Easy peasy pasta

FRESH, homemade egg pasta is a wonderful thing and easily achievable on a weeknight as a quick and simple dinner, especially if you’ve got an electric mixer. And I don’t mean one with a pasta attachment; I make this recipe often, and I don’t own any specialist equipment. The addition of the sourdough starter actually makes this task easier — it really adds to the extensibility of the dough, meaning it is much less work to roll out and aids in giving you a stronger gluten development.

Pappardelle is pretty much the result of a home chef or amateurish restaurateur not being bothered to slice their ribbons of pasta into the thinner tagliatelle. They’re just thick ribbons. Quite right, too: spend any extra time you have rolling your dough extra-thin. We’ve served it with a basic beef ragu, but I like it just as much with truffle oil and parmesan.

THE ADDITION OF THE SOURDOUGH STARTER ACTUALLY MAKES THIS TASK EASIER — IT REALLY ADDS TO THE EXTENSIBILITY OF THE DOUGH, MEANING IT IS MUCH LESS WORK TO ROLL OUT AND AIDS IN GIVING YOU A STRONGER GLUTEN DEVELOPMENT. JAMES MORTON

SOURDOUGH PAPPARDELLE SERVES: 4 Ingredients

200g fine semolina

100g strong white flour (preferably Italian ‘00’ pizza or ciabatta flour)

50g sourdough starter, preferably wholemeal

3 medium eggs

Table salt, for boiling

Method

1. Start at least 50 minutes before you want to eat. In a large bowl, mix your semolina, flour, starter and eggs. Note there’s no salt in the dough. Mix these together until combined, and then knead vigorously until smooth. It will come together eventually — it’s best to use an electric mixer. Give it a good 10 minutes.

2. Stick your smooth dough in the fridge and let it rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, you can make whatever sauce you plan on serving it with. Stick a large pan of water — about 2 litres — on to boil. Add at least 2 tbsp table salt. As it heats, take your rested dough and tip it on to a fairly well-floured surface. Add more flour on top and begin to roll out your pasta dough. You want to make it into as big a rectangle as you can manage. It should be about as thin as a 10 cent piece — this is very thin. If you are struggling, you can wrap the dough around your rolling pin and stick it in the fridge for a couple of minutes to relax.

3. When your rough rectangle of dough is as thin as you can bear, roll it up into a big sausage shape. Use a pizza cutter or your dough scraper to cut your folded pasta into 1cm wide strips. Then, when they are all cut, use your hands to lift them all up in the air in a big bunch. Repeat this, mixing with any remaining flour on your bench in order for them to separate from their neighbouring pasta ribbons or their folds.

4. When your water is at a rolling boil, add your pasta. After a minute, use a slotted spoon to gently prod and separate any ribbons that have stuck together. Cook for another minute. Drain through a colander, catching the pasta-water in your pasta saucepan if you can. Let drain, and then add your cooked pasta into your sauce. Mix and mix until all the pasta is coated. Add up to 4 tbsp of your original pasta water to loosen. Serve.

These recipes are edited extracts from Super Sourdough by James Morton, published by Quadrille, $39.99 and available in stores nationally.