Cattail Pasta, Great with Lentil Lasagna or any sauce...

I’ve been seeing Euell Gibbons mentioned a lot lately. He really was a pioneer. No, he didn't 'invent' eating wild, but he did publish and 'live the life' and took a lot of heat for it. I remember back about 30 years ago, reading his books for the first time. I was mesmerized. It was the first time that I felt someone else understood my some of my interests. How to make food from the wild that tasted good and had appeal. I was young and very poor and ‘free’ food was a necessity. I remember the ‘knitting needles’ left on the plate after eating cattails. (lol) You needed a lot of butter!

So, in a salute to old Mr. Gibbons, here is my recipe for cattail pasta. I especially like it in a lentil lasagna, but it’s equally good with your favorite sauce. If you already have a favorite pasta recipe, try cutting the flour in half and adding cattail pollen. You may have to experiment to find the best ratio, but it’s worth it.

Pasta is easy to make and economical. If you have a pasta cutter, good on you, but I just cut mine into shapes using a knife.

To make one pound of pasta, you need 1 cups of unbleached flour, 1 cup of cattail pollen 3 large eggs, and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Place the flour on a table in a mound and make a well in the center. Put the eggs and salt into the well. Mix the eggs together with a fork without disturbing the flour. (This is not as tricky as it sounds…)

Using a fork, gently incorporate the flour into the egg mixture a little at a time.

Once you have incorporated all of the flour together with the egg using a fork, use your fingertips to blend the mixture together well.
After the wet and dry ingredients have been combined, form a ball. If the dough seems to dry, add a little more egg mixture. If the mixture is too wet and sticks to your fingers, rub your hands with flour.
Knead the pasta dough for about 7 minutes until the dough is smooth.
Divide the dough into 3 equal sized portions. Cover the dough balls with a towel or bowl and let rest for 15 minutes.

If your using a pasta machine, put it to work.

If you don't have a pasta machine, a rolling pin will work just fine. Roll each ball about 1/16th inch thick, or as thin as you can.
Fold the rolled dough into a square. Cut the open end of the square a quarter inch at a time, into what ever width you choose. Skinny for ‘sketti. Wide for lasagna noodles.

Immediately after cutting the dough, hang the pasta on a dowel or other object (a clothes drying rack works great). You can also lay the pasta flat on a towel, but it is more likely to stick together.

The pasta can be used right away or will keep up to a week.

Enjoy!
Heather