Whatshot

I am not a big fan of pasta dishes and hardly ever eat it. It is a kind of emotional fear I developed when I was around eight and my auntie took me on a month long holiday to the Baltic Sea where she fed me sweet buttery pasta with sugar every day. After four weeks I returned home looking like a Michelin woman. I remember the shocked look on my mother's face when she saw me. My mother's face was enough to ward me off pasta for the rest of my life to the huge disappointment of my family.

However once in a while, home made pasta is just what the doctor ordered. I picked up this recipe while I lived in Italy when I was nineteen years old. The granny of the house, Marcella, made homemade pasta daily for her huge family. It was no big deal for her, just a part of life.

For this recipe you will need plain flour, self-rising flour, butter, milk, salt, pepper, dry parsley, mature cheddar and pecorino cheese. Two cups of fresh peas and two punnets of asparagus.

For the pasta you will need:

Two cups of self-rising flour

3 TBS boiling water

1 egg - optional

Kneed the dough until smooth and silky. Wrap in plastic and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

In the meantime steam two cups of peas and two punnets of asparagus until they are still firm and tender.

For the white sauce you will need:

25g butter

25g plain flour

600ml milk

Salt, pepper and dry parsley

Directions:

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and gradually stir in the milk to create a smooth sauce. Return to the heat and, while stirring all the time, bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 8-10 minutes and season with salt, pepper and parsley.

Grate the pecorino and mature cheddar cheese, about two cups of each cheese. Set aside.

Retrieve the dough from the fridge divide into three similar pieces. Roll out each piece of the pasta into thin sheets.

Line a baking dish with a layer of the white sauce put the first sheet of pasta on top of the white sauce. Layer with white sauce, cheese and peas and asparagus and more white sauce, place the next sheet and repeat the process for the last two sheets.

Place in a preheated oven at 180 Degrees Celsius and bake for 45 minutes. Enjoy with a tangy green salad.

MY GREEN SALAD RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 cup olive oil

* 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest and 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

* 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar

* 1 teaspoon sugar

* Coarse salt and ground pepper

* 2 heads Boston lettuce, cored and torn into bite-size pieces

* 1 head radicchio, cored and torn into bite-size pieces

* 4 scallions, thinly sliced

* 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

DIRECTIONS

1. Make vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together oil, lemon zest and juice, vinegar, and sugar; season with salt and pepper.

2. When ready to serve salad, place lettuce, radicchio, scallions, and tomatoes in a large bowl; add vinaigrette, and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Green Salad.

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