Hand cut pasta has the reputation of a Sunday project, but the dough takes ten minutes to mix and the cutting is dinner conversation while a sauce simmers. The ratio at Songbird Kitchen is simple: 100 grams of double zero flour and one large egg per person. Salt is optional, water is rarely needed.

Pile flour on a wood board, make a well, crack the eggs in. Whisk with a fork pulling flour into the eggs as you go. When it forms a shaggy ball, knead for six minutes until it bounces back like silk. Wrap and rest twenty minutes while you put a sauce on the stove.

Roll the dough through a pasta machine or with a long pin into thin sheets. Stack and slice with a long knife into pappardelle or fettuccine. Cook in a wide pan of well salted water for ninety seconds. Toss in sauce. The whole thing takes less time than a delivery order.

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