Homemade Cricket Pasta

Ingredients

1. 200g “00” pasta flour (or strong white bread flour if you can'f find it)

2. 25g Bugvita pure cricket powder

3. 2 medium eggs

4. 1 tablespoon olive oil

5. 1/4 tsp salt

Method

Time - 1 hr 45 mins

1. Mix the cricket powder and flour, then heap it up onto your work top. Make a well in the centre of the flour heap and break the eggs into it.

2. Add the oil and salt to the well then begin gradually mixing in the egg mixture into the flour using your fingers, bringing the ingredients together into a firm dough.

3. If the dough feels dry and flaky, add a few drops of water; if it's wet and sticky, add a little more flour.

4. Knead the pasta dough for at least 5 mins until it is smooth. Rub a little olive oil over the surface of the dough ball and wrap it in cling film. Now let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 mins.

5. You can either roll the pasta dough by hand using a floured, wooden rolling pin, or use a pasta machine (which makes life much easier!). Roll out the pasta until it is about 10mm thick, fold in half and then in half again. Roll out again and re-fold. Repeat this process at least 10 times giving you a smooth, elastic dough.

6. Now roll the dough out to your desired thickness. If using a machine it's best to do this gradually, roll out, reduce machine aperture, roll out again and repeat until you have a nice thin sheet of pasta.

7. Now all you have to do is dust the pasta sheet with a little flour and cut it to the shape you want. It's best to dry the pasta a little before cooking, especially if you are making long cut pasta like tagliatelle, otherwise it can stick together during cooking. You can do this by simply hanging the pasta over the back of a chair.

8. After it has had the chance to dry a little, add the pasta to salted, boiling water. Stir a little to make sure pasta is separated and not sticking together. Try not to over stir the pasta as it can break apart. Cook for for 2-3 mins. Note that cooking time will depend on the thickness of the pasta so make sure you taste it to check it has cooked through before draining in a colander.

9. Serve immediately with your favourite sauce and enjoy!