Home-made Lagane
This is not a pasta dish, this is a coup! I was recently watching a video podcast from Jamie Oliver’s web site, it featured an Italian friend of his making pasta. As I watched I realised that making pasta is just too easy not to do, so I decided it was time to try; what a revelation! Let’s just say that fresh, home-made pasta is going on the weekly menu.
You need to use iTunes to download the pasta episode but a good place to start is http://www.jamieoliver.com/podcast/.
Ingredients
- Plain flour
- Eggs
- Tinned, chopped tomatoes
- Balsamic vinegar
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Basil, Parsley
- Parmesan
- (Optional) Parma ham
Method
- One egg to 100g of flour serves one person (could that be any easier to remember or what)
- Combine egg and flour in a bowl till the loose flour is taken up
- Sprinkle flour on the bench and kneed dough till soft, smooth and dough springs back to the touch
- Divide (and conquer) the dough into equal portions (eg. 400g = 4 portions)
- Roll the dough with a pin, or wine bottle, into rectangular pieces, thin enough to flap if you blow under it
- Add 5 or 6 tablespoons of olive oil to a hot pan and lightly brown some garlic
- Add the tin of tomatoes and chopped basil and parsley the pan; season with salt and pepper to taste
- Add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the sauce
- Reduce the tomato sauce while you bring a pot of water to the boil for the pasta
- Place the pasta in the boiling water for just a few minutes then empty into a colander, add some olive oil to the pasta
- Serve and garnish with freshly grated parmesan, fresh basil leaves and some pepper; add some shaved Parma ham if you have it!