Everyone has their culinary bugbear – some can’t bake cakes, others struggle with pastry, and many are put off by tempering chocolate. For us, it’s always been homemade pasta. That’s not to say we haven’t thrown time and money at trying to get it right, but each attempt has turned out stodgy, floury and brittle.
So it was with some trepidation that we decided to try a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi’s new cookbook, Plenty. But oh, we were so delighted with the results! The pasta was mixed in minutes in our large food processor, and passed easily through the rollers and cutters without the usual shredding and crumbling.
We began with four eggs from our girls, and gifts from friends – a small box of saffron from James and a knob of turmeric that Diana grew in her backyard. The recipe specifies ground turmeric, but Di’s fresh version was too good to pass up.
The finished dough was a glorious golden yellow…
- 440g pasta flour or 00 flour
- 4 large free range eggs
- 4 tablespoons (80ml) boiling water
- 4 tablespoons (80ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 scant teaspoons saffron threads
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric (we used grated fresh)
1. In a medium sized bowl, soak the saffron threads in the boiling water for ten minutes, then stir in the turmeric and olive oil. Add the eggs and beat well to combine.
2. Place the flour in the large bowl of a heavy duty food processor and, with the motor running, gradually pour the egg and oil mixture through the chute. Pulse the food processor until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed and start to come together.
3. Tip the dough and any loose flour onto a clean bench and knead briefly until smooth. Wrap snuggly in a plastic bag, and then rest the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or up to one day.
4. Cut the rested dough into four pieces, keeping three covered as you work the first one. Shape the small ball into a long rectangle, then pass it through the rollers of a pasta machine, starting with the thickest setting. Pass the sheet through, fold it, and pass it through again – repeating this process a few times to give the dough strength.
5. Once the pasta is elastic and doesn’t tear or crumble through the rollers, gradually reduce the settings until it reaches the desired thickness. Flour the thin sheet of pasta well, then either cut it into strips with a knife, or pass it through the cutting blades of the pasta machine. Hang the noodles up while you process the remaining dough – we used a laundry rack, but I think tradition dictates a wooden dowel supported between two kitchen chairs!
This pasta cooks in mere minutes in salted boiling water, and we served it with slivered almonds, mint, parsley and the spiced butter and shallot sauce which accompanied the recipe in the cookbook. Truly superb vegetarian fare!
PS. We’ve repeated this recipe without the turmeric and saffron and found it works perfectly well for “everyday” egg pasta. The quantities given above make approximately 750g of pasta dough.
Click here for a printable version of this recipe
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