Home-made, fresh pasta is worlds apart from the dried bags of pasta you can buy from the supermarket. It’s silky, goes hand in hand with simple as well as more sophisticated sauces and just calls for a night amongst friends and family. So gather your family, partner, best friends or in-laws, prepare a bottle of wine and spend a little time of your afternoon preparing a touch of Italy in your own home.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 500g of flower
Preparing the pasta
Pour the flour into a bowl, make a hole in the centre allowing the eggs to be dropped into it. Mix the eggs with a fork, taking a little flour from the sides gradually until the eggs and flour are blended. If the mixture is too dry and crumbly, add a little lukewarm water. If it is too wet, add a little flour. Remove the mixture from the bowl and place it on a slightly floured table. Knead it with your hands until it is of an even consistency. Place the mixture on a cloth and cut it into several pieces. We advise cutting 2-3 pieces at a time, approx. 1cm thick, so that the pasta does not dry too quickly.
Tip: A good mixture must never stick to your fingers.
Producing pasta sheets
Move the pasta adjustment dial on the side of the machine to position 1, pulling it outwards and turning it so that the two smooth rollers are completely open. Pass a piece of mixture through the rollers by turning the handle. Repeat 6-8 times, folding over the dough and sprinkling some of the flour in the middle if necessary to prevent the dough from sticking. The dough should be fairly soft. If it is too sticky, sprinkle lightly with flour.
Then set the dial at the next number and pass the dough through the rollers without feeding it over. Continue decreasing the space between the rollers by adjusting the dial by one increment each time, until the desired thickness of the dough is obtained.
through dough directly into thinner settings may cause damage to the rollers.
If the pasta sheet has stretched too long to handle, divide into two pieces. Using a knife, cut the dough into the desired length and lay it on a cloth so that it does not dry. Once you have your desired pasta sheet, leave it to rest for 10 minutes before proceeding to the next step.
Cutting your pasta dough
Follow below steps to use the Dual Spaghetti/ Fectuccine and Dual Angel Hair/ Lasagne attachments.
Cut the pasta sheet lengthwise into 25-30cm sections. Lightly sprinkle with flour to prevent it from sticking to the cutter. Remove the handle from its current position and insert into the hole alongside the cutter which will produce the type of pasta you wish to make. It is important to wait a while before cutting the pasta to avoid it being too soft.
attachments feature two holes, each which align with the corresponding pasta type. Make sure to insert the handle into the correct hole.
Turn the handle slowly whilst passing the dough through. If the dough is too soft the machine may have some difficulty in cutting it. In this case lightly flour the dough or leave it for approx. 10 minutes and then try again. Be careful not to let the pasta get too dry as it will have difficulty passing through the rollers.
When your pasta has been produced, place the strips onto a large floured surface or onto a drying stand to dry before cooking.
Products Used
Imperia Italian Pasta Factory Gift Set KitchenCraft World of Flavours Italian Pasta Drying Stand 30x36x23.5cm
