Pasta By Hand | The New Cookbook from Chef Jenn Louis

The incredibly talented Chef Jenn Louis - of Portland's Lincoln Restaurant + Sunshine Tavern - has penned an approachable cookbook on how to craft mouth-watering pasta dishes from the comfort of your own home.  Pre-Order your's today and enter to win a signed copy from Chef Louis herself!  To hold you over while you await the books arrival, check out Chef Louis's Gnocchi Ricci with Lamb Ragu she prepared for Bon Appetit below.

Pasta by Hand

A Collection of Regional Italian Dumplings

By Jenn Louis

With a foreword by Mario Batali

Photographs by Ed Anderson

No special equipment or ingredients are needed to form delicious, beautiful pasta shapes with your own two hands, from simple, good ingredients. Pasta by Hand  contains more than 65 recipes for homemade pasta dough and instructions on how to shape it into small orbs, cups, twists, shells, noodles, and dumplings, then sauce it for a satisfying, flavorful dish any pasta aficionado will love.

Pasta is the ultimate comfort food, and making it by hand is a favorite project for weekend cooks. From rising culinary star and 2012 Food & Wine Best New Chef Jenn Louis, this book includes more than 65 recipes for hand-shaped traditional pastas and dumplings, along with rich, satisfying sauces to mix and match. Louis shares her recipes and expertise in hand-forming beloved shapes such as gnocchi, orecchiette, gnudi, and spatzli, as well as dozens of other regional pasta specialties appearing for the first time in an English-language cookbook. With more than 40 shots of finished dishes and step-by-step shaping sequences, this beautifully photographed book is perfect for DIY cooks and lovers of Italian food.

Jenn Louis is chef and co-owner of Lincoln and Sunshine Tavern in Portland, Oregon. She appeared on Top Chef Masters and was named one of 2012's Best New Chefs by Food & Wine as well as being a Featured Chef with The FareTrade for their October basket.

Gnocchi Ricci | Lamb Ragu

Gnocchi Ricci

Serves 6

4 eggs 3 1/2 cups (plus a little extra) of Italian “00″ flour, divided into 1/2 cup and 3 cups 3 Tbsp. water 1 1/2 tsp. salt

In the bowl of a standing mixer, fitted with a dough hook, combine 3 cups flour, salt and eggs. Set a timer for 8 minutes and mix on medium speed. After 2 minutes dough should be shaggy. Add 2 tablespoons water. Dough should come together and become cohesive and elastic. Pat dough out into a disk about 5 inches in diameter.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1 tablespoon water with remaining flour. This should make a pliable paste. Pat pliable paste into a thin disc and lay on top of the disc of dough. Gather up sides and, by hand, knead together until the dough and paste are smooth and cohesive. Wrap in plastic and set aside at room temperature to rest for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, unwrap the dough and cut off a few ounces. Cover the remainder of the dough while forming gnocchi so that the dough does not dry out. Roll the dough into logs 1/2-inch in diameter, then cut the logs into 1/2-inch lengths. With your index and middle finger, drag the dough across your workspace. This will create an indented surface. With your hands, gently stretch out the dough to create a slightly larger and flatter surface. The finished gnocchi will be slightly curly on the edges, about 1 1/2-inches in size and flatter in the center.

To cook, simmer in seasoned boiling water until toothy, about 3 minutes, then finish by simmering in sauce.

Lamb Ragu

Makes 3 pints

1/2 cup olive oil 3 ounces salumi, or cured pork, ground or chopped finely 2 pounds, 4 ounces ground lamb shoulder 1 medium yellow onion, medium diced 2 medium cloves garlic, sliced thinly 2 bay leaves 1/2 tsp. chile flakes 1/2 cup (5 ounces) tomato paste 3/4 cup red wine 10 cups chicken stock Salt and pepper pepper

In a large pot, over medium high heat, combine olive oil, salumi and lamb. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is cooked and the bottom of the pan has caramelization. If the bottom of the pan becomes to dark, reduce heat.

Remove meat from pan, leaving about 3 tablespoons of oil in pan. Discard excess oil. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves and chili flake to pan. Sauté over medium heat until onions are translucent, not brown. Add tomato paste and cook until the tomato caramelizes on bottom of pan. Add wine, raise heat and bring to a simmer. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up bits of caramelization from bottom of pan. When wine has almost completely evaporated add stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and add meat back to pot.

Continue to simmer gently until meat has tenderized and sauce has become rich, about 3 hours. Do not boil; liquid should reduce gradually. If sauce becomes too thick, add 1/2 cup of stock to thin.