Pasta Dough

Making your own pasta isn't as complicated as you think...

Pasta has earned itself a reputation as being fiddly and hard to make. Not true! It couldn't be easier. This dough is silky and elastic and doesn't even need to be put through a pasta roller. It's a dream to roll by hand. Here's the recipe for the basic dough.

Ingredients

1 and 2/3 cups 00 pasta flour
2/3 cup water
Pinch of turmeric

Simply place your flour and turmeric in a bowl and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and pour the water in. Use a spoon to just bring it to a crumbly amalgamation (see second pic below).

Then go in with your hands and work the dough into a rough ball, making sure all the flour is incorporated. Then transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes, until the dough becomes a silky smooth ball. Wrap in cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes. 

Now you can decide whether to roll by hand or use a machine. I always roll by hand - a quarter portion at a time on a well floured surface. Keep lifting and flouring your dough in between the rolling. 

You can cut and cook the dough straight away in boiling salted water for about 2 to 3 minutes or you can dry to use later. There are so many variations you can make too. Try adding a tablespoon of very finely chopped rosemary and thyme to the flour before adding the water for a herb pasta, or blitz up some wilted spinach with the water to make spinach pasta. A pinch of saffron added to the water and allowed to steep before adding to the flour is a great version too - the colour is very intense. Below are some dishes I've made using this pasta dough recipe.