Pasta squares with basil pesto & roasted fennel

To make pasta, whiz eggs and salt in a food processor, then stop machine, add flour and pulse about 30 times until mixture looks like fine couscous. Tip onto a clean surface, squash into a ball and knead until smooth. Wrap dough in food wrap and rest it for 30 minutes before rolling.

Press dough flat, then pass through a pasta maker, with the rollers on the widest setting. Fold dough into three and pass through rollers again. Repeat until dough is smooth. Keeping dough lightly floured, continue to pass it through the rollers, adjusting the width of the rollers with every roll, until it has gone through the thinnest setting. If the dough gets too long or difficult to manage, cut it in half. Cut dough into rough shapes and transfer to a tray lined with baking paper lightly dusted with mixed flour and cornmeal.

Preheat oven to 200°C fanbake. Trim fennel bulbs and slice into thinnish pieces. Rinse, pat dry, then gently rub each piece of fennel with olive oil. Transfer to a shallow ovenproof dish lined with baking paper, season and roast for 15-20 minutes, until tender and golden.

To make pesto, put basil leaves, a large pinch of salt, garlic, pine nuts and extra virgin olive oil in a food processor fitted with the steel chopping blade. Process until blended. Transfer to a bowl, then mix in cheeses. Cover surface with plastic food wrap and set aside until required.

Cook the pasta in plenty of gently boiling, well-salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving a cup of the cooking water, then tip pasta into a heated serving bowl and quickly toss the butter through. Mix 1-2 Tbsp reserved pasta water through the pesto, just enough to loosen it. Toss most of the pesto through the pasta, adding a little more water to give the sauce a light consistency. Toss again and serve immediately, topped with remaining pesto, roasted fennel and parmesan.

COOK’S NOTES — Diluting the pesto with a little hot pasta water helps to thin it (adding extra oil would make it too oily) — it also brings up the colour of the pesto.

— Tossing the pasta with a little butter and adding a little hot pasta water helps the pesto flow over the pasta and prevent it becoming tacky.

From Taste magazine, October 2009.