to make Spaghettini with Crab and Jalapeno

I have made egg noodle pasta many times over 40 years, probably with the same Atlas pasta machine. The recipes have varied as my influences have varied, but now — as a septuagenerian — I’ve settled on a go-to recipe and call it, “my pasta for we two.” After all, its just eggs, flour and a bit of water, but oh, the proportions, quality of ingredients and methods of mixing and kneading can dramatically affect the resulting noodles.

Going back, James Beard, my mentor for most things cooking, taught me to mix with a food processor, to have the eggs at room temperature and the importance of resting the dough. Most of my early pastas are his, using AP flour.

Time passes…

Bill Buford, the author of HEAT and disciple of Mario Batali taught me the mantra, “one egg, one etto.” He explained that one etto is 100 grams of flour, and later modified his mantra to, “one GOOD egg, one etto.”

I start buying eggs from pastured hens; buy me a kitchen scale and time passes…

Thomas McNaughton of flour + water taught a pasta making class at CUESA, and taught me to use “00” flour and a Kitchen Aid mixer.

I buy me a Kitchen Aid mixer, give my food processor away, and time passes.

The Kitchen Aid manual taught me the paddles and hooks and speeds to use in dough-making. Armed with information and dangerous, I got my flour and eggs together and made me some noodles.

For we Two:
BASIC EGG NOODLE PASTA

4 etto (400g) 00 flour or sifted AP flour
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon water

Place eggs, water and flour in the mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix for 30 seconds.
Remove flat beater and attach dough hook. Turn to Speed 2 and knead 2 minutes. Scrape down sides with a spatula as you see fit. After a few sprays of water, the dough should all came up onto the hook. Hand knead dough for 30 seconds to one minute. Cover with a dry towel and let rest 15 minutes before running through Pasta Maker. *Roll through to 7 for fettuccine… 6 is too thick and a bit tough.

Made 2.11.12 — Took over six minutes and many sprays of water to ball up, but the dough was perfect to knead, handle and roll. Spaghettini (#5 with thin cutter) cooked in a little over a minute. Tasted good, too.
Thomas McNaughton of flour + water sez: “If crumbly, add a small amount of water until dough forms a ball.” Next time, add a bit of water with the pouring beaker, then hit the spray bottle.

Spaghettini with Dungeness Crab and Jalapeños
Of course, one doesn’t make pasta just to eat; it is always combined with something, even if it’s just olive oil and garlic.

On this day, son Brian is visiting and we got a lovely cooked Dungeness Crab from Anna of our fish club, SIREN SeaSA. The great thing about Anna is that she provides tested recipes with her fish.

So, we will be dining on Spaghettini with Dungeness Crab and Jalapeños alongside a vegetable “salad” and a nice bottle of 2007 Simi Viognier.

Spaghettini with Dungeness Crab and Jalapeños
By Anna December 9, 2011
I adapted this from a Mario Batali recipe that calls for canned crabmeat. Canned crabmeat has a place in crab cakes and maybe on a salad, but in pasta…not so much. I made this with fresh picked Dungeness crabmeat and WOW, that is definitely the way to go. Picking crabmeat is a bit of a chore, but the results are worth it. I added in some lemon zest and butter because I don’t really want to eat crab without butter and lemon. Ever.

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (Not the trampy stuff)
2 Tbsp butter
6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced
1/4 cup white wine
1 pound Dungeness crabmeat
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 pound spaghettini
Salt and pepper

1. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 Tbsp salt.
2. Heat olive oil and butter over medium heat in a 14 inch sauté pan. Add garlic and sauté until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add jalapeños and wine, bring to a boil. Add crabmeat and lemon zest and remove from heat.
3. Boil spaghettini 1 minute less than stated on the package instructions. Drain in a colander over the sink.
4. Add pasta to crab mixture and return to heat. Cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute. Salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!

Cook’s notes 2.11.12 —
1) Carol has a phobia about Jalapenos or anything else spicy hot, so I substituted Mezzetta Deli-Sliced TAMED Jalapeno Peppers. Actually, those work pretty well, providing “full flavor” with “less heat.”
2) Our crab yielded 1/2 pound of crabmeat (no matter what Anna said, above.) That’s enough for we three.
3) I made egg noodle pasta. We used 3/4 pounds, just right for the amount of crab (of course it would have been just right for twice that much crab, as well).
I finished with a drizzle of Stonehouse roasted garlic olive oil on each serving.

HISTORY
BEARD’S GO-BY

All the recipes in this book were tested with all-purpose flour, because that’s the kind you can buy in your supermarket. But the best for the task is hard-wheat flour, sometimes called durum flour or pasta flour. It’s the gluten in the wheat that gives tension and elasticity to dough. Durum-wheat flour has more gluten than ordinary flour… it makes the best pasta.

Beard’s BASIC EGG PASTA
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil if using a food processor

HEAT GO-BY

One GOOD egg, one etto (100 grams) flour

Thomas McNaughton of flour + water go-by:
CUESA Class 5.10
Fresh Pasta Dough

1 cup “00” flour
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1 pinch of salt
Spray bottle with water

Combine all ingredients in a mixer with a dough hook attachment. Mix [speed 2] until dough comes together. If crumbly, add a small amount of water until dough forms a ball. Be careful not to add too much water, or dough will become sticky and unworkable.

Wrap dough in plastic and let it rest for 20 minutes.
“The more you work the dough, the better – at least five minutes. Inside of dough should not stick to your finger.”

Rolling the Dough.
Cut dough into 4 pieces. Take one piece and reserve the rest in plastic. Roll the first piece with a rolling pin so it will fit into the #1 setting on your machine. Run through #1 several times, folding in half each time. Set aside to rest and cover with plastic wrap.
Repeat.
Roll the first piece through #2 etc. Roll through each setting twice.

Cook’s notes 8.10 — Double recipe made 1#2oz. dough ball, divided in 4, used 1 1/2 for dinner. Used dough hook only as it says… took a long time and many sprays of water to mix. Pasta, after resting and kneading very smooth and elastic. Good. Kitchen Aid sez to start with paddle, then switch to dough hook. Served with Jannie Keystone pasta. Stored 2 1/2 “slabs in fridge for later use.
Used 1 1/2 slabs for pappardelle w/Asian Pork Yum

KITCHEN AID GO-BY
BASIC EGG NOODLE PASTA

3 1/2 cups sifted AP flour
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon water

Place eggs, water and flour in the mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix for 30 seconds.
Remove flat beater and attach dough hook. Turn to Speed 2 and knead 2 minutes. Hand knead dough for 30 seconds to one minute. Cover with dry towel and let rest 15 minutes before extruding through Pasta Maker.

Cook’s notes 12.30.10 — 4 etto of “00” flour, 4 egg, 3 pinch salt, 1Tablespoon water… spray bottle… started with paddle for 20 seconds, then dough hook on speed 2. After a few sprays of water, the dough all came up onto the hook. Mahvelous… smooth and EZ to work. Made 6 portions. Used 2 portions for fettuccine. Rolled out the other 4 portions and refrigerated.
*Roll through to 7 for fettuccine… 6 is too thick and a bit tough.
made 2nd batch of two portions 1.5.11, served LO beef stew over noodles. Rolled to 7… great.
4 egg batch is too much for we two.

So… go get yourself some flour and some eggs and make yourself some pasta.