Instructions: Sift the nour on to a clean work surface (marble is ideal) forming it into a volcano shaped mound with a well in the centre.

Break the eggs into the well and add the salt.

Incorporate the eggs into the llour with your hands gradually drawing the flourinto the egg mixture until it forms a coarse paste.

Add a little more flour if the mixture is too soft or sticky and with a spatula scrape up any pieces of dough.

Before kneading the dough clean your hands and the work surface Lightly flour the work surface and start to knead with the heel of one hand.

Work the dough for 10-15 minutes until the consistency is smooth and elastic.

Wrap the dough in clingfilm or foil and allow it to rest for half an hour.

Again lightly nour your work surface and a rolling pin.

Gently roll the dough out rotating it in quarter turns.

Roll out the dough to a sheet 3mm in thickness.

If you are making filled pasta go straight ahead and incorporate the filling as in the recipes.

If you are making flat pasta or shapes leave the pasta on a clean tea towel to dry for about half an hour.

This recipe is the basis for all types of home made pasta.

The best flour to use is 00 mnde from very finely milled tender wheat. You may also need to add a little durum wheat semolina fyou want to make special shapes like trofie.

Standard tagliatelle are made with about 6 whole eggs per kilo of flour plus a little water if required. Sometimes for example if you are making ravioli pansotti or other filled pasta you will want a softer more workable pasta dough and this can be achieved by usmg about 3 eggs and the necessay water to a kilo of flour. The important thing to remember when making pasta is to work the dough well with a lot of elbow grease and then to rest it for an hour before using it. Then onece you have rolled and cut the dough to the required shape leave it to dry for an hour or so on a clean cloth. Home made pasta cannot be kept for long because of its egg content. You should nol refrigerate it the best thing is to freeze it though this will of course have an adverse effect on the qualily of the finished dish. Bought dried pasta is dried industrially for 12 hours in special machines. Never add oil to the water when cooking pasta ecxcept for large squares of pasta like open ravioli. Never rinse pasta in cold water if you want to cool it down and interupt thc cooking process add a couple of glasses of cold water to the pot when you take it off the stove.

In the restaurant of the Slow Food Society I had some quite sensational pasta made with 40 yes 40! egg yolks per kilo of flour. When I jokingy asked if they were quails egg yolks I was very firmly told no they were from Slow Food quaky chickens!

Makes about 450g pasta

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