Spelt Ravioli with Cheese

I’m just going to come clean here. I’m Italian and this is the first time I made homemade pasta. I hear you over there. Can you please stop laughing? I’ve seen it done before, obviously. My mom used to do it when she got her shiny, new pasta maker in the 80s and, of course, I’ve heard (over and over and over again) my Dad’s stories of my grandma making gnocchi by hand. (“She used to roll it with her fingers just like this. Are you watching? Look. Like this!”) However, I never made it myself. I’ve always been too nervous (Why? It’s not like I had to do something hard like breakdown a cow carcass.) and too under equipped to try. Until now.

Photos by Maya Visnyei

Let me see. Who is responsible for this? Well, I guess I could start with KitchenAid. Then there’s Chef Lynn Crawford, who is quite frankly the nicest, most engaging and flat-out funniest lady ever, but she’s a trouble maker. A simple invitation to a KitchenAid event–showcase the various attachments available for the beloved mixer–started my whole anxiety attack about making homemade pasta. With Chef Lynn Crawford hosting, I knew I had to attend. Scarlett and I are huge fans of her Food Network show Pitchin’ In, so it was a big surprise when I told Scarlett she could tag along with me.

On the rainy evening of the demonstration, Scarlett suited up in her hot pink “I love Cooking Shows” T-shirt (thanks Matt and Holly!), pink rain boots and stowed the artwork she created for Chef Lynn in her bag. She did everything a good writer/editor does–witnessed each demonstration, shyly asked a few questions and happily ate the offerings. She also fell completely under the spell of the evening’s hostess. Like a star-struck teenager staring down their idol, Scarlett was totally at a loss for words when she met Chef Lynn. I kind of couldn’t blame her since the chef’s approachable personality and mountain of humour was an even translation from the TV screen to real life. Plus she was so generous with her time–she basically allowed my daughter to be her cooking sidekick. The highlight was their pasta making hijinks when Lynn and Scarlett decided to make the world’s longest lasagna noodle. They even tried to cart it out onto a busy Toronto street. (I have a video of this that I will blackmail Scarlett with one day.) So, at the end of the evening, it was no surprise when Scarlett insisted on leaving with the pasta making attachment.

I’m not sure why but I was still nervous about actually buckling down and making the stuff that happy belly’s are full of. However, I soldiered on and found this recipe using spelt flour from recipes.ca and I put together the filling based on Scarlett’s very specific instruction: “Just. Cheese. Mommy.” (Ok, so basil made it in as well.) I’m not sure why I was sweating the whole process? I’m really quite embarrassed since, when we actually used the attachment, it was ridiculously easy. I may never buy pasta in a box again. Ok, I might but it will only be because I can’t carry around that heavy mixer everywhere.

Rain boots on backwards? No worries. The chef has always got your back.