I am Itaian and always make my own pasta, not as fancy as Hilda above. I used to just make tagliatelle, but have branched out to lasagne and ravioli too, not nearly as hard as i expected. j just knead 100 g flour and a bit of salt with one free range egg (we have our own hens) per person (I usually do about 6 eggs and freeze it in batches for two people in layers on greaseptoof paper.). For the tomato sauce I always use fresh tomatoes. Put them in boiling water to make them easy to peel. Heat some olive oil, add some chopped garlic and chilli, and the choppes peeled tomatoes and a glass of red wine and a bit of salt, and simmer for half an hour, then puree it all. Yum. I don't think life's too short...after all, life's anout having fun!