The Great Vegan Homemade Pasta Mushroom Ravioli Experience

My first plate of homemade vegan pasta--it was delicious!

My new homemade pasta maker--I love it!

My "second attempt" rolled-out pasta shown with my mushroom filling-how adorable and yummy is that?

Well, I did it. I bought a pasta maker. It is a manual pasta maker, and I love it! So, expect to see some very yummy pasta dishes coming to this blog soon! Now, how did it come to this. I have dreamed of making my own pasta for years--years! About thirteen years ago, my mother had an Italian friend who once made a homemade pasta for us that I thought had come directly from heaven or Italy or both. I was so taken with her pasta that I believed this woman was somehow a saint and that she would be a cook in the big sky someday and that she would be dubbed a saint or whatever that is in the world of saints. Her name was Jan: St. Jan of Pasta. So from that moment on, I said, Someday, I will make homemade pasta--how hard can this be? Plus, I have Italian in me, too!

Enter yesterday afternoon and a brief detour on my way home to a wonderful little kitchen supply store in St. Louis called: The Kitchen Conservatory. I have been to this place only a few other times--once last Christmas to pick up some much-needed stocking stuffers for my cooking girlfriends, and another time--a desperate mission to have donut making pans--that day, not the next day, but that day. I loved the place but knew that coming in with an agenda for what I needed would be helpful as the "lingering" shopping might cause me to go crazy with kitchen-wish items.

So, I walk in yesterday and immediately am approached by a friendly face who asks, Was there something I was looking for? I just stood there with a look of probably, I'll take one of everything you have, but had to hold back. I said, yes, a pasta maker, and would there be an electronic one, on top of it. When she said, yes, to the "pasta maker", but no to the "electronic" answer--I was guided to the area of the store where these are housed. And then, lo and behold, I look up between my aisle and a cooking demonstration area to find an actual Pasta Making class taking place--who knew, what are the chances?! I mean, honestly now? So, I just stared and listened--trying not to be obvious because this class was of a mother and her two children (those lucky kids!)--they paid for the class, I felt like an eavesdropper. Then, this wonderful instructor invited me back to see, and ask a few questions about the "making of pasta" with--it just so happens--the exact pasta maker I was looking at. I was a bit timid, but asked anyhow, about how the children felt about making pasta: was it hard, did they enjoy it, and was it good? At that point the ravioli they had rolled out and just boiled was being served--I then smiled and left them to enjoy their creation to read further about this possible purchase. When the class was over, the woman teaching the class came by and now that class was over answered a few more of my questions. I was hooked! No question. The only problem now was what about the main ingredient--the flour. Lucky for me, they sell the "00" wheat flour for making the pasta--imported from Italy. And I really wanted to roll out my own ravioli--what did she use? She explained that rolling it out with a formed cutter is not her preferred method, but that she likes the ravioli to have its own unique shape--looking more homemade so she uses a pizza-like roller with a wavy edge. I bought one of those and, topped it off with a silicone mat to place on my counters to prevent me from having to "over flour" my pasta making surface. I was set. Turns out the woman helping me was actually a prominent figure in the store and runs the blog on their home page called: What's Stirring. Lucky for me! I was guided to her posts for any further questions I might have about making pasta. I told her I was a vegan and that the egg option was out--she said, No problem, you'll just need water! I was thrilled! I had my pasta maker and headed home, ready for sainthood!

Again, I was a little leary of making my first pasta and read a few blogs about pasta making before attempting anything. I also had several cookbooks on pasta making. I even had a new vegan cookbook that used silken soy and other soy stuffs to make the pasta dough. I stuck with the "just add water" idea and went to What's Stirring blog for insight. Aside from the added egg, there was also a bit of olive oil. I began my experiment. It was 4:00 o'clock. By 5:00 o'clock I was cursing the machine and my stupid ideas--I became emotional and begged my husband for help--something wasn't working. My pasta was too thin, goopy and not appearing to be of the ravioli sort. He, being a scientist took a look at a few things and said, This is not rocket science, quit looking at cookbooks and just follow your instincts--it's just dough. And after my hissy fit and my first ruined batch of pasta in the trash, I set out for a second attempt. This time--I did it, and just by feel and no measurements at all! It worked--my husband is so smart! I made my first ever homemade vegan ravioli pasta! This is a very big deal to me, so I hope this inspires others to attempt making homemade vegan pasta--it is like heaven in the mouth--truly! I loved it.

A few hints--it's okay to screw up the first batch. I am not perfect (and it is hard for me to admit this). So I share my story to inspire you. The second hint--without egg, the pasta will look very pale. I remembered reading once somewhere that to add a yellow hue to a vegan pasta, you could add a pinch of tumeric--brilliant idea, but I honestly cannot remember where I read this. Third--never, never get your pasta machine wet--wipe with a dry cloth! (It tells you that in the instruction booklet, but it bears repeating--we are such a clean freak society, honestly.) So, that said, here is my not-so-exact recipe for your own vegan pasta!

Homemade Vegan Pasta: Mushroom Ravioli

1 cup of semolina flour (if you can get the "00" kind, do it!--if not, I don't know what to tell you--maybe regular semolina)
1/4 cup water plus more (enough water to bring the dough together--use your hands!)
1/8 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon olive oil, maybe a bit more--just feel it

First, prep your marinara. You know, like 6-7 cloves of garlic, some olive oil--4 tablespoons, some cans of fire roasted tomatoes (2) and red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, basil, oregano--maple syrup to take away the tang taste--whatever else you'd like. Just let this simmer. Next, prep your mixture for filling the ravioli. I made this simple--just diced 1 package of portobello mushrooms, onion, garlic and cooked in olive oil on medium heat, then turned to low until the mushrooms release their juices. Next, set a large pan of salted water on the stove to begin heating. You will want this water boiling before you start to cook the pasta ravioli. Now, prepare the pasta dough. Place the flour in a bowl and with your hands begin to press and pull and blend with the other ingredients. When the dough forms into a ball and no longer sticks to your hands, get the pasta machine ready. Set the machine on the widest setting. You will knead the dough by running it through this setting about 10 times. Run it through, fold it in half, run it through, fold in half. The dough will magically begin to become more silky. Now, begin to run the dough through each consecutive number (making thinner and thinner pasta) until you reach your desired thin-ness. Now, for me, this is where I messed up the first time. It was stated to get the dough thin enough to read a newspaper through it--this is where I think I got hurt. I took that literally. The actual final setting I ended on was "five" for rolling out my dough and filling with my mushroom mixture for my ravioli. Lay this dough out in strips. Pile about a teaspoon of filling across making sure you make space for the top part of the other half of the pasta dough to fit over and also for room to run the ravioli cutter across. Press the edges together and sort of watch this--you might have air bubbles, but that is okay--these will work themselves out when you boil the pasta. This recipe was delicious and perfect for a first time out with my pasta-making! I cooked the ravioli in boiling water for about 3 minutes, removed it with a strainer and topped with marinara. Simple and sublime!