pasta . leftovers . eggs with dandelion yolks

I find pasta a brilliant vehicle to use up leftovers. And for good pasta we need good eggs. Not the political eggs. The real ones. With the deep yellow dandelion coloured yolks .

Eggs in the little Iranian vege store down the road are $11.00 AUD a dozen. They are fresh, cage free (a little bit local) and judging by the yolk colour they are being grown on grass as claimed. (As a comparison eggs in Walmart Illinois (as of writing) were $7.50 US a dozen). That is just the price of good eggs. For those of you who work in two currencies like me: AUD 11.00 = USD 7.05

And for the record we sell our eggs for USD5.00 from the farm. This only covers their feed and care. NO profit.

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Buying eggs takes a little research to make good choices.

So I researched this grower and their chickens really are out on grass. I hope they continue to do well because their eggs are great.

Because the backyard here is too small for chickens we had to do the research and find good eggs that support growers with an ethical compass that promotes health and space for the birds. Finding the eggs we like at our little vegetable store down the road is an added bonus.

I cannot abide eggs from caged birds. They taste of cruelty. Tasteless and pale. Look at the yolks on my grass fed breakfast egg. 👆🏽Lovely.

We do the best we can and that is enough. It has to be.

Back to business: To make good pasta - you need good fresh eggs. If you don’t eat eggs scroll to the bottom.

Haymakers Dinner

On the farm. I make ravioli, free flow freeze them and bag them up for haymaking dinners. Haymaking is hot dusty work and I never have time to prep dinner. Reaching into a bag in the freezer and pulling out the exact number of rav is a lot. Drop in boiling water. Run through hot sage browned butter and voila! Dinner.

Though I am not on the farm for a while we are still making dinners to freeze for easy retrieval after baby is born.

Hence the haymakers dinner in the suburbs of Melbourne.

Fresh Pasta Dough

• 200g flour

• 2 large room temperature egg

• 1 - 2 tblsp water (you may need a little more or less, depending on the size of your egg and the thirstiness of your flour)

My friend’s Nonna told me 1 egg per cup of flour. Plus a little water. She taught me how to make a simple pasta so many years ago but these simple lessons stick - don’t you think?

Break the eggs into a well in the flour. Add the water to the eggs. Using a fork, briskly whisk the eggs with a fork, gradually drawing in the flour.

Once the dough starts to come together, throw the fork in the sink and use your hands to finish combining. Then begin to knead the dough until smooth and satiny.

I knead for about two minutes.

Once it is a smooth ball, wrap in a floured cloth or plastic wrap and set into the fridge for 30 minutes - or all night. We do this to hydrate the flour. Don’t miss this step.

After resting the dough I made ravioli for the haymakers dinner and to freeze.

Fold and roll the pasta twice to get a strong gluten weave. Cut to size, (put the piece you are not working on back into the plastic wrap), roll, flour and run the sheets through the pasta roller to get the pasta so thin you can see your hand through it.

Lay out and fill with the filling of your choice, wet all around your filling with a brush and lay another pasta sheet on top. Press the sheets together around the filling. I take my time to make sure each little pillow of goodness is firmly encased. These rav’s endure boiling water then are tossed in hot butter so we don’t want the filling escaping.

Either use ravioli forms or make the ravioli by hand. These forms above were a gift from my friend’s Nonna and travel with me. Plus my wooden rolling pin. Go figure.

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Notes
🐞I mix my pasta dough by hand in a shallow bowl with a wide, flat base. You can also mix it on your countertop, in a stand mixer, or even in a food processor - my friends Italian Nonna mixes hers using a food processor. So use the short cuts.

🐞Use the freshest room temperature eggs you can find.

🐞Don’t add salt. The salted water when you cook the pasta is enough.

🐞Mix thoroughly, but don’t over-mix. Knead gently with wet or lightly oiled hands just until you have a silky, smooth ball of dough. Over-kneading will make your pasta tough, so stop while it still feels soft and elastic.

🐞When your dough is finished. Wrap and rest in the fridge. Never miss out this step. Letting it pause allows the flour to hydrate and the gluten strands to loosen. It can rest in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Bring it out 20 minutes before rolling.

🐞Allow the ravioli to dry a little on the counter before cooking.

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I made ravioli last night with the filling left over from the cannelloni.

too much spinach . cannelloni . obviously

And I added freshly picked and chopped spinach to the pasta before rolling, just for fun.

🐞If you have chooks, feed the chickens chilli flakes a few days before you make your pasta they will lay extra orange yolks for you which is also fun.

Below is the recipe for one of my richer pastas. This made a tagliatelle. To cut a tagliatelle - roll the floured thin pasta sheet up into a roll and cut diagonally to make your strips.

I also make pasta with durum flour - if I can find it. Spelt is good too. I am not having quite as much luck with that out here in Australia. Regular All Purpose will have to do.

Let’s hope these tariffs get lifted soon in the US. When I am home I still buy some pastas like the spirals and macaroni -much of the pasta is made in the US so that is good - but much of the packaging is imported. I know because I used to import it for the flour mill. The cost of packaging will rise and this will also be passed on to the consumer. So going forward, learning how to make your own pasta will help your budget immensely.

You can make an egg free pasta too - though it is chewier and heavier than a pasta with eggs. I don’t care for it. But if eggs are too pricey this week: a common ratio is about 2 cups of flour to around 2/3 cup of water, plus a dash of olive oil. Fat results in a lighter product hence the oil. This will make a perfectly nice pasta if eggs are scarce.

I love comments. So below 👇🏼 is a comment starter, if you are like me and struggle with something to say. Even a quick hullo works for me!

Comment starter: What’s your favorite pasta? How much do eggs cost where you are and let me know the currency so I can do a comparison.

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Bedtime Stories

I have begun reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

I encourage my listeners to upgrade for the books they want to hear me read in this every other day serial format. This is my only income while I am out of the country so I am very grateful for your support.

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Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost is complete and will soon be added to this page 👇🏼 for you all to listen to.

Books narrated by Cecilia Buyswheeler Gunther - 2025

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Did you miss this?

Take care and Talk soon

Celi