It couldn't be easier! Somehow I was under the impression that making pasta was very tricky and you needed fancy equipment for the process. How far I was from the truth: flour, water and a rolling pin are pretty much all you really need.
I understand that not everyone has a grain mill at home (they are an expensive investment!), but the truth is, freshness of flour determines the taste of pasta. Shop bought dry pasta does not even come close to the aromatic taste of freshly milled counterpart. So, if you are not ready to invest in a grinder, see if there are any mills near you, where you can purchase fresh flour instead.
How to Make Fresh Pasta
You will be shocked at how easy it is!
Equipment
- Grain mill, optional
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups spelt or wholewheat flour - I mill 1 cup of spelt on fine setting into flour
- extra flour for rolling
- 2/3 tsp salt - to mix into flour
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil - or ghee
Instructions
- Mix the salt with the flour. Stir in the oil with a fork.
- Boil water and, still using the fork, start adding it to the flour.
- Continue combining with the fork until you have crumbs of dough looking like cottage cheese.
- Now use your hands to bring the dough together. It should be fairly stiff. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour. If it is too hard and dense that you feel you would struggle to roll it out, wet your hand and incorporate into the dough.Pasta is forgiving. You can always adjust. Stiff dough is harder to roll out but it actually yields pasta that doesn't break easily after cooking. You might not even need to dust the surface. Softer dough will be easy to roll out but you might need to use a little extra flour to dust the pin and the surface.
- Sprinkle flour onto the surface and roll the dough into a flat sheet, using a rolling pin. You determine the thickness of your pasta. I like to roll it to 1 mm thick.
- Now cut it into any shape you desire. I often opt for quick and simple tagliatelle. You can dust the dough well with flour, gently roll it into a tube and cut into ribbons by using a knife. Another option is a pizza cutter. Cut into any size strips.I found this tagliatelle cutting tool, as shown in the picture. It makes the cutting job a matter of seconds. I really recommend it, once you are confident you will be making pasta often.
- Boil a lot of water in a large saucepan with a pinch of salt.
- Once it is at a rolling bowl, throw in all the pasta and give it a stir. Cook for 2-5 minutes depending on the thickness.
- Using a slotted spoon, take the pasta out of the saucepan to use it as part of your pasta dish. Do not rush to throw away the cooking water - it is fantastic for creating pasta sauces, as it contains all the starch and acts as a thickener.It is a good idea to mix freshly cooked pasta with something oily to prevent it from sticking: a sauce that contains oil / ghee or butter is a great option, or just drizzle a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.