Fresh Pasta

Ingredients

Instructions

1 Choose your flour

Although you can in theory use just about any wheat flour to make pasta, finely milled ‘00’ flour, which can be found in most large supermarkets, gives a smoother texture, while semolina flour supplies that all-important bite. Traditionally, at least, southern Italians tend to use more semolina than northern ones, but play around with the ratio to suit your own taste.

2 Mix the flours and add eggs

Whatever you’re using, put the flours and a large pinch of salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Tip out on to a clean work surface (or big chopping board) and make a large well in the middle. Beat together the three whole eggs with two of the yolks, and pour two-thirds of the egg mix into the well.

3 Bring together the dough

Use your fingertips gradually to draw the flour into the eggs in a circular motion, until you have a dough you can form into a ball – if it seems dry, add the extra yolk. Next, knead the dough like bread, pushing it away from you with the heel of your hand, then turning it and bringing it back towards you, until the dough springs back when poked.

4 Halve, wrap and rest

Divide the dough into two roughly equal balls and wrap each in a tea towel dampened with cold water. Set aside to rest in a cool place for an hour, during which time you can set up the pasta machine (if you have one) and/or make one of the sauces in step 9. Lightly flour a work surface and rolling pin.

5 Roll the dough

Leaving one ball wrapped up, roll out the other piece of dough into a rectangle no wider than your pasta machine (if you don’t have one, see Step 6), until it’s about 1cm thick and will go through the widest setting comfortably. Run it through the machine twice, then switch down a gauge. Repeat until you get to the narrowest setting on your machine.

6 Keep it manageable

Fold the pasta rectangle in half, press the two halves together, then repeat the whole process again, cutting the dough in half when it becomes too long to handle comfortably. Store one half under the same damp cloth while you’re working on the first bit. If you don’t have a machine, simply roll out the dough as thinly as you can manage.

7 Shaping

When the dough has a slight sheen and is thin enough for use (pappardelle and tagliatelle should be cut on the second-narrowest gauge; filled pastas such as ravioli on the narrowest), cut it with a knife (or with the machine) to whatever shape you desire. Curl into portion-sized nests on a floured surface and cover with a damp cloth while you roll and cut the rest of the dough.

8 Cooking

Bring a large pan of well-salted water to a boil, add the pasta in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan, and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally to keep it moving. Drain and serve immediately, either with a little butter and grated parmesan, a dash of oil and black pepper, or perhaps one of the sauces in the next step.