Image: Mei Ratz
On a quiet corner of SE Division Street, Rachael Grossman’s screaming-red food cart teeters back and forth, squeaking with each practiced thrust of her arms. Inside, Grossman stands at a six-foot-long cutting board, where she kneads, slices, crimps, and tines 10-pound balls of fettuccine, ravioli, and gnocchi dough into submission before they join superfresh ingredients in artful Italian dishes.
At age 5, Grossman entered the world of rigatoni and manicotti as a “sous chef” at her grandmother’s underground supper club in Michigan’s upper peninsula. Later, she spent three months molding pasta shapes at a restaurant in the medieval town of Casperia, just north of Rome, before planting herself in Oregon’s wine country. In 2010, Grossman brought her spaghetti know-how (and 3,000 pounds of pasta) to the streets of Portland.
“If I can make pasta in my 16-by-8-foot cart,” Grossman says, “anyone can do it at home.” Follow her recipe, she suggests, as a rough guide rather than an exacting formula. “The ratio of flour to eggs will change depending on many factors: weather, humidity, size of eggs, and even the brand of flour,” she says. “With a little practice, you will feel when the dough is ready.” Fettuccine alla Checca, the first dish Grossman tasted on Roman soil, is a simple yet satisfying preparation from the classic Italian playbook. With nothing more than a spartan saucing of fresh tomatoes, basil, and garlic, you’ll be able to savor everything down to the farm-fresh eggs in this tender, hand-kneaded fettuccine.
Fettuccine Alla Checca
Image: Mei Ratz
(Serves 6)
For the Pasta
- 5 farm-fresh eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup semolina flour
(1) MIX flour together in a bowl, making a well in the middle. (2) CRACK in eggs and stir with a wooden spoon or fork. (3) OVERTURN bowl onto a floured surface when the mixture starts to come together. (4) KNEAD dough with your hands, adjusting with more flour or another egg if it feels too wet or too dry. (5) CONTINUE kneading for 10 minutes, until the dough comes together into a ball and feels firm and springy, but dry enough that it doesn’t stick to your hands. (6) WRAP dough in plastic and let rest for about 30 minutes. (7) CUT off a small amount of dough (about ? of the ball) and set the rest aside in plastic. (8) USING a pasta maker, roll dough through the “1” setting. (9) MOVE the dial to “2” and run the dough through, adding flour to your sheet if it sticks to the machine, and continue until you get to “6” or “7.” (10) HANG or lay the sheets out to dry, about 5 minutes on each side, until they feel a bit leathery. (11) CUT sheets into 8-inch segments. (12) COVER generously with semolina flour and stack your 8-inch sheets in threes. (13) ROLL slabbed sheets up like a diploma and, with a sharp knife, cut into ?-inch strips. (14) UNROLL and give them a good shake to separate. (15) REPEAT until all of your sheets are rolled and cut. (16) COOK pasta in abundantly boiling, heavily salted water for about 3 minutes, until al dente.
For the Sauce
- 4–5 large heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped
- ½ pint heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
- 15 basil leaves, torn into pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
(1) MIX all ingredients together in a large bowl and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Watch Rachael Grossman prepare her Fettuccine alla Checca.
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