I am definitely copying and pasting many of these recipes and ideas! I love pasta and really get tired of eating meat all the time. I have a few, but am loving having more meatless pasta dishes to try! Broccoli Linguini 1 lb linguini 3 oz olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 lg bunch broccoli, finely chopped including 1-2" of stems 3/4 c chopped walnuts 1/2c pitted black olives, sliced 3 oz parmesan or romano cheese, grated Salt to taste Pepper, freshly ground Cook linguini according to package directions until "al dente", drain. Heat olive oil in large skillet and sauté garlic until golden. Add broccoli, walnuts and olives, cook and stir over medium heat until very hot. Season to taste with salt and pepper Pour over hot linguini, sprinkle parmesan over top and serve immediately (From Daytons Marketplace) This is something I came up with by trying to duplicate a pasta dish I used to love at TGI Fridays back in the 90's when their food was good! LOL [](http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=169963870) Mediterranean Pasta Marinara: 3T olive oil 1/4 c chopped onion 3 cloves fresh chopped garlic ½ tsp salt ½ tsp sugar ¼ tsp pepper 1 T dried basil 1 28\-oz can tomato puree 1/4 c dry red wine Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. 1lb cavatappi, cooked 1 oz olive oil 8 oz sliced mushrooms 1 tomato cut in large dice ½ each red and green pepper cut in large dice 12 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, quartered ½ c sliced black olives 1 tsp dried basil Pinch salt & pepper 2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped fine 4 oz mozzarella, shredded 1/3 c grated parmesan Saute mushrooms in oil, add remaining ingredients (except cheeses) and bring to simmer. Place hot cooked pasta in large serving dish, sprinkle with mozzarella, pour hot sauce over all and sprinkle with parmesan. Serve. And this one is different, but quite good, too! Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Swiss Chard and Pecorino Cheese Courtesy Giada DeLaurentis 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 onions, thinly sliced 2 bunches Swiss chard, trimmed and chopped (about 14 cups) 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices 1/4 cup dry white wine 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes Salt and pepper 8 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino cheese 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the chard and saute until it wilts, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, wine, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer until the tomatoes begin to break down and the chard is very tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Season the chard mixture, to taste, with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the spaghetti. Add the spaghetti to the chard mixture and toss to combine. Transfer the pasta to serving bowls. Sprinkle the olives, cheese, and pine nuts and serve. Linda

The Princess is amazing and I just love the time the two of you spend together. She is beautiful, hair brushed or not, and seems to just soak up everything she can from you. You are a blessing because you make the time to do things with your grandkids and you tell the love that is involved.

The Italians I have known said that pasta dishes are about the pasta, and the sauce is secondary. I make fresh pasta frequently, now that I have a pasta attachment for my KA mixer. I used to make the dough in the FP, but I have found that it is just as easy to make a small amount (2 -4 servings) in a bowl, and the clean-up is so much easier that it is faster to make it in a bowl. I made lasagna last week-end and spinach fettuccine last week. For lasagna, I make pasta with two eggs, 1/3 cup semolina, 2/3 cup white flour, and 1/4 tsp salt, to start, and knead in more flour as needed. I never add oil to my pasta dough because that makes it too stretchy. I do have to hand crank my old pasta machine to cut the fettuccine, as I have not found it necessary to get the KA attachment for that. I have buckwheat flour in my freezer that I use occasionally to make Japanese soba noodles, but I'm less keen on those. When I make ramen soup (which is also frequently), I often add a few balls of rice noodles, for different texture. Dried pasta can have egg in it, especially the wide Dutch egg noodles that I like to use in soup. I have never used fresh pasta in soup, unless you count the udon noodles that I buy at a Japanese market. They are not that fresh (although not dried) because they have sat on a shelf for a few days. I prefer the texture of dried noodles in soup, but I prefer the texture of fresh noodles when the dish is mostly pasta. If you have good pasta, most Italian will be shocked to see you smother it with sauce. Most of the dried pasta that I use is in a shell shape or corkscrew shape, and I use the latter for salads. I keep orzo on hand to make quick adjustments to recipes.

Okay. Rain and sneezles killed my afternoon. I did go through my pantry, refill my flour bin and salt grinders, found dark brown sugar bought three times, but durum none. Plenty of 00. Found my mixing bowls that some helpful soul hid in the wrong place. I took out five eggs to warm up and started the dishwasher. Then crawled into nap with blankie position per rain. So, come time to make dinner, I thought, given the encouragement from Sleevendog's misunderstood then reunderstood prodding, I should at least get out the pasta machine. Cutter missing? No in a plain box in the drawer. And then remembered one of my issues. My beautiful, personal kitchen doesn't have a place to clamp the machine down! I don't remember what I did when I first tried it a few years ago, but it was on the sink counter, which is probably too low for my cranking comfort as well. Inspiration hit! I have that lovely Boos board that I don't really have much use for. It's heavy enough to counterbalance the machine, and hang off the edge enough for the clamp. When I started cranking, it walked. Easily solved by scooching a silicone mat underneath. At the very end, enough stay flour and gotten under to make it move a little, but otherwise very good. But what recipe? My old very detailed and a mess to follow but very good pasta recipe calls for oil and salt as well as the flour and eggs. Annie's recipe--the same as Islay's with more commentary, and pretty close to Lars's--sounded straightforward and had better instructions for the machine. The recipe that came with the machine seemed less so, but I don't remember why. One thing I like about the one egg to 100 g flour recipe (or half the weight of egg and water as weight of flour) is it's more like baking recipes, which I know so much better. I know how to bake bread by volume, but there's a lot of experience behind it. By scale makes a new recipe so much easier to follow. None of the "feels right" part. So I did that. Used my Danish dough whisk rather than a fork to start the mixing. With none of the optional durum, I emptied the 00 canister and added about 50g of AP rather than opening a new bag. La-di-dah, it's flour. :) I'm going to try Lars's three flours for pasta that's more of a hero of the dish. Having found the cutter. :) I didn't really do the wetter dough because I was going to use the machine, but my hand slipped adding the water (it's only about 20 g out of 250 to fill out the eggs). I was about 10 g heavy. So I figured no problem. I'll just be generous with the flour on the board. The dough was a different texture than I'm used to. Less elastic and not as smooth. I assume from the 00 flour. I did knead it, but not for a long time, and I did rest it, but not for a long time. My machine goes from 1-9, and the instructions go from 0-6. I followed the directions to put it through and fold a few times on the bottom number, then once, no fold, through each number up. I thought the number 7 level was a nice thinness. Lasagna should have some tooth and body. It's thin, but not transparent. I just floured it and loosely folded and stacked in a container. The lasagna I'm making is something of an ordeal. It's supposed to pour again tomorrow, but rain willing, I'll make it then. I've been too chicken to check the pumpkin. I have a couple of pie pumpkins I can use if it's dead. :) I now have pasta! I don't know if it's enough. If not, I'll probably just weave in some dry, but if I'm very ambitious I could try another batch. For cheap and basic, my little machine came through. But it squeaks. :) Thank-you all! I couldn't have done it without you!