Eleni’s Home-Made Tagliatelle

                                              

           This is a basic recipe for fresh pasta which you can colour, shape and cut anyway you wish.    You can also dry the pasta, which will keep for a year.   It’s also excellent eaten fresh, with a tasty sauce and grated cheese.

440g (3 + 1/3 cups) flour, (to be precise: 1 medium egg to 110g flour)

4 eggs, beaten

1/3 tsp salt

A little extra flour for rolling out the dough

          Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix well.   Add the eggs and stir thoroughly until the dough forms a ball, adding a little flour, if sticky.  Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes until firm and elastic. Then wrap with cling film, cover with a napkin and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

 

           Roll out the dough thinly, with a pasta machine or by hand with a thin roller like a broom stick.   If working by hand, roll each pastry sheet loosely into a cylinder and cut thinly, with a very sharp knife.   Spread out the tagliatelle, dust with flour and let them rest for at least 15 minutes before cooking.

    

          Bring a large saucepan with salted water to the boil, add the tagliatelle and as soon as the water starts boiling again, start counting slowly up to 30, (this is expert advice!) or boil a little more, if you prefer.   Then drain the pasta immediately and serve with your favourite sauce, which should be piping hot, and sprinkle with grated cheese, kephalotyri, San Mihalis or Parmesan.

For Green Pasta:   Combine ½ cup boiled, thoroughly dried spinach with the

                              eggs and proceed as described above.

                             

For Red Pasta:      Combine 1-2 tbsp of tomato paste with the with the eggs and then add it to

                              the dough.

                          

For Yellow Pasta:  Combine 6-8 saffron stamens soaked in a little water or ½ cup mashed      

                               carrots with the eggs and then add to the dough.

For Black Pasta:  Add a portion of squid-ink into the eggs and proceed as mentioned above.