If you have the patience, you can roll this with a rolling pin. My 3-year-old daughter loved helping me by turning the pasta maker handle. This is a great recipe to get kids involved in the kitchen, and is cheap to make - freeze your fresh pasta ready to go as lasagne sheets, fettuccini, ravioli - the options are endless! Experiment by adding spinach, herbs or pesto to the dough before rolling out for different flavoured pasta. Enjoy!
YIELD: AROUND 500GINGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
METHOD:
1. Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre.
2. Place eggs into the well, mixing with your fingertips to slowly combine flour and eggs together. It should form dough, if sticky add a little extra flour.
3. Flour your counter, and then knead the dough with your palms for 5-6 minutes to make it smooth and soft.
4. Divide the dough into 6 portions (easier to fit into the pasta maker after resting). Place back into mixing bowl or on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and rest for 10 minutes.
5. Uncover one portion of dough at a time, dusting the dough and pasta maker with flour (dust with flour any time you feel the dough gets sticky as you work with it). Secure pasta maker to your bench. Set pasta maker to the widest setting. Roll dough through. Repeat with middle setting and finally repeat with the smallest/thinnest setting. If you’re making ravioli, you want to make the pasta as thin as possible.
6. Cut the pasta sheets in half, or leave them whole if you prefer. Lightly flour each sheet to prevent sticking, and place them onto a dry clean tea towel. Repeat with the remaining portions of dough.
7. Cut pasta into lasagne-sized sheets, or run through pasta maker to make fettucine or spaghetti. Air-dry pasta on racks ready to cook within a few hours, or freeze with a sheet of baking paper separating each portion of pasta (otherwise they will stick) for up to 3 months.
