Handmade Pasta with Mint-Lemon Pesto

It's been a pretty inspiring time in Montreal. After 3 months of student protests, the whole city is beginning to take part in creative action on the streets. The escalation is certainly shared with the student movement, but leapt forward when the recent law 78 was passed by Charest just a week or so ago. This law was an attempt to end the student marches quickly, but violates basic civil liberties by making it illegal to assemble more than 50 people without permits, wear masks and generally gives the already corrupt Police Force in Montreal impunity to use violence against civilians. Now the streets are full of Montrealaise, banging on casserole dishes in unison.

I think Charest couldn't have picked a worse time to pass this law. Montreal is known to come out of hiding in May, in full force, with all the delicious sunlight and greenery after the long and icy winter freeze. So now, as the city really unthaws, there is this fabulous energy as the joy of spring and the impact of the protests collide. It's been explosiiiive y'all!! I feel super lucky to be here right now. Also, people in Montreal are just fabulous looking. Damn.

So with that in mind, Leah and I had a couple of little projects that we finally enacted! 

One: Pasta Making. Two: Littérature pour tous!

I couldn't get over how actually easy and amazing pasta making is. And it truly does make all the difference. We used an old Italian cookbook of Leah's, mixed AP flour with buckwheat and let'er rip. The results were super tender and flavorful, so much better than the store-bought stuff. And we used some fresh mint from my garden to make a lemon-mint pesto. 

I had been slightly skeptical of how the mint-lemon pesto would turn out, but this again was amazing. Such a perfect fresh summer dish. I caramelized some zucchini and fennel and threw that in as well. All together, this made one fine meal. 

Home-made Pasta with Mint and lemon pesto

3 cups flour

3 eggs

a few handfuls of mint

one lemon

parmesan cheese

See, I wasn't kidding with how easy this is. For the pasta, you make a small mountain on your counter and create a well with your fist. pour the eggs and a splash of water in and begin incorporating the flour in with a fork, slowly and maintaining the volcano shape. Slowly it will start sticking together and as it thickens, you can start kneading it. Once the surface of the dough is glossy, you can wrap it and let is rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to a few hours. 

Roll it out and slice it how you will. Then let it dry again for at least 2 hours. This pasta literally takes about 4 minutes to cook. 

The pesto is just the mint, a tbsp or so of lemon juice and some zest. Add some spices as you will. pulse it up and put it on and EAT IT. yum.