Let me belatedly thank my mother for giving me her pasta maker. This was my first time making pasta (other than gnudi).

The red gravy is actually inspired by the taste of something I grew up with, pork chops braised in tomato sauce (usually with potatoes and carrots cooked alongside them). I braised smoked pork hocks for a long time - a couple days - until I had a thick, rich, gelatinous stock. Blended that with tomato puree, thickened with a little roux, cooked it down with onions, added the diced meat from the hocks, and there you go. A nice rich sauce that's recognizably red gravy, with a noticeable pork flavor just like I grew up with. Bay leaves would've made it even better, but I'm out and my reorder from the Spice House doesn't get here till tomorrow.

(The skin from the hocks was dehydrated, to be deep-fried into cracklings.)

The meatballs are just some leftover ground beef with egg, bread crumbs, fennel pollen, and gochujang red pepper paste.

Not bad for the first time making pasta. It's definitely too thick, almost like the dumplings in chicken and dumplings - they took a surprisingly long time to cook. But is it better than the Contadina-type "fresh" pasta? Absolutely.