Tag: pesto

Week 11, session 1

This week is pasta week. I’ve made pasta before but was never very good at it, didn’t find it easy and thought that it was a lot of effort for results similar to what I can buy in the shops. Therefore, I was not excited by the prospect of pasta week.

I was right to be fearful. I had to make 2 batches of dough because my first batch was tough and I couldn’t get it to go through the machine without tearing to pieces.

My second batch was more successful and tasted good but it was far from perfect. I don’t eat a lot of pasta so can’t really tell you if it tasted better than dried or shop bought tagliatelle. But I did it and it tasted good!

I made a classic basil pesto which was so easy and definitely better than shop bought!

Although the recipe didn’t call for this, I fried some Parma ham and crumbled this onto the top to add a bit of texture and saltiness. Naughty but nice!

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Recipe

• Pasta
  • 200g 00 flour (as much as you can incorporate)
  • 2 large eggs (a little more if it’s dry)
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • Semolina flour for dusting and drying
• Pesto
  • 100g basil (leaves and stalks)
  • 60g pine nuts
  • 60g parmesan
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 100ml olive oil (or as much or as little as needed for the desired texture)