Learn how to make homemade pasta without a pasta machine
Who said that you need a pasta machine to make nice pasta? I have one, it is one of my favorite tools, but it is not necessary to make nice thick or thin noodles to go perfectly with any sauce. The pasta machine doesn’t play as big a role as you would imagine. The most important things are good flour, eggs, some oil, some salt, and some good kneading. Once you let the dough rest, it becomes easy to roll it and cut into any desired shape. This homemade fettuccine with mushroom ragu is a good choice for a fancier weekend meal, but also good on a weeknight. Want to know the secret ingredient? HENNESSY cognac. That’s right, Hennessy braised mushroom ragu, baby!
For this Meatless Monday, I decided to make a vegetarian wild mushroom ragu. I had a big 1 kg bag of frozen boiled wild mushrooms in my freezer. It was a mix of many mushrooms, including porcini and chanterelles. I decided to cook the whole thing because it was in one piece. The first thing was to thaw them and then to strain as much liquid as possible. In order to get frozen mushrooms brown and golden crispy, you need a really hot pan, some oil, and patience. For me to cook this big batch of frozen mushrooms into a wonderful wild mushroom ragu took about 30 minutes. To make homemade fettuccine with mushroom ragu you don’t really need that much. But the end result is an incredibly rich and hearty meal made better with freshly grated cheese on top. I am not a fan of heavy cream so I added some milk instead to get that creamy texture.
Homemade fettuccine with mushroom ragu
Ingredients
For the fresh homemade fettuccine
- 200 g pasta flour
- 2 whole eggs
- drizzle of olive oil
- pinch of salt
For the wild mushroom ragu
- ½ - 1 kg frozen mixed mushrooms
- 2 shallots
- 1 head of garlic
- 100 g butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp black pepper
- pinch of red chili flakes
- 100 ml cognac or brandy
- 100 ml water
- 100 ml milk
- 80 g grated parmesan
Instructions
To make the homemade fettuccine
- Mix together all the ingredients and knead for 5-7 minutes
- Wrap in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes
- Roll out to 2 mm thickness and roll into a log
- Cut the log into 1 cm wide strips
- Dust with more flour before loosening the pasta strands
To make the creamy mushroom ragu
- Melt the butter in a pan, add the shallots and fry for 2 minutes
- Add the garlic to the pan and fry for 2 minutes
- Add the mushrooms and sautee for 25 minutes on medium to high heat until brown and crispy
- Add the cognac and water and sautee for 2 minutes then add the milk and cook for 2 more
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and boil the pasta for 2-3 minutes
- Add to the pan with some pasta water and the cheese and toss