Fresh pasta with tomato sauce

Prep: 35 minutes Rest: 30 minutes

Cook: 31 minutes Makes: 6 servings

If this is your first time using a pasta machine, you might consider getting a trusted acquaintance to help you. One person turns the crank while the other holds the dough and guides it from under the machine as it passes through the rollers. Total time, start to finish, is about 75 minutes.

2 cups flour, plus more as needed

Salt as needed

3 eggs

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

½ onion, cut into small dice

½ to 1 fresh jalapeno, minced (optional)

2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

¾ teaspoon rosemary

¾ teaspoon sage

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (if not using jalapeno) 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes

Freshly grated Parmesan

For the dough:

1. Place flour, ½ teaspoon salt, eggs and 1 tablespoon olive oil in bowl of a food processor. Process until mixture resembles coarse, wet sand, 30 to 60 seconds.

2. Continue processing until dough ball forms, about 30 seconds. If needed to bring dough together, add water a tablespoon at a time.

3. Remove dough from bowl; knead into a smooth ball on a clean, dry surface, about 1 minute.

4. Cover dough with plastic wrap; let rest, 30 minutes.

For the sauce:

5. Heat a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high flame. When hot, add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.

6. When oil is hot (after 15 to 30 seconds), add onion and jalapeno (if using); saute until slightly brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

7. Add garlic, rosemary, sage and red pepper flakes, if using; saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

8. Stir in tomatoes, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer to combine flavors. Add water or stock as needed if sauce becomes too thick. (You know how thick you like your sauce; you be the judge.)

To make pasta sheets:

9. Cut dough into four pieces. Leave three under plastic while you roll out fourth.

10. Flatten piece of dough by hand; pass it through a pasta machine with the rollers on the widest setting. Letter-fold the dough and pass it lengthwise again through the widest roller setting to get it into a relatively even sheet. Repeat if needed. 11. Pass the dough sheet lengthwise through the machine with the rollers set at progressively smaller settings. NO MORE LETTER-FOLDING. Just keep passing the increasingly thin and increasingly long piece through the machine. Take it to nearly the thinnest setting.

12. Lay the finished sheet on a flour-dusted surface and sprinkle more flour over. Cut it into relatively equal pieces,

8- to 12- inches long, depending on the original length of the sheet. (You’ve eaten pasta before and know how long noodles like spaghetti are. If yours are somewhat shorter or somewhat longer, exactly no one will complain.)

13. Repeat steps 9 through 12 with remaining dough pieces. 14. Put a cutting attachment on your machine; pass the sheets through to make your noodles. Spread the cut noodles onto a clean sheet pan, sprinkle with flour and toss lightly to coat to prevent noodles from sticking. Keep noodles in a thin, rather than thick, layer to prevent them from being smashed together by their own weight.

To cook noodles:

15. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Add half the noodles and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, 30 to 60 seconds depending on noodle thickness.

16. Remove with tongs to a warm bowl and cook remaining noodles.

17. Serve immediately with sauce and cheese.

Nutrition information per serving: 278 calories, 8 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 93 mg cholesterol, 43 g carbohydrates, 7 g sugar, 10 g protein, 279 mg sodium, 4 g fiber