March 9, 2011 | 3 Comments

Make your own Fresh Pasta

Making your own fresh pasta is a very rewarding experience.  Initially you will probably think that the dough is all wrong, but as you take it through the rollers you will see it transform into beautiful silky smooth sheets of pasta.  I remember when I got my pasta machine some years ago, I couldn’t stop making the stuff.  So much so that I had to give it away to friends and neighbours as I didn’t have any more space!

It may seem intimidating at first, but it really is easy, just try it!

Here is what you will need:

  • 2 cups white bread flour
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 whole eggs (yolk and white)
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • A pasta rolling machine (it is not crucial, you can achieve the same thing with a rolling pin, its just a lot easier with the machine!)

So let’s get to it!

Start making the pasta at least 1 hour before you plan on using it, it takes about 30 minutes to do, and needs to rest another 30 minutes.

Right, so first off, chuck the flour in a sieve and sift it so it ends up in a little heap on your work surface

Next take your hand and with a small circular motion, make a “dam” in the middle of the little heap of flour.

Whisk the eggs (yolks and whole eggs), salt and oil together in a bowl and gently pour into the middle of the dam you just created.  Now with a fork, keep whisking the eggs, scraping off little bits of flour off the side of the dam and mix in with the eggs. The mixture will get thicker as you go.

At some point you will notice the mixture wont really be “whiskable” anymore.  Now its time to get your hands dirty! Get your hands in there and start rolling and kneading the dough.

You will notice a ball of dough forming and some frilly bits mixed in with the rest of the flour.  Get your sieve out and chuck all the flour left on the board through it.  You will notice the frilly bits stay behind.  Mix that in with the ball of dough, and keep the “clean” flour to one side while you knead the dough, as you want some extra flour later for dusting the work surface etc to prevent sticking.

Knead the ball of dough with the palms of your hands for a couple of minutes adding some flour until its firms up.  It shouldn’t be rock hard.  Once done, wrap it in cling film and let it rest for  about  3o minutes.
Good, the messy part is now done,  you can clean the dough off your hands and go sit back and relax, while your pasta does the same!
Ok, fast-forward 30 minutes and its time to roll!  Secure your pasta machine to your work surface, break off a third of the ball of dough. Leave the rest wrapped up, you don’t want it to dry out.
You will notice the pasta machine has a knob on the side with little numbers on, pull it back and turn it, you will notice it changes the space between the rollers.   Set it to the widest setting, place the lump of dough on the rollers and crank it!  Take the dough out at the bottom, fold it in half and roll it again on the same setting.
Do this a couple of times, you will notice the dough getting a bit smoother.  Now you can go one setting narrower every second run.  So roll, fold, roll and go on to the next setting.
You will notice that as you change settings, the pasta sheet gets a lot longer and longer.  If it becomes unmanageable, just cut it in half and work the two pieces separately.  If you find it sticking to the rollers, dust the rollers with some of the flour you set aside earlier.
Keep going until you get to the narrowest setting.  By now you may find yourself smiling, as the dough has become so soft and silky you can’t help but be chuffed with yourself for making it, and equally chuffed that you are about to eat it!
And there you have it, freshly made lasagna sheets.  Your pasta machine should come with a set of cutters, simply pass the lasagna sheets through those to cut tagliatelle etc, depending on your cutters !
You can of course explore by adding stuff to the dough. Make your own black pepper pasta, sun dried tomato pasta, spinach pasta, the list is endless! I like mine plain though, can’t beat a classic!
Enjoy!

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Author:Fritz Brand

Passionate Foodie, Blues Man, Photographer, Technology Geek and all round cool dude.
View all posts by Fritz Brand →

3 Responses to “Make your own Fresh Pasta”

  1. Reply
    Meg Pascoe
    October 21, 2011 at 6:48 pm #

    Just made this recipe and I must say – it is 1000 times better than the Jamie Oliver recipe I used before! My pasta looks amazing, can’t wait to try it out. And make it a million times over.

    Thanks Fritz – legend!

    • Reply
      Fritz Brand
      October 21, 2011 at 6:57 pm #

      Thanks for the kind words and feedback Meg! Great to hear that I helped you achieve great results. Thats a big part of why I do this. Enjoy the pasta!! Ciao bella!!

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