Back when I was a kid, we’d often pile in the car and take the 4-hour drive from Charleston, SC up to my grandparents’ house upstate. My grandparents lived in a small town, and they had a ton of land. For a little boy with a big imagination, this was pretty much my heaven. I spent the days roaming the backyard pretending that pirate’s treasure was buried out there somewhere. When I needed a break from treasure hunting, I could always go pick as many wild blackberries as I could possibly want. (I’m pretty sure my grandmother ended up baking a blackberry cobbler almost every night!) But one of my favorite memories of those summer trips was going fishin’ with grandpa.
My grandfather had a small fishing boat that he kept down in the barn, and he was always more than willing to take a day off of work and “run me down to the lake.” Sometimes we would just fish from the shore at a nearby pond, but more often than not, we’d head out to Lake Hartwell to fish for bream and crappie. Then we’d come home and have fresh fish for dinner…along with that aforementioned blackberry cobbler, of course! Although I haven’t been fishing in many years, I still have very fond memories of those warm summer days with my grandfather on the lake.
My wife just came home from a business trip, and I wanted to surprise her with a tasty date-night at home meal. I cooked up the pasta and had this dinner waiting for her when she walked in from her travels. Well, to be fair, I hadn’t cooked the shrimp yet, but that wasn’t a problem at all. These shrimp go straight into the skillet from the freezer, and they’re ready in about 5-6 minutes. With tasty seafood that’s this easy to prepare at home, I definitely foresee many more weeknight meals like this coming our way. Goal: Eat more seafood?
Basil Garlic Fettuccine
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup semolina flour
- 2 Tbsp dried basil
- ½ Tbsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup water
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
- Using a countertop mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add all of the ingredients and mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes, or until ingredients are well incorporated.
- Increase speed to medium and continue mixing for 4-5 minutes. (Note: The dough should be firm and slightly stretchy. If it seems too tough, feel free to add a Tbsp of water. Similarly, if it seems too loose, add another Tbsp of flour.)
- Place the dough in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rest for approximately one hour.
- Working with about a quarter of the dough at a time, flatten dough into a rough rectangle about ½” thick. Roll dough through widest setting on the pasta roller. Reduce pasta roller by 1-2 settings and roll dough through again. Reduce pasta roller by 1-2 settings again and roll dough through. (Note: At this point, you should have a long piece of thin dough. Consult the instructions on your pasta machine if you have questions about how to use it.)
- Set strip of rolled dough aside and repeat process with remaining dough. (Tip: Sprinkle the tops of the rolled pieces with a bit of semolina flour to keep them from sticking together.)
- Finally, roll the flattened pieces of dough through the fettuccini cutter on your pasta machine.
- At this point, you can either cook the pasta or sprinkle it with semolina flour, place on a baking sheet and freeze. (Once frozen, you can transfer pasta into a freezer-safe bag.) When you cook the pasta, note that fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried pasta, so watch it closely!
Notes
Note: I recommend just drizzling a good olive oil over this pasta when serving. The pasta itself is packed with flavor, and I find that a sauce is not necessary.
