Fresh Egg Pasta

4 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
350g plain flour
50g pizza flour or bread flour
(I now use 400g 00 flour)
extra flour

Create a mound of flour with a well in the centre on a floured bench top.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and pour into the well.

Using a spoon, mix the eggs until beaten and gradually add in the flour to the egg mix to create a paste. When the paste is looking quite thick, stir in the remaining flour from the well and combine. A dough scraper can be handy at this point.

Knead the dough by folding and pressing twice from top to bottom. Rotate the dough and fold and press. Repeat until you have a slightly tacky but smooth dough.

If your dough is dry, continue kneading with wet hands.

Cover the dough and set aside for 20 minutes.

Cut the dough into four to 6 even portions. (6 portions is best if you are using rolling the pasta to setting 6).

Take one of the quarters and flatten or roll it using a floured pasta machine. Spread small amounts of flour on each side of the flattened pasta as you push it through the various levels of thickness. I find the 6 is good for fettuccine and 5 is good for spaghetti. Sprinkle flour on top of the pasta machine.

Using the pasta machine cutting tool, cut the pasta into spaghetti or fettuccine.

Make sure you separate the strands of fettuccine as they tend to get joined together in clumps of 2.

Line the pasta up into a neat separated set of strands.

Sprinkle with semolina.

Gently bring the strands together and create a swirl by swirling the right side of the set of pasta in a clockwise motion, just as if you were turning a dial.

Use a dough scraper to pick up the ‘nest’ of pasta and place in a snap lock bag for freezing.

Repeat with the remaining portions of dough.

If you are using the pasta right away. Gather all of the required nests and boil in very salty water fro 5 minutes or until al dente. Otherwise freeze them for up to 1 month.