Pasta from scratch

After that glorious spring Friday where the sun made a grand entrance and embraced Sydney with a 31*C hug, the weekend was the complete opposite.  Wet, cold and gloomy. Not my kind of day, especially as I’m recovering from a stiff/sore neck and back.  But, not to dampen our spirits, it was the best time to take out the new pasta machine and make some pasta!  Yes. This is too much excitement for us, being Filipino and coming from a rice-consuming nation. Making pasta from scratch is just as exciting as watching the NYE fireworks or Christmas, or the first day of school.  And while pasta making is exciting, it is also messy.  But we don’t care.  Everyone had a go cranking the machine, and the ooh’s and aah’s was just priceless.  This pasta dough recipe is from the Futura Training textbook - Organise and Prepare Food, Methods of Cookery.

We made this with

250g ‘OO’ flour

3 eggs

10ml olive oil
salt 

Sift the flour into a medium-large sized bowl. 

Crack the eggs into a jug or cup, with the olive oil and mix until it combines together (a technique I learned in Kitchen10 from Chef A).

Pour the egg-oil mixture into the well, and mix with your hands by ‘folding’ the flour slowly to incorporate the dry and wet ingredients.

Place the dough on the counter top and knead for a few minutes, until you get soft dough (should not be wet).

Shape into a round disc and wrap with plastic/cling wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Cut into quarters make pasta using a pasta machine.

Rest the pasta for a few minutes after cutting/making through the pasta machine.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water for 5-6 minutes.

PS – Jamie Oliver once demonstrated in his show how easy it is to make pasta without a pasta machine.  He simply used a rolling pin to flatten the dough to the desired thin/thickness, and using a knife, cut the dough into strips using a regular knife.  Let the dough rest for a bit, then cook al dente!