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Homemade Pasta

Homemade pasta is really easy to make, you do need strong arms to do the kneading, Pastahowever, you can do this in a food processor or mixer if you need to. Semolina or ‘OO’ flour gives the best results, if you can’t get hold of this then use a strong plain flour recommended for bread making.  You can use ordinary plain flour but this does not roll out very thinly by hand and you will need to use a pasta machine.

Work on the basis of 100g flour and 1 egg for each person for a main course.

Ingredients: for around 450g dough
semolina or ‘OO’ flour
3 medium eggs
1 x tablespoon olive oil

1.    Sift the flour onto a clean work surface.  Using your fingers make a well in the centre of the mound of flour.

2.    Break the eggs into the small bowl (to make sure that you can scoop out any eggshell if you need to) and then pour the eggs into the well in the centre of the flour.  Add a tablespoon of olive oil.

3.    Using your fingertips, gradually mix the flour into the eggs, stirring the ingredients together until they form a dough.

4.    Using both hands, knead the dough (to knead, use the ‘heel’ of your hands and push the dough away from you with one hand whilst turning it a quarter turn with the other).  Knead for approximately 10 minutes until it is smooth and not sticky.   If using a mixer or food processor use a dough hook and mix for 2 minutes.

5.    Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge to ‘rest’ for 30 minutes.

6.    Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour.  Split the dough into two balls, cover one ball in cling film and pop it back in the fridge.  Roll out the dough ball very, very thinly.  Place the pasta sheet on a clean piece of baking parchment and drape over a cooling rack.  Leave to dry while you roll out the second dough ball.

7.    To cut into Tagliatelle – wait until pasta is no longer very sticky, then dust the sheets lightly with semolina or flour and carefully fold over into a roll.  Use a sharp knife and cut into 1 cm wide strips.  Gently toss the tagliatelle around to remove the excess semolina or  flour – leave to dry on baking parchment and cooling rack before cooking.  (Alternatively you can keep the pasta for a couple of hours in an airtight container in the fridge.)

8.    Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, plunge the pasta into it and cook for around 3-4 minutes until the pasta is ‘al dente’.   Drain and serve