Now Pasta is really really cheap to buy, but it is also really cheap to make – and the home made version not only tastes delicious – but it’s really good fun to make.  If you have a pasta machine – fantastic!  But we show you here how to make pasta from scratch manually.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Plain Flour or ‘OO’ Flour (available from most supermarkets)
• 2 large eggs
• cold water

Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre.  Add the eggs and stir with a butter knife to form a dough (about 3 tablespoons of cold water – but judge as you go!).  Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead thoroughly for about 10 – 15 minutes or until the dough is nice and smooth and pliable.  Dust with a little flour and wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least thirty minutes.

Remove the ball of dough from the fridge and unwrap.  Give it a quick knead again (just a few minutes) then roll out very finely and cut into the desired shape or run through a pasta machine if you have one.  This type of pasta is good for:

Fettuccine:

Roll out the pasta into a long rectangle shape.  Starting from the short end, roll up the dough then cut up very finely into strips.  Unravel each strip and spread on a floured tray (or semolina works well too).  To cook – drop into a large pot of salted boiling water for about 5 minutes or until the pasta is tender.  Drain and serve with the sauce of your choice.  Options include Tomato, Pesto or Carbonara.

Lasagne:

Roll pasta dough out as thinly as you can and cut into sheets approximately 8cm by 10cm.  Fresh pasta does not take as long to cook as the dried shop bought variety.

Ravioli:

Divide the dough into two and roll each half out into a very long, very thin strip.  Place teaspoons of your desired filling every 5cm along one of the strips  Brush around the filling with a little warm water and then press the other pasta sheet on top, careful to secure the filling well.  Using a sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut away the excess pasta dough.  Fill a large pot with hot salty water and cook carefully for approximately 15 minutes.  Drain well and serve piping hot with your desired sauce.

For more great pasta recipes, visit the Stay at Home Mum recipes page