Heart at Home

Pasta Master

A lazy weekend calls for slow food. The kind of food that takes hours to prepare. Food with a meditative rhythm in its preparation. Food that soothes the soul and comforts the heart. I love making pasta. It takes time, and as a consequence I don't do it as often as we'd all wish. It also takes six eggs, so I have to think ahead to have the supplies to do it. My Honey gave me this wonderful pasta machine for our wedding anniversary last year. It's not a traditional gift, but as a toy I have coveted for years, it was ideal for me.

Jamie Oliver is my guide in pasta making. He recommends an egg for every 100g of flour. And that's basically it. I have made it in the past with regular plain flour, but this time I found the 00 fine grade flour. It is worth the effort of locating the special flour. My previous pasta doughs have been ok, but this time it was perfect, elastic and silken. You crack the eggs into a well in the flour, and beat them with a fork. Gradually the flour mixes in as well, and when the mix starts to look like a dough you flour up your hands and get messy. Knead the dough until it is elastic. Cover with cling wrap and allow it to rest for half an hour.


Starting on the 1 setting, roll half the dough through the pasta machine. I fold the dough in half and roll it through again, and repeat it a couple of times. Then you change the setting to 2 and roll it through again. This is the part I love most, slowly winding the dough through the machine, and watching the wonderful silken pasta coming out the other side. Once it's at the desired thickness, I feed it through the shaping rollers. Today it's fettucine.


I hang the pasta over a clean curtain rod (which I keep specifically for the purpose). By hanging it you ensure that it doesn't clump together. Fresh pasta cooks very quickly, just three or four minutes at a rolling boil. And this is what we had for dinner tonight: