My big spring work project is over, so I am back in the kitchen. I had a hankering for a new pasta dish, so I made the Fresh Herb Pappardelle with Veal and Lemon from The Pasta Cookbook published by Williams-Sonoma. I made the pasta from scratch, which is relatively easy to do with a hand-cranked pasta maker or stand-mixer pasta attachment. And it is so worth it, because the pasta is translucent, tender and light and cooks very quickly. The Williams-Sonoma recipe for egg pasta can be found at  http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/egg-pasta.html. My pasta attachment makes fettuccine, so that is the width of pasta I used. I also used veal cutlets instead of veal shoulder and it was fine. The sauce comes together in less than an hour and is elegant enough to serve to company.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Almost everything in this recipe is additive free, except for the stock. If you are not using homemade stock, try one without additives, preservatives and artificial flavour, such as Imagine brand.

To make pasta, start with flour with a well in the middle to hold eggs and oil

Cut pasta into four small portions and flatten

Roll the dough through the pasta rollers until very thin

Run the sheets through the pasta cutters to make fettuccine

Form fettuccine into nests and freeze or refrigerate until ready to cook

Sauce ingredients

Saute shallots and mushrooms

Brown the veal

Simmer the ingredients together before adding cream and pasta

Fettuccine with veal and lemon

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh egg pasta

1 lb. veal shoulder, partially frozen and cut into thin strips 1 inch long and ¼ inch wide

4 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 large shallots, minced

½ lb. fresh white mushrooms, brushed clean and thinly sliced

½ cup dry sherry

1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken stock

1 tsp freshly chopped thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme

1 lemon zest strip, three inches long and one inch wide

2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup heavy cream

Kosher salt for cooking pasta

Preparation:

Pat veal dry with paper towels and set aside. In a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil Add the shallots and sauté until tender, about two minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms. Sauté gently until softened, about two minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shallot and mushroom mixture to a plate and set aside.

Raise the heat to high and add the veal to the pan. Sauté until the meat colours on the surface, about two minutes. Add the sherry and reduce the heat to medium. Sauté until most of the alcohol evaporates, about three minutes. Add the broth, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the thyme and immediately reduce the heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Uncover, add the lemon zest and chopped parsley, and return the mushroom mixture to the pan. Season with sea salt and pepper and simmer, uncovered, until the veal is tender and the liquid is reduced to about 1 ¼ cups, about 15 minutes longer. Remove and discard the lemon zest. Add the cream and heat, stirring, just until small bubbles begin to forma round the edges of the pan. Do not let the cream boil. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

In a large pot, bring five quarts of water to a rapid boil. Add two tablespoons kosher salt and the pasta and cover the pot. When the water returns to a boil, uncover, cook for about a minute or until tender and then drain. Add the pasta to the sauce in the pan and toss until the pasta is well coated with the sauce. Transfer to a warmed large, shallow serving bowl or individual shallow bowls and serve right away. Serves four.

From Williams-Sonoma The Pasta Book