If you fancy putting hours of effort, hard work and frustration into something which takes pennies to buy and seconds to eat, have I got a treat for you!

• 500g strong white flour
• 4 eggs

This amount will make enough for 2 people. If you want to do more, or less, just use 125g flour for each egg

1. Mix the eggs and flour together until sort of combined
2. If using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment knead on slow for about 5 minutes
3. If mixing by hand tip the mix out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until everything is well combined
4. Cut the dough into quarters
5. If using a pasta roller:
   • Pass one lump of dough through the lasagne rollers at the widest setting twice or three times until it comes out smooth and even, make sure that the dough and rollers are kept really well floured
   • Pass it twice through the second widest setting, then third, etc, until thin enough, but not too thin that it stretches completely out of shape when picked up
6. If you don’t have a pasta roller:
   • using a rolling pin, gently roll one of the lumps of dough into a very long, thin rectangle, turning and flouring after every pass until it is as thin as a penny
7. This is your basic pasta sheet. You can cut it into smaller rectangles for lasagne sheets, into ribbons for tagliatelle, really thin ribbons for spaghetti, squares for circles or ravioli, wrap the sheets around cling-filmed toilet roll tubes for cannelloni, around floured knitting needles for macaroni
8. Let the pasta dry for half hour and place in a deep pan of boiling, lightly salted water until it floats – about 2-3 minutes

Fresh pasta doesn’t really store well and goes a funny blackened colour if in the air too long. Its always best just to make the amount you are going to use. If you have made tons extra and dont know what to do with it arrange on a baking sheet and put in the freezer for an hour, take it out, put it into freezer bags and freeze for month or two. Cook from frozen.

Some recipes for sauces can be found here