Harriette Halepis Professional Writer

To make truly authentic Italian pasta sauce, you have to be shown by your nonna at a very small age. Italian sauce recipes are passed down from generation to generation, and these delicious concoctions are as layered with fresh flavor as they are beautiful to look at. Today, my friend (and reader) Cathy gifted me two jars of freshly stewed tomatoes and a bottle filled with authentic Italian pasta sauce that her mother took years to perfect.

Italian Stewed Tomatoes and Pasta Sauce

The sauce tasted exactly as it should taste — full of robust garden-fresh tomato flavor packed with the right combination of time-tested herbs and spices. I’m keeping the stewed tomatoes for our next pizza night, but judging from the sauce the stewed tomatoes are sure to make my pizza pop.

While I can’t give you the recipe for the secret sauce, I can give you the recipe for fresh pasta that I took from my Williams & Sonoma Savoring Pasta & Rice cookbook.

Fresh Pasta (adapted from Savoring Pasta & Rice):

2 1/2 cups pastry flour
4 Eggs

Mix:
Place the flour on a clean work surface (no need to use a bowl!). Make a well in the middle of the flour, and add all 4 eggs to the well. Using a fork, slowly incorporate the eggs into the flour bit by bit (being careful not to allow your flour wall to collapse). When the eggs are completely incorporated, knead the dough until it forms a rough ball.

Clean and Form:
Place the dough to the side, and clean your work surface thoroughly. Next, add a bit more flour to your work surface, and knead the dough for 8 minutes — this is tough work! Once the dough is a uniform color, cut it into three pieces, wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and set aside for thirty minutes to one hour.

Roll:
If you have a pasta machine, then you can skip this step. Otherwise, roll each piece out with a rolling pin until you can see your hand through the dough. Allow each piece to rest for 20 minutes.

Shape:
Using a sharp knife, cut the pasta into long thin strips. Meanwhile, boil a large pot of water with a bit of salt. Once the water has begun to boil, drop the pasta into the water and cook for three to five minutes — do not overcook! Fresh pasta is done cooking when it becomes pliable — a simple “al dente” taste test will help you determine whether or not the pasta is done.

Buon Appetito!