Does this look gluten-free to you: Fresh pasta 

While you can buy dried gluten-free pasta from supermarkets, there’s something so satisfying about making your own. Use this dough to make lasagne sheets or tagliatelle – it’s pasta machine-friendly, too!

MAKES 500g cooked pasta/450g uncooked pasta

TAKES 45 minutes

230g gluten-free plain flour, plus extra for dusting

50g gram (chickpea) flour

1 tsp xanthan gum (available in most supermarkets)

3 large eggs

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together both flours and the xanthan gum, then make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and mix with a fork until all the egg is incorporated.
• Use your hands to form a slightly sticky dough ball. Dough too wet? Gradually add a teaspoon of extra flour until sticky. Dough too dry to form a ball? Gradually add a teaspoon of water.
• On a well-floured surface, knead your dough for 1 minute or until it becomes smooth and no longer sticky. Place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover with clingfilm. Allow to rest for 30 minutes – don’t rush this part; it gives the dough much-needed elasticity.
• Cut the dough into quarters and take one portion of the dough, leaving the rest covered in the bowl so they don’t dry out. From this point onwards, use as little flour as possible to dust your work surface and rolling pin – only add a little when the dough is sticking.
• Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 5mm thickness – aim for a long lasagne sheet shape. Fold in half like a book then fold over in half once more (the folding gives the dough strength and structure). Roll the dough for a final time to a long lasagne sheet shape, this time aiming for a 1mm thickness so that it’s paper thin and almost see-through. The pasta will double in thickness once cooked, so it’s key to get it as thin as possible.
• At this point, you can use a pizza cutter to cut out ready-to-use lasagne sheets, or keep following the instructions to make tagliatelle-style pasta.
• Lightly flour the surface of your dough and rub it in so that the flour disappears. Very loosely fold over the bottom of the dough so that it meets the centre. Then loosely fold the top of the rolled-out dough over that. It should be folded up like a letter in an envelope with a little slack on each fold.
• Take a long, sharp knife and trim off the untidy edges. Then smoothly cut the dough into 2mm-3mm strips; don’t ‘saw’ the dough when cutting as it may tear, and take your time so that they’re all a uniform size. Gently unravel your folded strips to reveal nice, long strips of dough. Place on to your lightly floured surface to avoid them sticking together. Repeat the rolling and cutting with the rest of your dough.
• To cook the pasta: add half of your pasta to a large saucepan of boiling water with 1 tablespoon of salt added and cook for 4-5 minutes, then drain. Repeat with the other half of pasta then serve immediately with your chosen sauce. The pasta will likely be a little sticky, but the extra starch will disappear and magically thicken your sauce.
• To create dried pasta: once you’ve cut all your strips of tagliatelle, create four nests and allow to dry out for 24 hours on a wooden board, turning them over halfway. You can keep the dried pasta nests in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Cook in boiling water for 5-7 minutes.

TIP The less flour you use for dusting your rolling pin and work surfaces the better. Excess flour can make your cooked pasta unpleasantly sticky and starchy.