Recently I was invited to a primary school to talk to the whole assembly about food, cooking, nutrition and diet. More than 300 little faces were looking and, hopefully, listening to me talking about the five different food groups we should eat on a daily basis to be healthy and wise. When I got to the carbohydrates, I had to ask the inevitable question: 'How many of you like or even love pasta?'
Nearly 300 little hands shot up. But it was no surprise that the vast majority of the children liked pasta of some kind.
The word 'pasta' in Italian means paste. It is not clear how pasta originated. Some claim that it was brought to Italy from China in the 13th century, but there also seems to be evidence that certain types of pasta existed in the Mediterranean area over 3,000 years ago, when ancient people started to mix powdered grain with water. The great advantage of the dried pasta was and is that you can store it much longer than the grain itself.
Pasta is so versatile; there are around 300 different types and an abundance of names and shapes. The shell shapes are particularly good for sauce-based dishes, as they scoop up the sauce for each mouthful. Lasagna sheets are perfect for layering, while spaghetti and tagliatelle go well with meat and cheese sauces. Cannelloni - cylinders - benefit from a substantial filling, and then being covered to prevent them from drying out during the baking process. New shapes are being designed constantly to maintain our attention and keep our tummies interested.
So many different flavours can be added to pasta to make a multitude of scrummy dishes. But it is delicious even served on its own with a drizzle of olive oil and ground black pepper. Pasta can be served hot or cold, well seasoned, spicy or plain - anything goes! There is hardly a recipe book that doesn't mention pasta in one form or another.
Pasta makes an ideal food source for children. It is an almost perfect source of carbohydrate and will help them keep their levels of energy up.
Another blessing for the childcarer, as I found at the primary school, is that they always like pasta - and that they can get involved in preparing it.
Several years ago, when I had just started the Kids' Cookery School and was teaching a cookery session with a handful of four-to five-year-olds, we were having a discussion about where things come from. When I asked them, 'Where do you think pasta comes from?', a little girl called Sophie replied, 'I know - it comes from God.'
'How does it get here?' I asked.
'In a packet in the supermarket,' said Sophie.
It was after this that I decided that the children would have to make their own pasta from scratch.
It was a great success and the children could hardly believe their eyes.
They were making their own dough, mixing, kneading and rolling it, before placing it into the pasta machine.
Sophie declared, 'Oh dear, please don't tell my mum. She'll be terribly upset -she still thinks it comes from heaven!'
This story has always made me smile, and there have been several other incidents where children have tried to assure me that food seems to fall to earth from above. How it all happens is a mystery to them. All the more reason to share your shopping and cooking with them. We now teach all our students at the cookery school how to make their own pasta.
In my experience, making pasta with children is not only great fun but an education. They become really enthusiastic and proud of their ability to master what they believed would a very complicated construction process.
The added bonus is being able to eat the result and share it with their friends and families.
My own children love pasta and seem quite happy to have it in some form or other almost daily. I try not to encourage this, as I'd prefer them to have a variety of carbohydrates. But their favourite dishes always include pasta.
Some of our favourites are lasagne, spaghetti bolognaise, pasta carbonara and stuffed cannelloni with spinach and ricotta cheese.
To make your own pasta is really quite simple, great fun and extremely rewarding. Once you have made a basic egg pasta and tasted the delights, you can move on to the different varieties in colour and flavour. Added extras could include a pasta-making machine, either manual or motorised. A simple pasta machine will cost about 25, but there are numerous models on the market and they can cost as much as 80. The advantage of a pasta machine is the consistency, quality and thickness of the pasta it produces. However, these machines can be dangerous for children and as with all kitchen appliances, adult guidance is necessary at all times.
Without a machine you will need to roll the pasta out, stretching it as thinly as possible. The thickness will depend on the type of pasta you wish to make. Lasagna sheets, for example, can be thicker than tagliatelle.
A great idea for children is to roll out two large rectangles of pasta to make ravioli. The bottom layer should be scored with vertical and horizontal lines, that is, squares. The filling is then placed in the centre of each square, then with a pastry brush the edges are brushed with beaten egg before placing a layer of pasta on top of the filling. Each square is sealed and cut out with either a small vegetable knife or a pizza cutter. The ravioli can be chilled for cooking at a later date.
Fresh pasta will cook considerably quicker than dried pasta. The thickness will determine the cooking time, which is usually a few minutes. All pastas expand in size during the cooking process and long strips will often curl.
A basic egg pasta, or yellow/white pasta, is made from strong plain flour, eggs, olive oil, and a touch of salt.
Green pasta (verdi) is made from strong plain flour, eggs, olive oil, salt, and spinach that is cooked and then well pressed.
Orange pasta is made from strong plain flour eggs, olive oil, salt, tomato puree or cooked carrots or cooked squash.
Speckled pasta (or herb pasta) is made from strong plain flour, eggs, olive oil, salt and finely chopped fresh herbs such as sage, oregano, parsley and thyme.
There are many more varieties of pasta you can make, including garlic, saffron and even chocolate. All these flavours can be made into any shape or form. The easiest are lasagne sheets, followed by tagliatelle, which are long flat strips. The most difficult shapes to make are cannelloni, penne and lumache (snail-shaped shells).
There is a great deal of flavour to be found in homemade pasta, so less time needs to be spent on the preparation of fancy sauces or bolognaise.
The homemade pasta will speak for itself. And the more you practise, the better you will become at making it.
Basic egg pasta
(serves four people)
* 225g strong plain flour
* 2 whole eggs
* 1 dessertspoon of olive oil
* a good pinch of salt
* Serve with a simple cheese sauce, bolognaise, or sauteed mushrooms and creme fraiche.
Method:
Measure out the flour, and sift it into a large mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Take two eggs and crack them into a separate bowl. Whisk them up with a fork. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add all the egg. Add a dessertspoon of olive oil and mix well with a wooden spoon. The dough should start to come together. If the mixture is too dry you can always add a small amount of cold water to bring the dough together.
Once the mixture has come together to form a stiff ball, use your clean hands and turn the dough on to a floured clean work surface. Knead the dough thoroughly for several minutes.
Now the pasta is ready to roll out and put through the pasta machine, if you have one. If not, you will want to cut the dough into small portions and roll the pasta as thin as possible, keeping it well floured at all times to prevent it from sticking to the surface. Once the dough is a thin as possible, cut it into the required size and shape of your choice.
Allow the pasta to dry out for 30 minutes if possible.
To cook:
Place a saucepan of boiling water over a moderate heat. Add a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of olive oil. Now add all the pasta, stir well and cook until soft. Unlike the store brands, fresh pasta only takes a few minutes to cook, so watch out. Cooking the pasta 'Al dente', with a little bite, will give you the best results.
Fiona Hamilton-Fairley is the principal of the Kids' Cookery School in London W3
