Homemade pasta does taste different to shop bought. It is more gentle and refined and far less heavy, if made properly. The best news is that it’s actually very easy and if you do it in a food processor even easier!
A simple formula to serve 2: 200g “00” pasta, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons olive oil.
Pasta By Hand
Sift the flour onto a clean surface and make a well in the centre. Crack in the eggs and olive oil. Use your fingers to mix the egg with the oil and draw in the surrounding flour. Keeping mixing until it comes together to form a dough and the move to clean surface to knead it for around 5 minutes so that it is smooth and elastic. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
Remove from the refrigerator. Only work with a small amount at a time or else it dries out so keep the portion you aren’t working with wrapped in cling film. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a thin lasagne sheet, then roll the sheet up and then cut into 1 cm thick strips to make tagliatelle. Unroll them and either hang them from a rack to dry out for about 10 minutes or loosely bundle them into nests and leave them to dry on a tray sprinkled with flour or semolina.
To cook the pasta, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil and then drop in the pasta. Fresh pasta will only take a few minutes to cook when you drain it and drizzle over olive oil.
Pasta in a Food Processor
Add the flour, eggs and olive oil to the bowl of a food processor and pulse girl you have what looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Bring it together in your hands and then knead for 5 minutes. Once smooth and elastic, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
Remove from the refrigerator and pass the dough through a pasta machine starting first with the thickest setting and moving to the thinnest. Either use the machine to create the pasta shape you want or, as above, simply roll up and cut into strips to make tagliatelle. Unroll them and either hang them from a rack to dry out for about 10 minutes or loosely bundle them into nests and leave them to dry on a tray sprinkled with flour or semolina.
To cook the pasta, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil and then drop in the pasta. Fresh pasta will only take a few minutes to cook when you drain it and drizzle over olive oil.