In the sweet month of May, let's make pasta at home.

This month, I have the honor of hosting Pasta Please, a pasta-centric event created by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes.

Pasta comes in a myriad shapes, some as simple as tagliatelle, other more complex, like cappellacci dei briganti, some plain and some stuffed, some made with egg dough and others without eggs, like orecchiette. It is not a stretch to say that there is a pasta shape for everybody. And the same holds for the sauces with which to dress the pasta. 

Are you ready for a little challenge? For this edition of Pasta Please, I will give you free rein in terms of sauce, but I will ask you to try to make your own pasta. If you have never done it, I recommend you keep it simple and small, i.e., choose a simple pasta shape and make a small amount to begin with. Then, as you gain confidence, you can increase the quantities to feed more guests.

There are plenty of pasta shapes that require only your hands. If you have a pasta machine, use it for rolling and/or shaping (for example, to cut tagliatelle), but try kneading the dough by hand. Or you can do the reverse: let the machine do the kneading and try you hands at shaping. Don't be afraid: I hope you'll discover that it is a satisfying experience.

If you have a shape in mind that you've always wanted to try, go for it. And if you could use some inspiration, I have a list of pasta shapes that I have described in my blog on this page. Many of the posts come with a short video that will help you as you take the first steps.

To summarize, here are the simple rules:

• Create a recipe that includes some kind of pasta you make at home (see details above).
• Write a post and add it to the list using the linky at the bottom of this post (if you have problems with the linky, leave a comment or send me an email at simosite AT mac DOT com.
• One entry per blog.
• Submit by May 28.

• Link to the current host.
• Link to Tinned Tomatoes.
• Use the Pasta Please logo.

Additionally:

• If you use Twitter, tweet your post with @tinnedtoms and #PastaPlease and Jac will re-tweet it to her followers; if you add @SimonaBriciole, I will do the same.

Above all: have fun!

This post contains the roundup of the event.