Description
This Homemade Pasta Recipe offers a classic way to create fresh, tender pasta from scratch using simple ingredients like Italian-style ’00’ flour, eggs, olive oil, and salt. The dough is expertly kneaded and rolled through a pasta machine to achieve the perfect thin sheets, then cut into your choice of pasta shapes. Ideal for a hands-on cooking experience, this recipe produces pasta that cooks in just minutes and can be enjoyed fresh or frozen for later use.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Dough
- 2 1/2 cups Italian-style “00” flour (318 grams) or unbleached all-purpose flour (310 grams)
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
For Preparation
- Semolina flour (for dusting the baking sheet and cut noodles)
Instructions
- Prep: Dust a large baking sheet with semolina flour to prevent sticking. Secure your pasta roller and set it to its widest rolling setting to prepare for rolling out the dough.
- Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Create a well in the center and crack the eggs into it. Drizzle with olive oil, then use your fingers to blend the eggs into the flour gradually. Stir the flour from the sides into the center until a dough mass forms. Transfer to a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth, flexible, and not sticky. Shape into a ball, flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes up to 1 hour.
- Divide and roll the dough: Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces with a bench scraper, keeping the unused dough covered with plastic wrap. Flatten one piece into a rectangle suitable for your pasta roller. Dust with flour to prevent sticking, then pass it through the pasta machine on its widest setting. Fold the dough into thirds like a letter and roll through the widest setting twice more to develop the gluten.
- Thin the dough: Without folding further, roll the dough repeatedly through the machine, decreasing the roller thickness setting each time until reaching desired thinness (setting 2 is ideal for fettuccini). Dust the dough with flour as needed to prevent sticking. If the sheets become too long to handle, cut them into smaller lengths.
- Cut the pasta: Dust the final dough sheet with flour, then change to your preferred pasta cutter attachment. Pass the sheet through the cutter, catching the noodles as they exit. Arrange cut pasta on the semolina-dusted baking sheet, then cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to dry for 20 minutes before cooking or freezing.
- Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the dried or frozen pasta and stir gently initially to prevent sticking. Fresh homemade pasta cooks very quickly—check for doneness between 2 to 4 minutes (add 2 minutes extra when cooking from frozen). When cooked, drain and serve as desired.
Notes
- Use semolina flour for dusting as it helps prevent sticking better than regular flour without affecting flavor.
- Resting the dough allows the gluten to relax, making it easier to roll out.
- The thickness setting and shape can be adjusted to other pasta types like tagliatelle or pappardelle.
- Pasta sheets can be frozen after drying for up to a month; thaw briefly before boiling.
- Cook fresh pasta quickly to avoid an eggy taste and maintain a tender texture.