There are times when ingredients appear in the garden in such a way that the resulting meal is a no-brainer.

Such was our Sunday evening considerations- artichoke, broad beans, peas and basil. Throw in some homegrown bacon and the whole thing has a pasta resolution.

Pasta ingredients from the garden.

Pasta making is something that takes many hands to make light work. It’s not a solitary pursuit, and is well suited to family and high days.

Pasta making is a family effort on The Food Farm

That morning I’d collected yet another random duck egg or two. Ducks don’t always make nests to lay eggs into. Sometimes they ‘lay as they go’ and we find eggs in the strangest places- on the driveway, the front door step or even in the dog’s bed! No thought is given to the safety of the resulting egg or whom it might fall victim to.

Duck eggs make the best pasta.

The Food Farm Pasta Recipe

2 cups ‘00’ (or at the very least strong/bread/high grade) flour
3 duck (or large chicken) eggs
Splash of water (hard to quantify this as it depends on humidity/dryness of the flour/size of the eggs –but basically it should be enough to make a dough which only comes together after working for several minutes. Add a little (spoonful) at a time if you’re unsure).

Mix with your hands in a bowl and then tip onto the bench. Knead for 10 minutes. It will be a really stiff dough.

Wrap and put aside for at least an hour, not in the fridge, as this makes it too hard to work with.

Pull off an egg sized amount of dough and put through the widest setting on pasta machine. Reduce the setting by one click each time.

Hang the sheet of pasta over a stick suspended between two chairs for at least half an hour to dry a little (but too much). It should have lost its ‘tackiness’, but shouldn’t be cracking.

Then either put it through the cutting attachment on pasta machine, or cut it with a knife to desired width.

Mix in a little bit of flour in a shallow tray to prevent it from sticking together.

Cook in boiling salted water for only about 3-4 minutes.

Add you favourite sauces preferably from ingredients in season, including those you’ve grown yourself.
The variations on both pasta shape and sauce are infinite.

Enjoy with friends.