questioning if you carried in while they weren’t looking. Fresh pasta is not necessary to make this dish, however it’s not as tough or time consuming as some might think. With a few great kitchen gadgets, which I would highly recommend, you can start cranking out homemade pasta in no time. There are tons of attachments for the KitchenAid Stand Mixer that make pasta making incredibly simple!
How to make basic egg pasta dough
Making dough from scratch can scare some people, but it’s actually quite simple. There are thousands of different recipes for making all kinds of doughs, utilizing every kind of flour, and there’s no one right way to do it! This however, is a very simple recipe for basic egg pasta dough. My son, Ezra, is 3 years old, and he loves to make pasta with me at home. If Ezra can do it, so can you!
In a food processor, combine .375 pounds of All-Purpose Flour and .375 pounds of Semolina Flour (don’t worry if all you have is AP Flour, that’s fine and this will still work to make great pasta). Take 4 eggs out of your refrigerator and bring them to room temperature. Mix together 3 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk until well combined. With the flour in your food processor and motor running, slowly add the egg mixture through the top until well combined, about 30 seconds or so. Lastly, go ahead and add 3 Tablespoons of room temp water to your running food processor. And that’s it!
Take your dough out of the food processor and kneed it on a well floured surface for at least 5 minutes. Go to town on your dough ball!!! It should be pliable but not sticky once finished. Roll into a nice ball and place into a well oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap for at least 30 minutes until you’re ready to extrude or cut your pasta!
If using an extruder or pasta press, simply follow the attachment instructions to pass the pasta through. You can see in this picture that Ezra is killing it with his pasta game! We’re using the KitchenAid Pasta Press with the Bucatini attachment to make long hollow noodles that trap the pesto!
No one Pesto is the Besto!
Just as there are thousands of pasta dough recipes, there are even more pesto recipes! I love pesto, and I have a ton of variations of how I make my pesto, but this one has a little bit of a kick. I think a spicy pesto really helps compliment the eggplant in this dish!
Regardless of what Pesto you decide to make, the key is to make sure your basil is as fresh as possible. We usually have basil growing in our backyard year-round, but for this batch I made it with the basil we were growing inside the house! This basil came from our hydroponic Aerogarden. It was so simple to grow and easy to care for. Also, with it being over 110 degrees in Phoenix, I didn’t even have to brave the heat to pick it!
Bucatini with roasted eggplant and pistachio and jalapeno pesto
Equipment
- Food Processor or Blender for Pesto
Ingredients
Simple Pistachio and Jalapeno Pesto
- 2 cup basil
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- .5 cup Freshly grated parmesean cheese
- 1 tbsp crushed red repper flakes
- 2 tbsp pistachios
- Half Jalapeno
- .5 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
Basic Egg Pasta Dough in Food Processor
- .75 pounds 00 Flour I use .375 pounds of All Purpose Flour and .375 pounds of Semolina flour (feel free to use just AP if you don't have semolina flour)
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tbsp water room temp
Roasted Eggplant
- 1 medium to large sized eggplant
- .25 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Instructions
Pistachio and Jalapeno Pesto
- Combine basil, garlic, pistachios, jalapeno, salt and red pepper flakes in a food processor and process until finely minced.
- With the food processor running, drizzle in the oil until the mixture is smooth.
- Add in the parmesan and process just briefly until everything is combined. You don't want to over puree the cheese.
Basic Egg Pasta Dough in Food Processor
- Add flour to your food processor and with the motor running, add eggs 1 at a time.
- After all eggs have been added, go ahead and add the water, 1 tbsp at a time. You don't want the dough to be too wet, however don't worry if that's the case as you're going to kneed the dough with flour after combined.
- After full mixed in the food processor, dump your dough onto a well floured work surface (I kneed with semolina flour), and begin kneeding the dough with your palms, for about 5 minutes, until it no longer feels wet.
- Form the dough into a ball, and place in an oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and allow at least 30 minutes for your dough to rest.
- Once rested, make your pasta according to your pasta maker's instructions. For the Kitchenaid pasta extruder, choose the bucatini fitting and begin to make your homemade pasta!
Roasted Eggplant
- Peel and chop eggplant into small bite sized chunks. I like mine a little larger so cut them to about half and inch cubes.
- Mix them in a bowl with other listed ingredients and roast in a 450 degree over for about 25 minutes until they're nice and golden.
Assembly
- In a large pot, bring water to a boil.
- Add the pasta to the water, stir a few times to prevent the noodles from sticking together.
- Cook according to package directions, stirring occasionally, until al dente or softer depending on desired texture.
- In a separate pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter and once melted, add al dente pasta directly to pan. Stir to coat and add reserved pasta water 1/4 cup at a time until pasta is finished cooking.
- Stir in pesto and add roasted eggplant.
- Garnish with additional grated parmesan and microgreens.
