serves
4
prep
45 minutes
cook
6 minutes
difficulty
Mid
serves
4
people
preparation
45
minutes
cooking
6
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
There’s something very satisfying about making your own pasta. I think it’s the fact that it’s such a common commodity, the idea of actually making it seems a little alien to most (the same is true of bread-making). Yet making pasta is so simple and uses the most basic of ingredients: wheat flour and fresh eggs. This recipe makes a silky, tender pasta that you can cut into large lasagne sheets, lengths of slender tagliatelle, or (my favourite) bold-ribboned pappardelle.
Ingredients
- 400 g (14 oz) type 00 (double zero) flour, plus extra for dusting
- good pinch of fine sea salt
- 4 eggs
Instructions
Place the flour in a large bowl and add the salt. Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. Use a fork to whisk the eggs and slowly start to incorporate the flour, a little at a time. When you have a soft dough, tip it out, along with any loose flour, onto a clean surface. Work the dough, stretching and folding it across your work surface for 8–10 minutes, until it is smooth and silky. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and rest it in the fridge for 30–40 minutes.
Divide the dough in half and work each into a flattish rectangle in your hands. You can roll out the pasta using a large rolling pin (it’s hard work, but you’ll get there – go as thin as you can), but it’s easier using a pasta machine. Take one rectangle and pass it through the machine on its thickest setting a couple of times. Fold the dough into three, as if folding a letter, and, still on the thickest setting, pass it through twice more (this gives the dough structure).
Now, run the dough half through all the settings on the machine, from its thickest to its thinnest. Dust both sides of the pasta lightly with flour each time you roll. When you’ve got down to the thinnest setting, cut the pasta into long ribbons to make the pappardelle. I hang the lengths over the back of a chair while I roll and cut the remaining dough, as before. The pasta will dry quite quickly so if you don’t intend to cook it straight away, layer it up between sheets of cling film and keep it covered in the fridge. Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the other dough half.
Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water for 3–6 minutes, until cooked to your liking (the timing will vary according to the thickness and shape of the pasta, so be on hand to test it). Serve it simply stirred through some melted butter with sage leaves and parmesan, or with your favourite sauce.
Recipe from Gather by Gill Meller (Hardie Grant Books, hb, RRP $49.95). Photography: © Andrew Montgomery. Read our interview with Gill .
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
There’s something very satisfying about making your own pasta. I think it’s the fact that it’s such a common commodity, the idea of actually making it seems a little alien to most (the same is true of bread-making). Yet making pasta is so simple and uses the most basic of ingredients: wheat flour and fresh eggs. This recipe makes a silky, tender pasta that you can cut into large lasagne sheets, lengths of slender tagliatelle, or (my favourite) bold-ribboned pappardelle.
