Making Pasta...

Making pasta... is possibly one of life's most satisfying skills that any foodie must acquire in the kitchen... The simple combination of two ingredients, flour and eggs is transformed into the most versatile ingredient that can be used for a simple dish such as this... to filled ravioli...

The flour used to make pasta is special, it's a Type or Tipo '00' grade flour which is extremely fine, high gluten flour. Fresh pasta is made with eggs which makes it more tender than dried and it takes less than half the time to cook. 

This post is designed to give a step by step guide to the simple process to produce a fine product which can be used in your cooking. You can choose to use a variety of flours to alter the texture and utilise other ingredients such as spinach, beetroot or squid ink to make things a bit more interesting.

There is no recipe for this or list of ingredients, the simple rule of pasta is that you use 1 egg per 100 g of flour, if the mixture is a little dry add a little bit of water. The key behind pasta making is to play with it and learn it, by doing. You feel when the dough has been worked enough to make it smooth therefore it's ready, allow to rest, then go and be inventive at what you choose to put with it! We hope this is easier to follow than the recipe we posted previously, so you can see the process from start to finish. 

1. Pour flour onto a sturdy surface, make a well, crack an egg into it.
2. Beat your egg with your fingers and bring the flour in from the edges to combine
3 & 4. The pasta will slowly come together as you work it

5-8. Work until fully combined and smooth, chill for at least 15 minutes.

9. Flatten with your palm until about 1 cm thick.
10. Feed through your pasta machine on the thickest setting (1) or use a rolling pin if you don't have a machine.

11. Lay your oblong of pasta out ensuring it is floured nicely. This next step is laminating.
12. Fold in the right side a third of the way in.
13. Fold the left side in a third over the top of the other fold. (3 layers)
14. Twist 90 degrees and press flat.

15. Feed into your machine still on thickest setting, open edge first. 

16. Repeat 12 and 13 to get 3 layers again.

17. Flour to ensure the pasta doesn't stick in your machine

18. Repeat steps 14 and 15. Roll twice through this setting.

19-20. Work your pasta sheet through each of the settings ensuring you flour your pasta between each rolling until you reach the thickness you desire.