Makaruni (hand-rolled pasta) with Pepper Sauce

The wonderful chef and cookbook author Lidia Bastianich makes a hand-rolled pasta called Makaruni. It's a recipe that she grew-up eating in Italy--one of her grandmother's specialities. I was so intrigued by the idea of rolling pasta by hand, without a pasta machine or even a rolling pin, that I had to make it. The dough comes together very quickly in the food processor, or alternatively you could just mix it by hand.

Once the dough is made you roll it into little balls and then into little "worms". It is a fairly easy dough to work with though I think I made my "worms" much too fat. The next time I make this I'll try to be very patient and roll the dough out thinner. The fat Makaruni were good, but a little bit daunting to eat as they were quite a mouthful.


I served the pasta with a red pepper sauce--sauteed bell peppers and crushed tomatoes. This is a sturdy pasta, so I think a heavier sauce works best. Lidia serves it with a mushroom sauce. You can find the recipe for the Makaruni here:http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/tiptechniqueview.cfm?objectid=6C3B1AD1-A12D-8169-4AA919A917F109D1

For dessert, super sweet watermelon with banana liqueur.

Though Dave and I are suffering through the heat and have not really felt like eating much, the weather has not affected our cat Little Grey Pebble's appetite. I make a bowl of wet cat food with supplements every day, and every day Little Grey Pebble sticks his head in the bowl while I'm mixing the food and makes a huge mess. He usually ends up with his whole head covered in cat food. He is such a funny cat, though he is a big brat and gets in trouble at least twenty times a day.