HOW TO USE A PASTA MACHINE

I am a self confessed pastaholic and I was over the moon when my mum got me a pasta machine for christmas this year. I thought I'd do a 'how-to' post on how I use it to make my own pasta! First of all, the only ingredients you need are eggs and "00' flour. I got my flour in the pack with the machine but I have looked online and it is easy to find and not expensive.

First of all weigh out as much flour as you are going to use (generally 100g per person) and add one egg per 100g in to a mixing bowl. I made 200g so used 2 eggs.. you get the idea! Mix this in to a dough using a blunt knife and then once all the egg is mixed in you can get your hands in and start pressing it all together in to a ball. The dough shouldn't be wet but it should all bind, you can add a few drops of water or pinches of flour to adjust it either way. take a few minutes to really knead the dough together until its all well blended and not crumbling or too stiff.

Next cut the dough in to smaller chunks, for 200g I cut it in to four. Take one chunk and mould it in to a flattish sausage-type shape and begin to pass it through the flat rollers of the machine on the widest setting (mine goes 1 to 9 - widest to smallest). Do this a few times until the pasta has formed a shape which doesn't change after each roll, then begin to narrow the rollers and roll through once at each setting. If I'm going as thin as possible (like I did here) then I jump up in twos until the end (so setting 1, then 3, then 5,7,and finally 9). Once its rolled as thin as you want it, the next step is up to you! My machine has cutters for spaghetti, tagliatelle or you can just leave it flat for lasagne. You can also make ravioli or your own pasta shapes by hand. 

As you can see I went with tagliatelle! The cutters are really quick and easy to use but I do suggest separating each piece out when you lay them out to dry. This can be a bit of a chore but it definitely stops them clumping together. You must lay the pasta on a tablecloth or tea towels so that the air gets to it all and leave it to dry for at least an hour before cooking. You can also store the pasta in a cool dry place for up to a week.

I really hope you like this how-to cooking post; I'd love to post some pasta recipes to use this gorgeous fresh pasta with so let me know if that is something you'd like to see.

Will you be trying to make your own pasta or sticking to the dry stuff?

Thanks for reading!

India xx