How to Make Pasta
01 / 07 / 00 |
Many people are daunted by the idea of making fresh pasta, yet with a food processor and hand-cranked pasta machine, it's dead easy. Fresh pasta noodles made with eggs go particularly well with sauces based on dairy products (butter, cream, cheese) or Bolognese or meat sauces.
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
300g Hi Grade flour
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1. Put the eggs and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Blend 10 seconds. Sprinkle in the flour and pulse 12-15 times until it forms small beads and looks granular. Turn the mixture on to a clean surface and knead together into a ball. |
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2. Knead the ball of dough until smooth, about 5 minutes. Press the dough out flat with the palms so it will feed through the machine. Set the rollers on the pasta machine at their widest setting (usually No. 1) and feed through the pasta dough. |
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3. Fold the dough in three and press flat again. Repeat rolling, folding and pressing three more times, or until the dough feels smooth (it may be a little ragged around the edges; don't worry). |
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4. Move rollers to next setting and roll dough through once. Do not fold it in three but continue passing it through the rollers until you get to the final setting. You may find that the piece of pasta dough becomes too unwieldy to deal with. Cut it in half and cover one half with plastic wrap to stop it drying out while rolling out the other piece. |
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5. Lightly flour the rolled out dough and let it rest 7-15 minutes until it feels slightly leathery (don't leave it too long or it will become dry). |
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6. Pass the dough through the noodle cutters. |
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7. Either drape the cut noodles over a clean portable clothes line (cover it first with waxed paper) and leave the noodles to dry until leathery, or dry them on a lightly floured surface. If drying them on a flat surface, you will need to lift them in the hand and jiggle them around every 10 minutes or so for an hour or two to ensure they don't stick (dust very lightly with flour if necessary).
Once the noodles are dryish they can be cooked, or left to dry completely and stored for several days - even weeks, provided the atmosphere is dry and not humid. To cook, drop them into a pan of lightly salted boiling water and cook gently 2-5 minutes until al dente, drain and dress with chosen sauce.
Julie Biuso
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