I’ve been trying to cook (and recently, grow) better food over the past couple of years. There has been some success, and some times things haven’t worked out so well. On the whole, though, putting some time aside to make a nice meal has worked out really well. It’s relaxing, enjoyable, and the result is always good (except for the final final result, which is dishes).

One of the blogs I have also been reading on the “foodie” movement is ruhlman.com. Over the (northern hemisphere) summer, they had a “from-scratch” competition to make a BLT sandwich. Not exactly a difficult sandwich or haute cuisine but when taking an entirely holistic approach (that is, curing the bacon, growing the tomatoes and lettuce, making your own bread, etc) it becomes a much more difficult meal and far more exciting prospect. Obviously, it’s the wrong time of the year for us to do that, and I was away as the competition closed anyway.

However, I like the idea of trying to make something totally from scratch. To that end, I proposed a “from-scratch” challenge (not competition, I have nothing to give away!). Both Trav and Stephan agreed to take part, with the only choice then being what to make? Given that we are going into Spring now, Pasta Primavera seemed like a good idea. Sure, it’s not a traditional Italian dish, but that’s never stopped anyone before.

The rules are simple: Make as much as you can or want from scratch and do it by November 30th (the end of Spring). If you can’t grow something you want or need, try to trade for it, or buy it from a farmer’s market or if you need to from a regular supermarket. So really, there aren’t any rules.

Currently we have carrots, onions, garlic and peas growing so I hope to use those as well as making the pasta from store-bought flour. I’ll be sure to try and post progress and photos as any progress is made.