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How to Make Homemade Pasta

Fresh, homemade pasta is the best!  It's simple to make by hand or using a pasta roller, and only requires two ingredients!
Course Pasta
Cuisine Italian
Keyword homemade pasta by hand, homemade pasta dough, homemade pasta with kitchenaid, how to make fresh pasta, how to make homemade pasta
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 4 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 4 minutes
Servings 4 (about 1 pound)
Calories 376kcal
Author Lauren

Ingredients

  • 2 ¼ to 2 ½ cups 00 flour or all purpose flour see instructions
  • 4 large eggs
  • additional flour for rolling

Instructions

Making the dough by hand:

  • On a flat surface, place 2 ½ cups flour in a mound.  Create a well in the center of the dough for the eggs, about 5 inches wide.
  • Add the eggs to the well and pierce each yolk with a fork.  Start whisking the eggs with the fork, gradually incorporating flour from the sides of the well.  Once the yolks are thickened, add more and more flour. If the well starts to crack while whisking in the eggs just push it back together.  If the well breaks completely, just quickly add the flour into the eggs and start working the dough with your hands.
  • Once a 'shaggy dough' starts to form, stop using the fork and start working the dough into a ball using your hands.
  • Knead the dough for 5 minutes.  Wrap with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Making the dough in a stand mixer:

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add 2 ¼ cups flour and eggs.  Mix on low speed until the eggs are incorporated and increase to medium-high speed.  Beat for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  • Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

Rolling the pasta dough:

  • Unwrap the dough and cut into 4 equal pieces. Keep any pasta you are not working with covered with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
  • If rolling by hand, flatten one of the pieces into a rectangle and roll out on a flat floured surface until about 6 inches wide and ⅛-inch in thickness.  Cut into 10 to 12 inch length strips.  Let the pasta sheets dry for 2 minutes before dusting with flour or semolina before cutting.
  • To cut the pasta, fold the pasta sheet over on itself and cut to your desired pasta shape.  Drape the cut pasta over a drying rack.  Repeat the process until all the pasta is cut. Dry for 30 minutes before storing.  If cooking right away, you can skip the drying process.
  • If using a pasta rolling machine or attachment, flatten one piece of the pasta dough into a disk that's thinner along the edge and slightly thicker in the center.  Dust the roller with flour and feed the dough through on the widest setting.  Fold the dough into thirds and repeat.  Feeding the dough into the roller 2 to 3 times per setting, rotating which side of the dough you start with until the dough is ⅛ inch thick.
  • Dust the pasta sheet with flour or semolina and cut into 10 to 12 inch sheets. fold the pasta sheet over on itself and cut to your desired pasta shape for linguine, tagliatelle, etc.  Drape the cut pasta over a drying rack.  Dry for 30 minutes before storing.  If cooking right away, you can skip the drying process.  Repeat the process until all the pasta is cut.

Cooking the pasta:

  • Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a rolling boil.  Have a colander ready.
  • Add the pasta to the water, stirring to make sure it doesn't stick together.  Depending on your pasta shape, the pasta will take 90 seconds to 4 minutes to cook.  Fresh pasta will start to rise to the top of the water once it's cooked.
  • Reserve some of the starchy pasta water before draining if you want an easy thickener for your sauce. Drain the pasta and toss with your favorite sauce.

Storing homemade pasta:

  • Dust the cut pasta with flour.  Drape over a drying rack and dry for 30 minutes.  Fold the pasta into little nests.  Line an airtight container with parchment paper.
  • Fresh pasta can be refrigerated for 2 days and stored in the freezer up to 3 months.

Notes

  • 00 flour is more finely milled and preferred for pasta making, but all-purpose flour will work great as well
  • you won't use all the flour when making the pasta using the well and whisk method (uses 2 ½ cups flour), so if opting to making the dough in the standing mixer reduce the total amount used (2 ¼ cups flour.)
  • The dough may seem too dry at first, just keep kneading it and the moisture will continue to spread.  If the dough still seems too dry after a bit of kneading, add a little water or olive oil and continue to knead it. If the dough is constantly sticking to your hands during kneading, even after flooring your hands and surface try kneading a little more flour into the dough 1 tablespoon at a time.
  • If you've never made homemade pasta before, I'd highly highly recommend reading through this post for all the tips, tricks and troubleshooting steps.

Nutrition

Calories: 376kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 164mg | Sodium: 64mg | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 238IU | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 5mg