THE INGREDIENTS Makes enough for 6 Preparation time: 60 minutes Difficulty Level: Easy enough 6 Large Free-Range Eggs 600g Tipo '00' Flour 5) Now work it through all the settings - widest down to narrowest, dusting both sides of the pasta with a little flour every time you run it through.
6) Tidy the sheet of pasta, fold the pasta in half lengthways, then in half again, then in half again once more until you've got a square of dough. Feed it through the machine at the widest setting and again down through the settings for one last time, you should end up with a lovely rectangular sheet of dough with straight sides - just like a real Italian! 7) Whether you're rolling by hand or by machine you'll need to know when to stop. If you're making pasta like tagliatelle or lasagne you'll need to roll the pasta down to about the thickness of a beer mat; if you're making a stuffed pasta like ravioli, you'll need to roll it down thinner - where you can see your hand or lines of print through it.
How to roll your pasta:
3) If you have a pasta machine, then great but don’t worry if you haven’t - it's not the end of the world. A good long rolling pin is what you would find in most Italian kitchens anyway! The aim is to get the pasta thin enough to work with. It's not easy to get a lump of dough rolled out in one piece, so I just roll a few smaller pieces instead.
8) Once you've rolled your pasta the way you want it, you need to shape or cut it straight away. Pasta dries much quicker than you think, so whatever recipe you're doing, don't leave it more than a minute or two before cutting or shaping it. You can lay it over a damp clean tea towel which will stop it from drying out - if you need longer!
4) If you are using a machine to roll your pasta, make sure it's clamped firmly to a clean work surface before you start. Dust your work surface with some Tipo ‘00’ flour, take a piece of pasta dough (about the size of a grapefruit) and push it out flat with your fingers. Set the pasta machine at its widest setting- and roll the lump of pasta dough through it. Lightly dust with flour if it sticks. Take the machine down a setting and roll the dough through again. Fold in half, and pop it back through again on the widest setting. Repeat six times. It might seem like a lot of work but you'll feel the difference, and you will end up with smooth, silky pasta which will be amazing!
Making your own fresh egg pasta may seem like a lot of work, but once you try it, you will not want to go back to packet pasta ever again! RECIPES
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