Homemade Pasta

My favourite 4-ingredient homemade pasta recipe — easy to make by hand, in a stand mixer, or in a food processor. Plus guidelines on how to roll out your pasta by hand or making use of a pasta maker.

I’ve been obtaining a bit of a moment with homemade pasta lately.

And oh my gosh, you guys, I am loving it so a lot.

The inspiration for it all began on our trip to the Amalfi Coast this spring, the place Barclay and I became wholeheartedly convinced that we necessary a lot more one hundred%-from-scratch Italian meals taking place here at home in our small kitchen. Stat. So Barclay set his sights on perfecting homemade mozzarella this spring (a lot more on that to come) and I came property ready to dive into the planet of homemade pastas, gnocchis, and breads of all varieties. I even broke my minimalist no-new-kitchen-appliances-although-we’re-in-Europe rule and brought property an adorable little conventional pasta maker and wooden drying rack to make our pasta dreams come correct.

Turns out, homemade pasta is even much more delightful — and effortless and tasty and fun — than I anticipated!

First off, the fresh pasta dough itself is a breeze to make. If you come about to personal a meals processor, the dough can be prepped in significantly less than five minutes. (Or you can make it by hand or in a stand mixer in less than 15 minutes.) The process of rolling out the noodles is also easier than I expected, specifically when I acquired the hang of utilizing my minor pasta maker. (I’ve integrated guidelines below as properly for how to roll out pasta employing a stand mixer or a rolling pin by hand.) I’ve also appreciated experimenting with the numerous different pasta flours and finding which ones I like best for different events. (Brief reply — I favor “00” flour most of the time, but occasionally mix it with semolina for heartier shapes or sauces.) Largely, although, we’ve just appreciated consuming fresh pasta. It has such a delicious, fresh, chewy, unmistakable bite to it. And it has immediately kicked some of our preferred pasta recipes up a mega notch. (Here’s lookin’ at you, cacio e pepe!)

Also entertaining? Inviting a group of girlfriends above on a Friday evening to share a bottle of ros as we roll out a batch of homemade pasta collectively. And getting leftover linigune in the fridge to pull out for a swift dinner on a active weeknight. And surprising close friends and neighbors with a tupperware complete of cute minor fresh pasta nests as presents. And becoming “that home” that now has fresh pappardelle casually draped and drying by our sunny residing space window.

I’m loving it all. And if you also take place to be a fan of actually excellent pasta, I have a feeling this may be your new favourite point too.

So to proceed with Italian Week right here on the website these days, I am sharing every little thing I’ve learned so far about the artwork of making some critically scrumptious homemade pasta. I’ve tried to consist of plenty of various methods and choices to perform with what ever you have in your kitchen. So please poke around and find no matter what approach performs best for you — and report back if you give homemade pasta a consider! I would adore to hear how it goes.

Homemade Pasta Elements:

Alright, to make 1 pound of classic homemade egg pasta, you will need the following pasta components (affiliate backlinks incorporated):

• Flour: I actually enjoy to make my homemade pasta with “00” flour, which yields the silkiest pasta. But if I am making a sauce that is a bit much more hearty, I will use half “00” and half semolina flour, which tends to make the pasta a bit far more sturdy and helps the sauce to cling to the pasta greater. That said, any of these 3 flours (or a combination of them) will perform with this recipe:
  • “00” flour: My private preferred, which makes the texture added silky.
  • Semolina flour: A heartier flour, which also aids the pasta to cling better to the sauce. (Semolina is also the greatest flour to sprinkle on your cutting board and on the pasta itself as you are rolling out the dough.)
  • All-purpose flour: Also works properly properly if this is the only flour you have on hand.
• Eggs: This recipe calls for four massive eggs.
• Olive oil: This will also support to moisten the dough. (If the dough is nonetheless as well dry, you can also add in a number of teaspoons of water.)
• Sea salt: We will include a teaspoon to the recipe, plus I recommend incorporating a little additional to your pasta water when cooking the pasta.

Homemade Pasta Tools:

I’ve included instructions under for how to make homemade pasta fully by hand. Or if you happen to very own a meals processor (my favorite method) or a stand mixer, these can save you some further perform too.

When it comes to really rolling out the pasta, you can do so by hand (with a rolling pin and a knife). Or you can moreover invest in a:

• Pasta maker: I bought the Atlas 150 pasta maker and genuinely love and recommend it. Or, if you happen to very own a KitchenAid stand mixer, their pasta roller attachment performs nicely too.
• Pasta drying rack: Optional, but really useful (and quite!). I opted for this wooden pasta drying rack and really like it.

How To Make Pasta In A Foods Processor:

This is my favored way to make homemade pasta simply because it’s the quickest and best! Merely include all four elements to the bowl of a foods processor (fitted with the typical blade attachment). Pulse for about ten seconds, or right up until the mixture reaches a crumbly texture (see over). Get rid of the dough and pat it into a ball with your hands and location it on a lightly-floured cutting board. Knead the dough for one-two minutes till it is smooth and elastic. Kind the dough into a ball with your hands, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let the dough rest at area temperature for 30 minutes. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to one day.

How To Make Pasta In A Stand Mixer:

Also a super-basic technique (specially convenient if you are also going to be employing a stand mixer roller attachment to roll out the pasta dough). Just combine all of your components in the bowl of a stand mixer. Then making use of the dough hook, mix and knead the dough for eight-ten minutes on low speed till it is smooth and elastic. Kind the dough into a ball with your hands, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and allow the dough rest at area temperature for thirty minutes. Use right away or refrigerate for up to one day.

How To Make Pasta By Hand:

If you don’t have a meals processor or stand mixer, no prob! Area the flour in a mound on a massive cutting board. Then use your fingers or a spoon to produce a excellent-sized effectively in the middle of the flour mound (sort of like a volcano). Add the eggs in the center of the nicely. Sprinkle the salt and drizzle the olive oil on leading of the eggs. Use a fork to start whisking the eggs. Then after they are combined, begin slowly whisking some of the surrounding flour into the egg mixture, incorporating a lot more and more until the egg mixture is wonderful and thick. (If some eggs accidentally spill out, no worries, just use your hands or a bench scraper to pull them back in.) Then use your hands to fold the rest of the dough all with each other until finally mixed. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or right up until the dough is smooth and elastic, sprinkling some added flour on the cutting board if required to prevent sticking. Kind the dough into a ball with your hands, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and allow the dough rest at room temperature for thirty minutes. Use instantly or refrigerate for up to 1 day.

How To Roll Fresh Pasta With A Pasta Maker:

When the dough has rested for thirty minutes and is prepared to go, remove it from the plastic wrap and transfer it once again to a cutting board. Use a knife to cut the dough into four equal wedges (like you’re slicing a pie), then set 1 wedge aside and right away wrap the remaining three in the plastic wrap again to avert them from drying out.

Sprinkle the cutting board (or a big baking sheet) generously with flour, and set aside.

Making use of your hands, shape the dough wedge into a oval-shaped flat disc. Feed the dough through the pasta maker on the widest setting. (On my pasta maker, this is setting amount one.) As soon as the sheet comes out, fold it into thirds, similar to how you would fold a piece of paper to fit in an envelope. Feed it through the rollers 2 or three a lot more instances, nevertheless on the widest setting. Then carry on to feed the dough by means of the rollers as you progressively minimize the settings, 1 pass at a time, until finally the pasta reaches your wanted thickness. (I like setting six on my pasta maker.) Every time the dough starts to get a bit sticky as you pass it through the rollers, just pause and drape the dough onto the floured cutting board to re-flour, being confident to coat each sides of the dough. Also, if your dough sheet commences to get also long to manage, just minimize it in half with a knife.

As soon as your dough sheet is prepared to go, connect the cutter attachment to your pasta maker (and transfer the deal with to the cutter attachment, if need be). Feed the sheet by means of the attachment to create your desired form of pasta. Then transfer the reduce pasta to a drying rack, or swirl it into minor pasta “nests” and lay them on a floured surface to dry for thirty minutes. Repeat with the remaining pasta dough.

How To Roll Fresh Pasta With A Stand Mixer:

The procedure for the stand mixer is essentially the very same as making use of a traditional pasta maker. (It’s just less complicated due to the fact you don’t have to use one hand to crank the machine!) Just connect the pasta roller attachment to your stand mixer. Set the adjustment knob to the widest setting. Then form and feed the pasta dough into the roller as directed above right up until it reaches your preferred thinness, lightly flouring the pasta as you go to avoid sticking.

As soon as your sheet of pasta is ready to go, remove the roller attachment and connect the cutter attachment of your selection. Feed the dough through the cutter. Then transfer the lower pasta to a drying rack, or swirl it into small pasta “nests” and lay them on a floured surface to dry for 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining pasta dough.

How To Roll Fresh Pasta By Hand:

To roll out your pasta by hand, form one wedge into a oval-shaped flat disc, as directed above. Transfer the disc to a cutting board, and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough till it reaches your desired level of thickness (generally amongst 1-two mm thick), adding further flour to the cutting board as required to prevent sticking. In general, a very good check for thickness is that you need to be capable to see your hand through the dough if you carefully lift it up.

Making use of a pizza cutter or a knife, slice the dough into five-inch sections. Then, starting up on the short side of the sections, roll them up into very loose, flat cylinders (see above). Reduce the cylinders cross-sensible to develop your wanted width of noodles. Then transfer the cut pasta to a drying rack, or swirl it into little pasta “nests” and lay them on a floured surface to dry for thirty minutes. Repeat with the remaining pasta dough.

How To Cook Fresh Pasta:

To cook fresh pasta, bring a massive stockpot of generously-salted water to a rolling boil more than substantial heat. Add in the fresh pasta, and then right away get started to stir it gently so that the noodles do not stick collectively. Continue to cook until finally the pasta is al dente. (Preserve a near eye on it — fresh pasta cooks considerably faster than dried pasta!) Then strain the fresh pasta and use right away.

The cooking time for fresh pasta will depend completely on the thickness of the pasta, so be confident to check out it routinely to see when it reaches the best al dente texture. When I roll pasta to setting 6 on my pasta maker, it typically will take about 90 seconds to cook.

How To Shop Fresh Pasta:

Be positive to allow the pasta air out on a drying rack or on a baking sheet for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 hrs). Transfer to an airtight container and either refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 2 weeks. To use frozen fresh pasta, transfer it to the refrigerator to thaw for at least 4-6 hrs, then cook as usual.

Recipes To Make With Fresh Pasta:

Now for the very best component — what to make with your lovely batch of fresh pasta! Truly feel totally free to browse our total pasta archives right here on the blog, but below are a couple of of my individual faves.