Pasta Making

Pasta Making

Ingredients:
400g plain flour4 large free-range eggs

Method:
Pour the flour onto the bench so it forms a mound. Make a large hollow in the centre and break in the eggs.

Using a fork, whisk the eggs until combined and start drawing in the flour. Use your hands to bring together and begin kneading. Keep a little flour to the side to add if the dough feels a little sticky. It is much easier to knead a little more flour into a slightly wet dough than the other way around.

Continue to knead until the dough feels smooth.

Cover with plastic and allow to relax at room temperature for 30 minutes.

If using the pasta to make lasagne or spaghetti, roll out all the dough into sheets and lay them out on tea towels sprinkled lightly with flour. Allow them to dry for at least 10 minutes before cooking. For filled pasta such as ravioli, cut and fill the pasta sheet as you go rather than rolling out all the dough first.

It is difficult to give the exact quantities of flour and egg for pasta, as it depends on how large the egg is and how much the flour will absorb, but a good rule of thumb is to use 1 egg to every 100g of flour. For example, for 4 people use 2 eggs and 200g flour.