The joys of making your own Pasta

Pasta, like bread, is shrouded in many layers of myth and fantasy. The truth is, it is very easy to make and wonderful when you do. However, this is not a quick and simple process - its one for a long lazy Sunday afternoon.
When you first consider making your own pasta your thoughts will turn to pasta making machines. My experience is that there is no point in buying a cheap pasta roller, you willl use it a few times, the gearing will go and it will be next to useless. I made this mistake and eventually purchased an Imperia machine and I have never looked back.
Unlike most items on this blog, making your own pasta will not save you money. Dried pasta of ordinarry quality is available for very little in the supermarket (though high quality dried pasta is a thing of great beauty).
So, it costs a lot to do and its going to take a great deal of your weekend - so why do it? Once you have tasted the sliky smooth little pillows of your own ravioli you will be forever enchanted, I promise.
I always use a "oo" Italian flour and my recipe is below. I tend to make mine into ravioli. The beautiful wife has a particular love of Butternut Squash ravioli in a beurre noisette sauce.

Pasta
3 eggs
300gms "oo" flour
Pinch of salt
Glug of good olive oil

Sift the flour onto a work surface and make a well in the centre. Break the eggs into the middle of the flour and slowly, with a fork, draw the flour into the egg. I find using a gentle, angled, stirrring motion works well here. When it is just starting to come together, get your hands in there and mix it untill it fully holds together. Now kneed the dough until it is smooth and pliable. Wrap the dough in cling film and allow it to rest for 20 minutes outside the fridge.
Squeeze the dough into a tongue shape and feed it into your pasta machine which should be set to its widest setting. Fold in half and send through again. Do this a further 4 times before reducing the gap and running it through without folding. Lower the size everytime you pass the pasta though and finally you will be left with a great long strip of lasagne. You can cut this into shapes, use it as Lasange, use the slicing gadget on your machine to make Tagliatelle or even make nice little Ravioli.

I recently purchased a Ravioli plate (also ny Imperia) and now make twelve little cushions of loveliness in a batch. Photos to follow!