Basic pasta dough

Home-made pasta takes no more time, money or effort than making pastry - no special equipment is needed and it's a lot easier than you'd think.

INGREDIENTS

• 300g ‘00’ pasta flour, plus extra for dusting (from large supermarkets and Italian delis)

• ½ tsp fine salt

• 2 large, organic eggs, plus 3 large, organic yolks

• 2 tsp olive oil

• Semolina or fine cornmeal, for dusting

METHOD

1. 01.Sift the flour and salt into a mound on a large, clean work surface. Make a well in the centre, making sure the flour ‘walls’ are high. Beat together the eggs, egg yolks and olive oil and pour into the well.

2. 02.Using the fingertips of 1 hand, gradually draw the flour into the egg mixture in a circular motion to start creating a dough. The dough becomes less sticky as it comes together – add a dash of water if it’s a little dry. Using both hands, form into a firm ball and knead for 5 min, until smooth. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 min.

3. 03.Quarter the dough and place 1 piece on a surface dusted with semolina (cover the remaining pasta to prevent it drying out). Using a dusted rolling pin, thinly roll out to a large rectangle, moving it often and using plenty of semolina to prevent sticking. Put on a dusted tray while you roll out the rest.

4. 04.Cut the pasta into neat lasagne sheets, or make tagliatelle. To do this, roll up like a Swiss roll, trim the ends neatly and slice at 5mm intervals. Unravel the tagliatelle and toss in more semolina, until ready to cook.

#cooking #pasta