Step 1

Place flour into a medium sized mixing bowl.Add eggs and salt.Use a mixer or spatula to incorporate all the ingredients into a rough ball.

Step 2

Rest the dough in the mixing bowl for 20 min. You may cover with a wet towel or shrink wrap.

Step 3

MIXER: Use dough hook to knead on medium-high speed till dough is smooth and elastic and not sticking to the sides. HAND: lightly dust the table top with flour. Place dough on top and using the heel of your palm, push the dough down and away from you. Using you fingers, push it back towards you. Repeat this kneading motion till dough is smooth and elastic. Dust with flour whenever necessary. Note: Dough should be firm to touch, smooth and elastic.

Step 4

Wrap the dough with cling wrap and let it rest in the fridge. You may rest it overnight if desired. This allows the dough to relax and build more gluten.

Step 5

Remove the dough from fridge and let it adjust to room temperature.Meanwhile, prepare for rolling. MACHINE:Set up machine according to machine instructions. Dust table top and rolling pin with flour.Using a rolling pin, or your palm, flatten the dough slightly then start feeding into the machine at the thickest setting. Fold the dough into half and repeat this 4-5 times until the dough is smooth. Then run the dough through the next setting for 2-3 times. Repeat for each setting to form a long, flat and rectangular dough sheet. The desired settings to end is usually 6-7 depending on personal preference. Dust with flour whenever necessary. Hand:Dust table top and rolling pin with flour.Once dough is acclimatised to room temperature, remove the cling wrap and place dough on floured surface. Using a scraper or knife, cut the dough into 4 equal pcs.Using a rolling pin, or your palm, flatten the dough slightly. Fold in half and roll out again. Repeat this procedure 4-5 times till dough is less sticky and manageable. Then start rolling with rolling pin into a thin rectangular dough sheet. Thickness is usually less than 1mm. Note: The thicker pastas are great for thick sauces while the thinner pastas are good for lighter sauces.

Step 6

This step is good for machine users and if your pasta dough still tends to stick together even after dusting. Dry pasta sheets by hanging them on a hanger or laying them flat on the table. Drying the pasta slightly will allow the pasta to be more manageable (less sticky) and easier to cut especially if cutting by machine.

Step 7

MACHINE: Put the pasta sheets through the desired width of pasta cutter. If you are looking to create shapes that are not available on the cutter, simply cut by hand. Ensure the pasta sheets are well dusted with flour so that the cut pasta will not stick together easily. HAND: Dust the pasta well with flour. Roll up the pasta loosely and gently into a tube and cut according to desired width with a knife on a flour dusted chopping board. If you are making lasagne or cannelloni, cut the pasta sheets according to the size of the baking tray used. It is fine that each layer is made up of 2 pcs of pasta. If you are making farfalline (bow ties), after cutting strips of pasta, cut each long strip into rectangles about 3cm x 2cm and wet fingers slightly to pinch the middle of the pasta together so it forms a bow. It will be good if you have a helper for this so that one can keep hands dry and cut pasta whilst the other with wet hands can pinch the pasta. If you are making raviolis, the easiest way is to scoop the fillings on a big pasta sheets about 2 cm apart from one another. Then using a small brush or your fingers, wet the dough around the filling slightly. Then layer another sheet of similar size over the first sheet and cut each square out with a dough cutter or knife.

Step 8

This step to dry the finished pasta helps to store the pasta. I sometimes dry it slightly even though I am cooking right away so that I don’t feel stressed cooking it as fresh pasta cooks really fast! And it prevents the pasta from sticking together so easily. To store your pasta, you can either dust it heavily with flour / semolina and pack it loosely like a nest in a box in the chiller for 1-2 days. When using, be careful not to let water condense on the pasta. Or we will dry it, by hanging it on hangers or poles like laundry and pack it like pasta nests then into a box and keep it in the freezer. This can store well for few months though we will of course finish our pasta in no more than 2 weeks. We usually dry till the pasta is stiff, but still malleable so that it does not break into pieces when we turn it.

Step 9

Boil a pot of water with oil and salt. Take note that you only need enough water so that pasta is fully submerged in water. Once water has small bubbles, add pasta in. If pasta has not been dried, take note that the cooking time may be less than a minute depending on how thick the pasta is. If the pasta was dried before or frozen, this may take anything from 1-3 minutes to cook. Unlike cooking dried pasta, fresh pasta cooks really fast, so please do not walk away! NOTE: Do not throw pasta water away. Use some of the pasta water in your sauce when cooking your pasta rather than water lends flavour and a starchy thickness to the sauce that allows the sauce to coat the pasta well.