Supplies
- 400g Tip 00 flour, plus extra for dusting
- 4 large organic eggs
- Extra virgin olive oil
Steps
- Add the flour to a clean work surface or to the bottom of a large shallow bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add a good glug of olive oil. Crack in each egg into the well and, using a fork, lightly whisk them with the olive oil until beaten and mixed together well.
- Using the fork to begin with, and then your hands, mix the flour into the egg mixture and begin to scrunch and knead it together, being sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl often to avoid little pockets of flour.
- Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, either in the bowl or on the work surface, until it looks combined, no lumps of flour remain and the dough looks smooth and glossy. This may take a little while but the dough will eventually come together. Cover in a damp tea towel and set aside to rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Prepare your pasta machine and crank it to its widest setting. Lightly flour your work surface and cut the pasta dough into 4. Use one quarter at a time and keep the remaining dough wrapped tightly to avoid it from drying out.
- Use a rolling pin to turn the dough into a rough rectangle, then feed the rectangle into the pasta machine, cranking the arm as you do so to feed it through. Repeat this process of feeding the pasta through the machine a couple of times, always feeding the machine with the end of dough that came through last on the previous turn.
- Take the dough through the different settings on the machine, getting it thinner and thinner, until your pasta dough is the desired thickness for the recipe you’re making.
Supplies
- 1-1.5kg Delica or Crown Prince squash, halved and deseeded
- 100ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
- 150g Parmesan, plus extra to serve
- 1 whole nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 500g fresh tagliatelle, or 350g dried
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Steps
- Preheat your oven to 180c fan. Halve and deseed the squash, and place cut side down into a roasting tray with a splash of water and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Tightly cover with two layers of foil and roast for 45 mins - 1 hour, or until cooked through and the skin of the pumpkin is easily punctured with a knife.
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and grab a blender. To the blender, add the flesh of half the pumpkin (save the other half for another day or break-up into a salad), the olive oil, the Parmesan (finely grated), a good few gratings of nutmeg and the chilli flakes. Blitz until smooth, seasoning with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a little more olive oil as necessary.
- Add the pumpkin sauce to a large frying pan with a splash of water and heat through until blipping and bubbling. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, or for 1-2 minutes if fresh, until al dente.
- Use tongs to pull the cooked tagliatelle from the saucepan into the frying pan, tossing it in the sauce as you go. Add a little of the starchy pasta water and continue tossing the pan or stirring with tongs until the sauce thickens and coats the pasta beautifully. Serve in shallow bowls or plates with a generous pinch of black pepper and a good grating of Parmesan.
Supplies
- ½ x quantity fresh pasta dough (above)
- 250g ricotta (Westcombe if possible - it’s a much drier cheese)
- 1 lemon
- 50g Parmesan, plus extra to serve
- 1 whole nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for serving
- 1 bunch basil (30g)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 x 400g tin cherry tomatoes
- 2 knobs unsalted butter
- Fine semolina or rice flour, for dusting
Steps
- In a large bowl add the ricotta, the zest of the lemon, the Parmesan (finely grated) and a good few scrapings of nutmeg. Season with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper, mix again and set aside.
- Roll your pasta dough out to the thinnest your machine allows you to, then roll it through once more and it will get it slightly thinner still. Lay the long sheets of pasta out on a flour-dusted surface and get yourself a small bowl or ramekin of cold water and a pastry brush.
- Add teaspoons of the ricotta mixture to the pasta dough directly in the middle in a long line, approximately 3cm apart. Brush the edge of pasta closest to you, as well as the gaps between each ricotta ball with a little water, then pull the long side of pasta furthest from you toward you, pressing to seal on the samp pasta edge closest to you. Working from left to right, press the pasta around the ricotta balls down to seal, cupping your hands to make the movement easier and making sure that no air is trapped. Trim the long side of the pasta closest to you to neaten it up, and then cut in between the sealed ricotta balls with a ridged pasta cutter or a chef knife to create ravioli. Store the ravioli on a tray dusted in semolina or rice flour and continue the process until you’ve used all of the ricotta mixture and all of the pasta dough.
- Bring a large pan of salted water to boil. Get a large frying pan on a medium heat and add the olive oil. Peel and finely slice the garlic and add to the pan. Stir and shake the garlic to stop it from burning, until just starting to go translucent but not golden. Finely chop the stalks of the basil, reserving the leaves for serving, and add to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant, then add the tinned tomatoes. Cook for around 5 minutes, or until everything has mellowed and the sauce is thick and bubbling. Season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and olive oil.
- Tip the sauce out of the pan and into a bowl and keep to one side for serving. Wipe it out, then place the frying pan back on the heat and add the butter. Place the ravioli into the boiling water, cooking them in batches, for around 2 minutes or until al dente.
- Add the juice of the lemon to the butter in the frying pan and allow to sizzle, shaking the pan as it does so to emulsify it. Add the ravioli to the frying pan and shake to coat them all in the butter. Add a little finely grated Parmesan, a few basil leaves and remove from the heat. Plate and eat right away, serving with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some Parmesan, if you like.