Fresh pasta, is it worth the effort? High Blean B&B Bainbridge

Home made pasta made from flour, egg, water and salt: is it worth the effort?

I would say it is, though I  do not really consider it to be too much effort and takes no more than 10 minutes maximum to make in all, though it is best to allow the pasta dough to rest for ten to fifteen minutes.

Ingredients:

• 4½ oz  to 5 oz of flour depending on your appetite, this should be ample for two people. While 00 flour is recommended if not available I just use strong white bread flour.  
• 1 large egg
• Good pinch of salt and ground white pepper.
• Water: add water sparingly.

Measure the flour into a basin and add the salt and mix. Now crack the egg into the flour. Make a “V” with the forefinger and middle finger of the dominant hand. Grab the bowl with the other hand and insert the V fingers into the mix and rotate the bowl, using the fingers to mix the ingredients to create a dough. It is likely that you will need to add a little water but go carefully as making the dough too sticky will result in the dough not passing through the rollers cleanly.

Keep mixing and use the fingers to form the dough, which should not be too wet. If you have it right, the sticky flour mix will come off your fingers and hand. Now form into a ball of dough and give is a short knead. Place to one side to rest for at least 15 to 20 minutes, even better if it is left overnight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While it is possible to make the pasta using just a rolling-pin and a knife I purchased a pasta rolling kit and it makes making pasta a pleasure.

I cut the dough in half, sprinkle the work surface with semolina flour, and press the dough flat. Semolina flour appears to fall off the pasta when it is being cooked and does not form into a glue on the pasta.

Now feed the dough through the rolling mill, making two passes at each decreasing width setting, sprinkling the pasta with semolina flour to keep it from sticking. Like most things a little practice and you will have the hang of it.

When you have a long piece of rolled pasta, it is time to feed it through the cutting form, I used the tagliatelle cutters. When you have foot long strings of tagliatelle cut them off and lay them over a drying tree.

 

 

 

Let it dry for at least an hour, though I have used it straight from the rolling mill when I had forgotten to make it earlier, and it was fine.

 

 

 

 

Cook in plenty of salty boiling water. Bring the water back up to the boil and cook for no longer than two minutes. Then pull the pasta from the water with tongs, into a sieve to drain and serve with your favourite sauce.

Thicker pasta, like tagliatelle was traditionally used to accompany meat based sauces.

 

EDIT: following a top tip I now roll my pasta in a continuous loop. Here is me practising