Easy Homemade Pasta

Everyone loves a good carb but there really isn’t anything better than some homemade pasta!

We always thought pasta was kind of difficult to make from scratch but it turns out it is pretty easy! A pasta machine makes the process a lot easier, however you can roll it out by hand. You do want to leave yourself plenty of time to make homemade pasta because although it is easy, it is time consuming. Pasta made by hand is best cooked as soon as possible but wow it’s worth it!

Easy Homemade Pasta

Serves 3-4, takes 2 hours to make

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (you’ll need extra for dusting)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs (or 3 and 1/2 medium eggs)
• 2 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Tip the flour onto a clean work top and make a well in the middle. Add the salt, olive oil and eggs into the well and lightly beat the egg with a fork. Slowly bring in the flour into the middle with the fork.
2. When the flour is mostly mixed in, knead with your hands until it’s all combined and then knead for another 6-8 minutes (the dough must be smooth and not sticky or dry). Put the dough into cling film and leave aside for 30 minutes.
3. Pull out your pasta machine and flour the work top.
4. You can pre portion the dough by dividing it into 3 or 4 pieces.
5. On the widest setting of the pasta machine, pass the dough through twice. Then move it to the next setting and run the dough through it twice and continue to do this until you have reached the second thinnest setting.
6. Make sure you flour the dough after you pass it through each time so it doesn’t stick to the machine (it makes it much easier when it isn’t sticky). If it is getting too long you can cut it before continuing to pass it through the machine.
7. Run the dough through the spaghetti cutter on the machine. Once passed through, separate the strands and flour generously so it doesn’t stick.
8. Cook straight away for about 2-3 minutes in salted water. If you don’t plan on cooking immediately use a drying rack.

How to store fresh pasta?

You will need to air the pasta on a drying rack or a baking sheet for minimum of 30 minutes. You can leave it out for up to 2 hours and then put in a airtight container. It will stay fresh for 2 days in the fridge but will last for up to 2 weeks in the freezer.

You can use this recipe to make spaghetti, ravioli, lasagna sheets or any other pasta you want! Serve with our really tasty tomato herb sauce and top with cheese! This is the perfect date meal and making pasta from scratch can be such a switch off from your phone.