After the success (and deliciousness) of the Homemade Spinach Pasta that I made earlier this month, I decided to have another go at it and made this absolutely amazing Roasted Red Pepper Fettuccine. It is seriously delicious, if I do say so myself. Unlike dried pastas that should taste like roasted red peppers but never really does, these actually do in a nice mild, smokey kind of way. The dish on the right pairs the pasta with more sweet bell peppers and pan-seared sea scallops (no recipe). Positively delightful and wonderfully colorful.
Ingredients
2 medium red bell peppers
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
Coarse salt
Directions
First roast your peppers. If you have a gas stove, the easiest method for roasting peppers is right on the stove top. Turn a burner to the highest setting and set your pepper directly on the flame. Use a pair of tongs to turn the pepper until the skin is completely blackened. If you don’t have a gas stove, you can also char the peppers under the broiler. In this case, leave the peppers whole and turning them every few minutes until the skin is blackened.
Put the peppers in a heat-proof mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. The skin will loosen as the pepper steams, and once it’s cooled down a bit, you can easily remove the skin with your fingers. Use a small paring knife to scrape off all the blackened skin (you can run they under water, but I avoid this as it washes away some flavor). Remove any seeds and ribs and chop the peppers into manageable pieces (I just quartered them) and then place in a food processor. Puree until smooth (you should have about 1/2 cup puree).
Add eggs and yolk to puree in food processor, and process until combined. Add flour and 1 heaping teaspoon salt, and process until dough just comes together, about 20 seconds.
Transfer dough to a well-floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes, adding up to 2 tablespoons flour if dough is too sticky. Place on a piece of parchment, and cover with an inverted bowl, or wrap tightly in plastic; let rest for 1 to 2 hours. At this point, the pasta dough can be refrigerated for up to 48 hours. Let it come back to room temperature before rolling.
Divide the dough into four equal portions. Dust the portions with flour and cover with a clean dishtowel. From this point on, keep everything well-floured to prevent the pasta from sticking to itself or the roller as you work. If the dough starts to feel sticky as you roll it, sprinkle it with flour. Also sprinkle flour on any pasta you’re not working (rolled, cut or otherwise) with and keep it covered with a dishtowel.
Set your pasta machine to the thickest setting (usually marked “1”). Flatten one piece of dough into a thick disk between your hands and feed it through the pasta roller. Repeat once or twice. Fold this piece of dough into thirds, like folding a letter, and press it between your hands again. With the pasta machine still on the widest setting, feed the pasta crosswise between the rollers (see picture). Feed it through once or twice more until smooth.
Begin changing the settings on your roller to roll the pasta thinner and thinner. Roll the pasta two or three times at each setting, and don’t skip settings (the pasta tends to snag and warp if you do). If the pasta gets too long to be manageable, lay it on a cutting board and slice it in half. Roll the pasta as thin as you like to go. For fettuccine, I normally go to 6 or maybe a 7. If making sheets for lasagna, I might even go to an 8.
Cut the long stretch of dough into noodle-length sheets, usually about 12-inches. If making filled pasta or lasagna, proceed with shaping. If cutting into noodles, switch from the pasta roller to the noodle cutter, and run the sheet of pasta through the cutter. Toss the noodles with a little flour to keep them from sticking and gather them into a loose basket and cover with a towel while you finish rolling and cutting the rest of the dough.
To cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt the water, and cook the pasta until al dente, 3-4 minutes.
