Fresh pasta with broad beans and preserved lemon

1.Prepare broad beans first. If frozen, put beans in a sieve and rinse off ice crystals under hot running water. Drop beans into a saucepan of lightly salted boiling water, return to the boil and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and refresh with cold water. If beans are fresh, pod them first, then cook for 7-10 minutes, until just tender. Next, remove skins from the beans (fiddly but necessary – for fresh and frozen broad beans).

2.Rinse lemons under running water, discarding pulp. Pat dry and slice finely.

3.Put shallot and butter in a saucepan and cook over a very gentle heat until tender. Add rosemary and a good grind of black pepper. Add broad beans and preserved lemons then turn off the heat.

4.Cook pasta in gently boiling salted water. Take note of the ‘gently boiling’ – fast boiling will cause fresh pasta to split. If the pasta is still soft it will take a mere matter of minutes to become tender, but if it has dried and hardened it will take a few minutes more to reach the point of al dente. When ready, drain it and add to the pan with the broad beans and preserved lemons. Toss carefully and serve immediately in the pan, or dish into warmed pasta bowls, and finish with parmesan cheese.

5.Make fresh pasta in a food processor. Put eggs and salt in the processor bowl. Blend for 5 seconds, stop machine and sprinkle in the flour. Pulse together until mixture forms tiny beads; do not over-work or the pasta will be tough. Tip onto a clean, dry surface and press together into a ball then press into a cake. Wrap in plastic food wrap, and rest dough for 15 minutes.

6.Cut dough in half and deal with half the dough at a time. Dust dough lightly with flour and roll out to approximately 10cm wide by 15cm long. Set the blades of a pasta-rolling machine to the widest setting (usually number 1) and feed the pasta through. Fold pasta in thirds and repeat rolling and folding 4-5 more times, dusting with flour as necessary to prevent sticking (try to use as little flour as possible throughout the whole operation because it makes the pasta dry). The pasta should now be quite smooth, although possibly a little ragged at the edges.

7.Move rollers to number 2 setting and roll pasta through once, then roll it through once on number 3, then once on number 4. Cut the pasta in half. Lay one half on a tray lined with baking paper and cover with a clean, dry cloth.

8.Roll out the other half once on number 5 setting and once on number 6 setting, then dust very lightly with flour (only if it’s sticky) and cut into rough squares. Take remaining pasta from tray and repeat Step 4.

9.Repeat steps 2-4 with the second half of the pasta.