Homemade Pasta
Homemade pasta
Nothing beats homemade pasta, here's how to make it...
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 6-7 minutes
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
400g pasta flour ('00' type)
A pinch of salt
4 eggs (beaten)
Olive oil, optional 40ml (4 tbsp)
Optional: Handful of semolina
How to make:
Using a kitchen machine, spiral dough hook and pasta rolling attachments
Firstly put the flour, salt, oil and eggs either into the bowl of your kitchen machine. I use my awesome Kenwood Chef for this. Attach the Spiral Dough Hook and set the speed to 1-2 and knead for 2 minutes or until the dough comes together. Place the dough onto the work surface and knead until smooth. Add a splash of water if it is too dry or a sprinkle more flour if it is too wet. Pop into an airtight container or wrap in a plastic food bag/cling film and rest for 30 minutes.
Attach the Flat Pasta Maker to the machine, scatter some flour, or semolina if using, onto the pasta and cut into four equal pieces.
Lightly roll it with a rolling pin into a rectangle shape. Set the Flat Pasta Roller to the widest setting, moving up through the numbers on the side of the roller (reducing by one each time), and using a low speed, feed the pasta through it several times, folding it in half each time, until the pasta is smooth.
Continue to reduce the thickness of the pasta roller until the required thickness has been achieved. If you have another attachment to cut the pasta into shapes, lightly flour the pasta again (or sprinkle on semolina) and then put the pasta through the cutter using the kitchen machine on a low speed.
Allow the pasta to dry for a good few hours if possible before cooking. Ideally hang over a drying rack (I used the end of a broom suspended between 2 chairs with cling film over it so it was clean.
To cook the pasta, fill the bowl with water and bring to a rolling boil – then add the pasta. Check it after 6 minutes, and once cooked drain in a colander.
How to make using a food processor
Ingredients:
400g pasta flour ('00' type)
A pinch of salt
4 eggs (beaten)
Olive oil, optional 40ml (4 tbsp)
Optional: Handful of semolina
Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor, the Kenwood Multipro is perfect, fitted with the normal blade attachment. Pulse for about 10 seconds, or until the mixture reaches a crumbly texture.
Remove the dough and form it into a ball with your hands, then place the dough on a lightly-floured cutting board. Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. (You want it to be quite dry so if it's a bit sticky, add in some extra flour or some semolina if using).
Form the dough into a ball with your hands and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Leave to rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Use immediately or you can refrigerate for up to 1 day.
Roll out the pasta dough into your desired shape, either by hand or using a pasta maker (see below).
To cook the pasta, fill the bowl with water and bring to a rolling boil – then add the pasta. Check it after 6 minutes, and once cooked drain in a colander.
How to make by hand
Ingredients:
400g pasta flour ('00' type)
A pinch of salt
4 eggs
Olive oil, optional 40ml (4 tbsp)
Optional: Handful of semolina
Place the flour in a mound on a large cutting board. Use your fingers or a spoon to create a good-sized well in the middle of the flour mound. Add the eggs in the middle of the well. Sprinkle the salt and drizzle the olive oil on top of the eggs.
Use a fork to begin whisking the eggs until they are combined. Then begin to gradually whisk some of the surrounding flour into the egg mixture, adding more and more until the egg mixture is nice and thick. Don't worry if egg mixture escapes from the flour mound, just scrape it back in as you go. Use your hands to fold in the rest of the dough until it forms a loose ball. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic, sprinkling some extra flour (or semolina if you are using) on the cutting board if the mixture is a bit sticky - you want it to be quite dry.
Form the dough into a ball with your hands and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Use immediately or you can refrigerate for up to 1 day.
Roll out the pasta dough into your desired shape, either by hand or using a pasta maker (see below).
To cook the pasta, fill the bowl with water and bring to a rolling boil – then add the pasta. Check it after 6 minutes, and once cooked drain in a colander.
How to roll pasta by hand:
To roll out your pasta by hand, shape one wedge into a oval-shaped flat disc. Transfer the disc to a cutting board, and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it reaches your desired level of thickness (generally between 1-2 mm thick), adding extra flour to the cutting board as needed to prevent sticking. In general, a good test for thickness is that you should be able to see your hand through the dough if you carefully lift it up.
Using a pizza cutter or a knife, slice the dough into 5-inch sections. Sprinkle each section with a bit of extra flour. Then, starting on the short side of the sections, roll them up into very loose, flat cylinders. Cut the cylinders cross-wise to create your desired width of noodles. Then transfer the cut pasta to a drying rack (or a broom handle like me!), or swirl it into little pasta “nests” and lay them on a floured surface to dry for a few hours if you can. Repeat with the remaining pasta dough.
