Make Your Own Fresh Tagliatelle

In this day and age when you can pick up a package of dry pasta almost anywhere, you might be wondering what kind of lunatic would try and make their own at home. Well ... I'm one of those crazies that make their own pasta, and it's not just because fresh pasta tastes better, I actually enjoy the process.

Pasta is such a ridiculously simple food, containing no more than four ingredients, and yet with a little kneading, a little rolling and some cutting, you end up with golden ochre strands of toothsome noodles that slip willingly through your lips before they provide some al dente resistance as you chew.

Giving a weight measure for the eggs may seem odd, but because eggs vary in size and the ratio of liquid to flour is critical, it's the best way to get consistent results. That said, people have been making pasta for far longer than digital scales have been around, so once you get comfortable with the feel of the dough, you can skip the weighing and wing this based on texture which makes it even easier.

Unlike a cylindrical extruded noodle like spaghetti or linguini, rolled and cut noodles like tagliatelle are perfect for holding onto thick chunky sauces like Ragú alla Bolognese, which settles into the folds of pasta. I also like adding a bit of semolina, which gives the raw pasta a rustic texture. When it's cooked, it ends up marvelously al dente, and the semolina gives the surface of the pasta some texture, which makes the sauce hold onto the tagliatelle like velcro.