Fresh Pasta

My pasta machine working its magic

Doesn't it look pretty?

Ribbons of silk!

I was so very tired after work yesterday, I just wanted to curl up on the sofa and watch TV but strangely enough I found myself in the kitchen making pasta from scratch! My talented Italian friend Nadia Romano (renowned for her amazing reclaimed furniture), who I met when I lived in Barcelona recently gave me her fresh pasta recipe which has been passed down from generation to generation within her family. It has been playing on my mind for a while so this evening I decided to use it to make tagliatelle. I have attempted making pasta a few times but this was the most successful batch yet. My flatmate Zanna said it was like eating 'ribbons of silk', that's got to be a good thing, non?

I served mine with a puttanesca sauce.

Serves 2 plus leftovers

200 grams of 00 flour

2 eggs

Olive oil

Salt

The ratio is 1 egg for every 100 grams of flour.

Pour the flour into a large bowl, make a hole in the centre and break in the eggs. Add the salt and glug of oil and stir well. Use your hands to mould the dough into a ball. The final texture of the dough should be firm and springy – it shouldn’t be too dry that it breaks, or too moist that it sticks to your hands.

Place the ball of dough in greaseproof paper in the fridge for at least half an hour before rolling out into the pasta shape you want.

Begin with the widest setting on the pasta machine and gently roll through the dough. Lightly dust the pasta with flour if it sticks at all. Click the machine down a setting and roll the pasta dough through again. Fold the pasta in half, click the pasta machine back up to the widest setting and roll the dough through again. Repeat this process a few times and you’ll start to feel a difference in the dough – it will become silky.

Next, work the dough down from the widest to the narrowest setting. Then choose the shape of pasta you wish to make.

Fresh pasta only takes a few minutes to cook.

One of the first things I remember my dad teaching me was how to cook pasta properly. The trick is to use lots and lots of boiled water. Salting the water makes the pasta taste even better by bringing out the natural flavor.