Perfect Homemade Pasta With Pesto

I was recently given a pasta machine which was something I'd been super excited about using for ages and ages.  Being an absolute Masterchef addict, I'd seen plenty of contestants trying (sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully) to make pasta; so I decided to give it a good go. With the words of John Terode ringing in my ears about thinness and elasticity, I decided to give it a go.

Serves 1 generously

Ingredients

• 200g 'OO' (pasta) flour
• 2 eggs

Equipment

• Long workbench
• Marble slab
• Pasta machine
• Fridge
• Pan
• Hob
• Boiling water

Method

1. Put the flour onto the marble slab. Make a well in the middle.
2. Crack the eggs into the middle of the well (be careful as they are very slippery!!)
3. Using your hands break the eggs up and mix the eggs into the flour.
4. Bring the flour and egg mix together to make a rough dough.
5. Knead the dough for a good five minutes, until it is glossy and springy to touch. You can test this by putting your thumb into the dough and it should spring back. Use extra flour to ensure it doesn't stick to the marble or your hands too much.
6. Wrap the dough in a freezer bag or cling film and pop it into the fridge for 30 minutes.
7. Cut the dough into two pieces and roll the first piece through the pasta machine (your machine should have all the details of how to do this).  Then repeat with the second piece.
8. With this basic dough, I made some pesto to go with it (whizz basil, lightly toasted pine nuts, garlic, olive oil together using a hand blender), and then made some ravioli (using an upside down wine glass to cut the circles) and, using the wider cutter setting on my pasta machine, tagliatelle.
9. Once in the desired form, place pasta into boiling water (use oil and / or salt in the water to help keep the pasta unstuck from each other) and cook or 30 seconds for al dente or up to a minute for softer pasta. I like mine with a bit of bite though!

Simple Summer Pavlova

I decided to make a pavlova for a recent dinner party.  In fact, I had planned to make Eton Mess because I had never made meringue before, so was assuming I'd have to cut my losses and smash up the wreck and ruin of my good intentions; but luckily my meringue was perfect, so I was able to make it a full blown pavlova. I read recipes saying I'd need icing sugar, but I didn't have any, so I just winged it with extra caster sugar.  It worked well.  Here is my recipe: 

Serves 4 generously

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 4/5 tablespoons of caster sugar + extra according to taste
• Double cream
• Strawberries / Nectarines / other soft fruits of your choice

Equipment:

• Large mixing bowl
• Two little bowls for separating eggs
• Electric Whisk
• Flat baking sheet
• Greaseproof paper
• Oven

Method:

1. Separate the eggs, keeping the egg whites and keeping the yolks for another time.
2. Beat the egg whites on medium speed until fluffy like marshmallow.
3. Spoon in the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, and beat on high speed until all added. The mixture should now be in peaks and be glossy.
4. If you like, taste mixture to see if it needs more sugar (add more to taste).
5. Put the oven onto a very cool setting (almost the lowest you can get!) - I use 120C.
6. Put grease proof paper on the bottom of a flat tray.
7. Spoon on the mixture and level it out so that it's as even as possible.
8. Put the meringue into the oven for 55/60 minutes (or until crisp all over and very slightly coloured).
9. Turn the oven off, open the door and leave the meringue to cool off in the dry air (this makes it crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside).
10. Once completely cool, peel the meringue off the greaseproof paper (I used a friend to help me with this as it's very fragile!).
11. Whip double cream and spread on top of the completely cool meringue and then add the fruit.  I used strawberries and nectarines.