Here is a recipe on how to make your own fresh pasta from scratch. It’s similar to making chinese egg noodles. I don’t really know how to hand roll pasta using just a long wooden stick. It is still made using a long wooden stick in Italy. I use a pasta making machine it is much easier. One will get nice and thin pasta/ noodle quality. It is possible to make pasta without a machine. However it requires a bit of muscle power as you will need to roll the dough into thin then fold it over and slice it. That’s in a nutshell on how to make fresh pasta with out a machine.

Do use ’00’ grade flour if you can find them in the shops or supermarkets. They are much finer and good for making. Homemade fresh tastes far more superior compare ready made ones you get from supermarkets.

One tip in making it a success. First of all, is to always make sure the dough is not too wet before rolling on the cutter setting. As this will clog up the cutter. Therefore the dough will need removing before the next use. in this instance I use a fork to poke down the gaps in between the cutter to loosen and remove the stuck down dough.

The pasta can be use as noddle in my Chicken noodle soup

I will post more pasta sauces in latter time so keep an eye out on future blogs.

Recipe for 4 persons

400 grms ’00’ grade flour or plain flour

2 medium size eggs

1 tablespoon of cold pressed rapeseed oil

70-80 mls of cold  water

Method

Measure out the ingredients. Put in the flour first then put in the eggs, no need to beat them first. Just crack the egg into the flour. Then add the cold pressed oil. Slowly add the cold water. Kneed the dough till it’s nice and well mixed together.

I have got an ‘Imperia’ machine. If one has not use one of these before you start off at the lowest/ broadest setting and work you way to the thinnest setting. The finally you start rolling at the pasta cutter. I like the broad ‘tagliatelle’  setting as I love to eat broad pasta/ noddle.

One tip on using pasta machine is that if the dough is too wet let it dry out before rolling. Especially on the final thinnest setting. As the thinner the setting the less forgiving it will be on the dough texture (too wet or too dry). Hang them on a pasta drier or on a pole or simply over two plates. If using plates put a bit of flour so that it doesn’t stick together. If it is too dry just wet your hands with water to make the dough wetter.

How to cook fresh pasta

Fresh pasta just needs about 2 minutes to cook in a pot of boiling water. If you want to put a bit of salt in boiling water by all means do. I prefer not not. The pasta can be left to dry out once it’s completely dried out it can be stored away in dry container. I just put them in the freezer compartment or fridge (if it is going to be eaten in the next few days.