This is not a recipe for people in a hurry – home-made pasta takes time and patience. Although it may sound like a lot of effort, it’s really quite simple to prepare.
Flour, eggs, oil and salt are all you need to make pasta dough. If this is your first time making pasta, you can cheat a little and just throw all the ingredients into a food processor or mixer. As soon as the dough forms a ball, place it on the table and knead by hand until elastic and smooth. It’s important to do this by hand so that you can feel when the dough has reached the right consistency.
Real Italians – and those of us who are Italian at heart – shape 250g of durum wheat flour into a mound and add 3 eggs, 3tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt to the well in the centre. Lightly beat the liquid with a fork and slowly work in the flour by hand. Knead everything by hand for 10 minutes. You can divide the dough up into pieces at this stage. However, make sure to cover these properly in cling film when resting to prevent the dough from drying out. Set aside in the refrigerator to rest for around 30 minutes.
Now you need to roll it out: take a small portion of dough, flatten it slightly using the palm of your hand and feed it into your pasta machine on the widest setting. Repeat this several times, folding the pasta dough and coating it lightly in flour. Gradually narrow the pasta machine setting to make the dough thinner and thinner. Then select your preferred attachment and cut the pasta into tagliatelle, spaghetti, etc. Dust the cut pasta liberally with flour, form into nests and cover with a cloth until ready for use. Finally, cook in boiling salted water until “al dente”, strain and serve in a tasty sauce – that’s all there is to it!
Of course, the recipe can be adjusted. Adding a pinch of saffron – dissolved in olive oil – will turn the pasta an appetizing yellowy-orange, while steamed and pureed spinach will make it refreshingly green. You can also blanch either parsley or basil and mix them directly with the eggs. And to give your pasta a vibrant pink colour, just add beetroot to it – steamed in the oven then pureed. Or maybe you would prefer carrot puree for orange pasta? If you’re in a rush and still want to give the dough a bit of colour, a squeeze of tomato paste from the tube will do.
A great effect can be created by placing whole, flat herbs between two layers of pasta at the rolling stage so they get rolled into the dough. Cut the sheets of pasta into squares with a knife or into circles using a cutter. And then stuff with a simple filling of fresh ricotta, some grated lemon rind, thyme or maybe even a few briefly fried mushrooms and taleggio. Perhaps you still have some leftover roast in the refrigerator that could be diced and used to fill the pasta? However you roll, cut and fill your pasta: you’re sure to bring a touch of Italian ‘dolce vita’ to your home. Buon appetito!
