How do I make fresh pasta?

Fresh pasta is two ingredients and one skill. The skill is knowing when the dough is right, and the most common failure is trying to roll it before the gluten has relaxed.

What you'll need

• '00' or strong plain flour
• Eggs
• Pasta machine (optional)
• Rolling pin (optional)
• Semolina for dusting (optional)

Step by step

1. Use 100g flour to one medium egg.Per person, as a main course. '00' flour gives a silkier result; strong plain flour works well and is easier to find.
2. Make a well and bring it together gradually.Flour on the board, eggs in the middle, drawing flour in from the edges with a fork. Or use a bowl — the well is traditional, not essential.
3. Knead for a full ten minutes.Longer than feels necessary. It starts stiff and shaggy and becomes smooth and elastic. This develops the gluten that lets it roll thin without tearing.
4. Rest it, wrapped, for at least 30 minutes.At room temperature. The gluten relaxes and the dough becomes cooperative. Skip this and it will fight you and spring back constantly.
5. Roll in stages, working with a quarter at a time.Keep the rest wrapped so it does not dry out. By machine: through each setting twice, folding at the widest. By hand: a rolling pin, rotating often, working from the centre out.
6. Roll thinner than you think.You should be able to see your hand through it. Fresh pasta thickens as it cooks, and thick fresh pasta is doughy.
7. Cut and dust with semolina.Semolina rather than flour — it does not absorb and stops the strands welding together.
8. Cook in well-salted boiling water for two to four minutes.Far quicker than dried. It floats and tastes done. Taste one rather than watching the clock.

Tips

• Egg sizes vary considerably. If the dough is too dry, a teaspoon of water; too sticky, a dusting of flour. Adjust confidently.
• Fresh pasta freezes well. Shape it into nests, freeze on a tray, then bag. Cook from frozen with an extra minute.
• A rolling pin genuinely works. A machine is faster and more even, but it is not a requirement.

Common mistakes

• Not resting the dough — The gluten is tight, so it springs back as fast as you roll it and tears rather than thinning.
• Dusting with flour instead of semolina — Flour absorbs moisture and turns gluey, so the cut strands stick together anyway.

Questions people ask