"Life is a combination of magic and pasta." Federico Fellini

Spoken like a true Italian! This quote takes on a whole new meaning after my recent visit to Italy. Honestly, I never really appreciated pasta; it was just something to fill me up that went along with the sauce. However, I now realize that the pasta should be the base of the dish and with the addition of just a few fresh ingredients and some good quality olive oil, you can have a mouth watering result.




A typicaly italian meal will consist of L'antipasto, Il Primo, Il Secondo, and Il Dolce, possibly complemented by a choice or two from Il Contorno. Needless to say, this is a LOT of food, and I can prove it by the extra squeeze in my jeans!

Most items in Il Primo, 'the first course', are pasta dishes. This is one of my favorites from Da Vincenzo in Positano. Simply made with some homemade rigatoni, sauteed eggplant and tomatoes, and topped off with goat's cheese and fresh basil. The ridges in the perfectly cooked pasta soaked up the delicious combination of tomato sauce and local olive.

Since returning to Australia, I've been obsessing over the idea of making pasta scratch. I still need to pick up a few items to make this task possible, but it will happen! Since there is a bit more work involved for this dish, I feel the need to hold off until my audience is a bit larger. Not that my fiance (feels very strange to type that) isn't worth the extra work!

Has anyone ever tried making pasta from scratch? Any tips?