With supermarkets running out of dried pasta and plenty of time on our hands, it’s the perfect time to have a go at making your own pasta.

Ingredients

800g 00 Tipo flour (or all purpose is fine)

200g fine semolina

1 tbsp fine sea salt

10 size 7 free range eggs

Method

Measure out flour, semolina and salt in a large bowl.
Crack eggs into a separate medium sized bowl and whisk until well combined.
Make a well in the centre of the flour and semolina mix and pour in eggs. Working from the inside then out, incorporate flour into the egg mixture until a lumpy dough forms.
Turn dough onto a flat bench. Using a dough scraper and your hands, bind the dough together until it forms a tight ball.
Using the dough scraper, cut the ball of dough in half. Knead the dough, rotating at a 45degree angle. Continue for 2-3 minutes then allow the dough to rest ( Check out our video of Brad dong this on FB!)
Repeat this process 2-3 times or until the dough has a smooth, elastic texture. Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 4-6 hours.
After 4-6 hours, the gluten in the dough will have now built up and it should be elastic and springy. (The resting period allows the flour to continue to hydrate, and the gluten network to relax.

Rolling out the dough

Using a pasta maker, you will want to use the flat roller. Cut each ball of dough into 4 pieces.
Adjust the pasta roller to it’s widest setting. Lightly flour the first piece of dough and using a rolling pin, roll into a rectangular shape.
Pass it through the rollers and fold it into 2. This is called laminating, which is the process of folding the dough into a smaller package and feeding it back through the pasta machine.
Repeat this process until the pasta is the width of the rollers. Rotate dough at each laminate.
Pass dough through the machine, progressively narrowing the rollers by one notch at a time. Most pasta rollers will have 8 settings. No.1 is the thickest through to No.8 which is the thinnest. I recommend rolling to No.6 as that’s the perfect thickness for making fettucine or pappardelle.
If the dough becomes longer than necessary, simply lay it down and cut it in half. Dust one half with flour and place other half on top. Have a parchment line sheet tray ready for your rolled out dough and a kitchen towel ready to to cover it to stop it from drying out. Use flour to dust pasta sheets between layers to stop it from sticking together. I recommend a 60cm length of pasta sheet.

Cutting the dough

Once you have all your sheets of pasta rolled out, exchange the roller for your desired cutter. Using your machine, pass the pasta sheets through the cutters.
If using straight away, place cut pasta on a long, wide tray in a single layer, sprinkling it lightly with semolina or flour so it does not stick. Cover with greaseproof paper or gladwrap and leave in fridge until use, leaving it overnight or the following day is fine.
FREEZING OPTION. If you are not using it straight away, portion it to your desired serving size and freeze in reusable containers.
DRYING OPTION. Once you have made your pasta, toss it with the same flour to prevent it from sticking together. Spread your cut pasta in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Leave uncovered in a dry area for 12-24 hours gently moving and turning a few times to let the underside dry out as well. Pasta noodles could also be hung over the back of a chair or a broom handle, or on a drying rack. Sometimes finer cuts such as angel hair are wrapped into a nest and allowed to dry that way.