Sift the flour and salt together and place in a food processor along with the eggs, yolks and oil. Process until the mixture starts to come together in coarse crumbs. Stop the machine and press a small amount of the mixture together in your fingers. The mixture should not crack, but if it does process it again for a few seconds. Tip the mixture out onto a board and knead well until you have a smooth, firm ball of dough. It should feel soft but not sticky. Wrap the dough in cling film and allow to rest for an hour or two.

Divide the dough ball into eight equal pieces and knead each piece again until smooth. Taking a piece at a time, roll out each one in turn with a rolling pin on a lightly floured board until you have a rectangle about 5mm thick.

Feed each rectangle of dough through the pasta machine several times starting with the mechanism adjusted to the thickest setting (i.e. with the rollers widest apart) and adjusting the setting by one notch each time, finishing with the thinnest setting. You are now ready to cut, fill and shape your pasta, according to the individual recipe

For ravioli or tortellini, simply cut out the required shapes from the pasta sheets

For tagliatelle, allow the sheets to dry for 10 minutes before cutting. Meanwhile fit the pasta machine with the tagliatelle cutters. Pass the dough sheet through the machine cutters, keeping the noodles separate as they emerge. When the pasta sheet has passed through, lift the noodles on to a tray, twirling them into a nest as you do so.

Cooking Pasta

700g Pasta to 70g Salt 7L Water

Blanching Pasta In Advance

Blanch homemade pasta in boiling salted water, allowing 2 minutes for tortellini and ravioli, and 30 seconds for tagliatelle. Drain and immerse in ice-cold water until cold. Drain again and Store in oil

Reheat in a little boiling water for 1-2 minutes.