PASTA

My husband Tony gave me this recipe from his friend Dedes. They both spend many happy hours playing with puppets and entertaining people. “Those were the days. He always had flour at home and with his pasta recipe he could whip up a delicious dish in no time at all. Just add some dried chilly and/or herbs from the pantry, and some garlic and olive oil to the cooked pasta. Done. Munchies satisfied again.”
Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup water
1 tsp oil
Method
Pour the flour on to a flat surface and add a little water. Work the water into the flour by hand, little by little. When half the water is used up, add the oil. Knead well before adding more water. In the end just wet your hands with water and knead until the slimy ball turns into a nice pliable playdough consistency. Then wet your hands and repeat the procedure.
Once the dough is firm, smooth, pliable and non-sticky put it into a bowl, cover and let it rest in the refrigerate for 10 minutes. This allows the flour to bond with the water in the dough rather than the water it will be cooked in.
Divide the rested dough into two balls. Roll it out with a rolling pin to the thickness you want. The more pliable the dough the thinner you can roll it. If you have a pasta machine use it. Once the dough is the thickness you want cut it into strips and hang it up to dry. Hang it up on a pasta drying rack or place a clean tea towel over the back of a chair and hang the strips over it. Dry for as long as it takes your pot of water to come to the boil.
Place the pasta in the boiling water for 5 – 7 minutes.
In the meantime make a sauce to go with it.
Serves 4 people.

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