Cooking From The Garden and Pantry-again

I don't know-I just can't seem to drag myself into a supermarket lately. I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with, and plenty of dried beans-this is what I ended-up with.

Pasta with homemade Tomato Sauce and White Beans


For the beans:

Sort, rinse and soak beans overnight. Next morning, drain and rinse. Place in a large pot with 2 bay leaves, a whole (unpeeled) onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, and black pepper to taste. Simmer until beans are soft, but not falling apart-it works best if they hold their shape. Drain, and reserve 2 cups of the cooking water for later use.

For the sauce:

About 12 medium sized tomatoes

Blanch the tomatoes to remove skins. Seed, and chop coarsely. Add a bit of olive oil, spices to taste (I used marjoram and bay leaves) and cook until reduced to 1/4 the original volume . Cool.

In a small, heavy pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Over medium heat, with a wooden spoon, cook in 4 tablespoons flour until it foams. Slowly whisk in the reserved bean water. Whisk over medium heat until it thickens. Add to the cooked tomato sauce. In a large pot, combine the cooked beans and sauce and let combine over very low heat until beans are warmed though. Adjust seasonings if needed.

For the pasta:

3 large egg yolks plus one whole egg
3 tablespoons cold water
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semolina
1-2 cups AP flour

Beat eggs until light. Add water and salt. Beat in the semolina, then by hand add as much of the AP flour as you can until it is a very stiff dough. Wrap in cling film and let sit 30 minutes. Roll out with a generous amount of flour, cut as desired and let dry on racks for 30 minutes. Cook in moderately boiling water for about 5 minutes or until done.

Combine with beans and sauce.