5 Fabulous Bloggers: Proud Italian Cook ? Taste With The Eyes ...

Windowpane Pasta with Basil Pesto
Saut?ed Cherry Tomatoes & Tiny Cubes of Fresh Mozzarella

Hi everyone, it?s me Marie, from Proud Italian Cook, I?m excited to be guest posting here today for my friend Lori Lynn. I was honored when she asked me along with four other bloggers to be a part of her fifth year anniversary celebrating her exquisite blog Taste With The Eyes.

Lori Lynn and I both started our blogs back in 2007, and since then I have had the pleasure of meeting her in person and sharing a fabulous meal with her and her wonderful family here in Chicago. I?ve always said to Lori Lynn from day one, that she couldn?t have picked a more appropriate name for her blog.

Taste With The Eyes is a visual feast, from the moment you arrive you?re instantly drawn in by all her gorgeous photos, her fabulous food and glorious surroundings, and every time I leave here I feel like I?ve just experienced fine dining at it?s best and can?t wait to come back!

For my guest post recipe I wanted to make this pretty and elegant pasta, seems appropriate to place on Lori Lynn?s blog, it?s called Window Pane,?Silhouette, or sometimes even referred to as?Stained Glass Pasta.

I like to make my pasta dough in a food processor, it?s simple to do, comes together quick, and always results in perfect dough.

Pasta Dough Ingredients:

• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• pinch of salt
• water (just enough until the dough comes together)

Place everything except the water into the bowl of a food processor with the steel blade and pulse just a few times until eggs are blended into the flour. Have a 1/4 cup or so of water ready, then turn on your processor and slowly drizzle?it down the tube into the bowl just until the dough comes together, like in photo above, top left. You might not use all of the water or you may use a little more, just take your time it will all come together quickly.?Remove the dough from bowl, wrap in plastic and let it rest for 1/2 hour.

When you?re ready to roll, cut your dough ball into four equal pieces, working with one piece at a time and keeping the others under wrap.

I use a pasta machine to roll my dough the kind you hand crank, you could also roll it by hand with a rolling pin, or if you have a Kitchen Aid with the pasta attachment all the better, the key is you want thin pasta sheets.

For this technique you want to use fresh herbs that will lay flat, like parsley and basil, you wouldn?t want to use anything with a woody stem such as rosemary, also I prefer to pick smaller leaves because they will stretch a bit between the dough with the second rolling.

The first thing you?re going to do is brush your pasta sheet with water, this will help keep your herbs nice and flat when you press them on, and help your dough stick together when you fold it.

Lay your herbs in a row on the upper half of your pasta sheet leaving space between and a little bit above. When everything is in place carefully fold the sheet over.

Now take your folded herb filled pasta sheet and roll it through your pasta machine one more time. If you are doing it by hand with a rolling pin you want to make sure your dough is thin enough to see through it.

See how the herbs?stretch out and get a little bigger? Isn?t it pretty looking? And so so easy!

Now take a pasta cutter, I use the one with the crimped edge, and cut between the herbs. The end result is beautifully adorned ravioli sized pasta.

Place them in boiling salted water for only 2 to 3 minutes and carefully remove and drain, I use my trusty spider!

Please keep this recipe in mind for the fall and winter as well, it?s a fabulous presentation in some homemade broth.

But since it?s summertime I wanted the sauce to be light and fresh, so on to my platter filled with the warm pasta I scattered dollops of basil pesto, sauteed cherry tomatoes and tiny cubes of fresh mozzarella, making sure not to cover up the pretty herbs.?Hope you enjoy!

Once again I?d like to thank Lori Lynn for letting me be a part of her celebration!

xox, Marie

?? Proud Italian Cook ?

Thank you so much dear dear Marie! And congratulations to you as August marks the 5th year of Proud Italian Cook too! I remember 5 years ago when I discovered your blog after you left a comment on one (of my many) Matzoh Ball posts back in September of 2007. I was so excited to see that you were from Chicago, my home town. Your delightful writing style has always made me feel as if I am sitting at the counter in your kitchen, while you are sharing your passion for exceptional home cooked Italian foods over a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio?

Now after all these years, I don?t think I can log onto Pinterest without seeing one of your super-popular colorful creations.?I can spot your dishes instantly. They are always so fresh, vibrant, and seasonal ? usually with vegetables from your garden, prepared in that fabulous Italian-Chicago-Style. And your photos just seem to make the food jump right off the screen. The lead image of this incredible Windowpane Pasta is no exception!

I?ve been inspired by so many of your recipes over the years. Thinking back, it might be the?Roasted Carrots, Shallots, Olives & Gremolata that I?ve made the most. I?ve taken it to parties as a pot luck, and it has graced our Passover table several times.

It was my family?s absolute pleasure to dine with you?at The Girl & The Goat in Chicago, and to get to know you in person. You are a sweetheart and your sunny creative cooking is second to none. Here?s to celebrating the BIG 5 together my friend!?Grazie!

Toujours Bon App?tit,
Lori Lynn

? Taste With The Eyes is 5 Years Old ?

I?m just thrilled to have 5 extraordinary blogger friends help me celebrate this milestone anniversary with Guest Posts on Taste With The Eyes.?Please welcome them as they share their own unique and magical art of cuisine, photography, and watercolor painting.

5 Fabulous Blogger Friends in Honor of 5 Years of Blogging

Just One Cookbook ? Nami, San Francisco
?Quick and Easy Japanese Home Cooking?
Guest Post: Gyutan/BBQ Beef Tongue

Foodalogue ? Joan, Palm Beach County, Florida
?Meandering Meals, Musings + Travel?
Guest Post:?A 5-Tapas Cocktail Party for 5-Years of Blogging

Proud Italian Cook ? Marie, Chicago
?Home Cooking, Italian American Style?
Guest Post: Windowpane Pasta

Merisi?s Vienna for Beginners ? Merisi, Vienna
?A Daily Melange of Virtual Postcards from Vienna?

Paris Breakfast - Carol, Paris/New York
?I Paint Paris Dreams??

?

?

Source: http://www.tastewiththeeyes.com/2012/07/5-fabulous-bloggers-proud-italian-cook-2/

montrose marshawn lynch earthquake bay area clear channel drexel dale george will