Getting down to business

Generally, I don't watch cooking shows. I'm in too much trouble collecting recipes already. Oh, sure, I'll stop and watch an episode of "Good Eats" if it happens to be on opposite a "CSI: NY" episode I've already seen. I might pause in my champion channel surfing if I hear someone utter a magic phrase such as "now add the melted chocolate..." or there's an immensely appealing visual. But I never actively seek them out, which is why this next recipe is an anomaly in my collection.

A few years ago, on a dreary Sunday afternoon, I lay on the family room floor, aimlessly flipping channels and avoiding all sense of productivity. It was that awful time of year, when football season was over and baseball hadn't started yet. I was giving each of our 107 channels approximately two seconds to catch my attention when I heard the magic phrase: "homemade pasta."

This magic phrase coincided with both an immensely appealing visual of fresh eggs being cracked into a large pile of flour, and my recent receipt of a pasta machine. I hadn't tried the machine out yet and I was more than happy to get a televised demonstration from what appeared to be an Italian grandmother. It was: The show was "Ciao Italia" and the host was getting a fettucine lesson from her mother. At the end, they tossed the pasta in a walnut-parsley sauce, the mom sent the host (and probably the crew) off with plenty of noodles to take home, and I copied down the show's Web address.

I have made fresh egg pasta many times since, usually a mixture of 4 c. flour and six eggs. This makes about 2 pounds; it takes forever, but it's too good to make only a pound at a time, and the results don't suffer any if I use the food processor to make the dough (I do it in two batches). The walnut-parsley sauce, however, was on the back burner until this weekend.

The original recipe for the walnut-parsley sauce dressed a pound of fettucine. As I mentioned, I make 2 pounds at a time, and we cook at least 1.5 right away. My first thought was to double the recipe, then I realized that might be too much sauce. Then I took a closer look at the ingredients and decided I was just going to have to mess with it.

The original started with 2/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil, which didn't seem like a big deal until I measured it out. But doubling it brings you to 1 1/3 c., which is insane, even for heart-healthy olive oil. So I went with just under 1 c. The garlic I upped from three to five cloves -- well, four, but one was gigantic, a big, big clove -- and the walnut and parsley I increased to 1 1/3 c. each.

I sauteed the garlic in the olive oil, then Will stirred in the walnuts and parsley. At this point, the fresh pasta went into boiling water elsewhere on the stove; it cooks in about three minutes, so it's done just before the walnut-parsley sauce, which cooks in five. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce.

THE VERDICT: Fast. Simple. Tasty. But, too much oil and not enough garlic -- I pressed it instead of mincing and I think the flavor got lost. Keith, who apparently had his heart set on tomato sauce, wouldn't eat it until we offered him Parmesan on top. Alex, with the unfathomable logic of the 6-year-old, said, "I don't know about this sauce... This pasta is tasty because the sauce is so good." He also liked Parmesan on top. Will said he likes walnuts with pasta and said he'd eat it again. I have to make some more adjustments for next time. An easy keeper.



Walnut-Parsley Sauce
adapted from "Ciao Italia"
3/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
5 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/3 c. chopped walnuts
1 1/3 c. minced parsley
grated Parmesan (optional)

Heat oil in deep skillet or wide saucepan. Saute garlic until golden. Stir in walnuts and parsley. Cook five minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss with pasta.