Handmade Pasta

I have had a lifelong love/hate relationship with pasta. Pasta was a staple food of my childhood. Ravioli was a favorite, but not the overcooked spaghetti pie. My hometown's residents were mostly first and second generation Italian-Americans, which made the Italian food there super authentic. To my excitement, I was invited over to an Italian friend's house for dinner when I was 9 years old.  I wanted to be a polite little girl and eat graceful, small bites, so I took a knife and started cutting my spaghetti with "gravy." (I still call it sauce.) Before the knife severed a strand, my friend's dad's booming voice stopped me. The knife was taken away and a spoon was shoved into my hand. It was my first lesson on how to authentically enjoy pasta - and I loved slurping every giant bite of the endless spaghetti I twirled onto that spoon.

I took a break from pasta for about 8 years during the carbs-avoiding Atkins craze. I remained convinced that Italian food in San Francisco could never be as good as the stuff on the east coast, so why bother. Pasta eating was reserved for trips visiting New Jersey and New York. A year ago, I was invited to dinner at a California friend's house, and he cooked some hand-made pasta and ravioli that made me melt. There was no slurping here, instead there were bites to savor. The creamy ricotta herb filling and perfectly firm texture was heavenly. It was pasta on a new level.

Food Stylist Sue White made the beautiful pasta you see below. She added saffron to the fettuccine dough and herbs to the ravioli to add lively color. Dramatic light highlights the unique color and texture best. We didn't get to eat the props this time, but I have a new appreciation for handmade pasta! I planning my own attempt soon.