Making pasta

Oris, our 14-year-old English Springer Spaniel, has been coughing alot. A few nights ago, she woke me up good at 4am. I got up to let the dogs out for a wee, could not get back to sleep, and decided to make good use of my time by...

Making pasta!

Mad I know, but hey you remember how Izzie used to bake to take her mind off things in Grey's Anatomy, right? Kneading can be very therapeutic! 


So here's what you need:


250g of '00' flour, or strong flour
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
Pinch of salt
20ml water (optional)


First, sift the flour into a metal bowl with add salt. Mix. Make a hole in the centre of the flour, and add the eggs and egg yolks.

Using your hands, start to mix the flour into the egg. Moving the bowl as you go helps! Use the water very sparingly. It's better to have a dough that's on the dry side (trust me, I am saying this from experience!)

When it is well mixed, move the dough to a clean and cool surface. Marble works best. 

Using your palm to press into the dough, knead for at least 5 minutes. (I was taking the photo with my left hand, otherwise it'd be on the dough) Add a slight dusting of flour if the dough begins to stick to the surface.

When it's got a nice elastic touch, wrap it in clingfilm and let it rest for 5 minutes, so it can rid itself of dimples. 

Once you are happy that the dough is dimple-free and of the right texture, let it rest in the refrigerator for a minimum of 25 minutes. The longer you rest it, the better - overnight is super duper!

Here's how my dough looks like after resting - see how relaxed and contented it looks? :)

So now, we are ready to call in the Pasta Maker and make some serious mee. First, roll out the dough.

Pass it through the pasta maker, starting with a greater width. Note that pasta makers usually work from 2-6, but the same number can be different width on different models (yup, that means 6 can be thickest OR thinnest depending on your machine). So play around with a small amount before you go all out.


The sad truth is that making some types of pasta is best suited for TALL people with LONG limbs, so either divide your pasta dough up and make a few more rounds, or put your spouse/lover/partner to good use and use THEIR limbs :) 

When it's nice and thin, transfer the dough to the cutter and run through. I used my knife sharpener to catch it for easy hanging and drying. 


Freshly made pasta is truly yummy, one of life's top pleasures. It's easy once you get the hang of it, so give it a try!