How to Make Homemade Pasta

A pile of homemeade pasta coating in flour siting on a cookie sheet.

5 from 2 votes

Today I’m going to teach you how to make homemade pasta. And, perhaps surprisingly, it’s so much easier than you think! I learned the pasta-making technique from years of making pasta with my family, and I perfected the ingredients ratios while living in Italy. Take a peek at my step-by-step photos to make the process a little easier!

Course Main Course, pasta

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1

Total Time 31

Servings e

Calories 453kcal

Author Alexandria Drzazgowski

Equipment

Ingredients

400 g Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (about 1 cup)
4 extra large eggs extra large
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil

Instructions

Place 400 grams of flour in a mound on the table.
Use your hand to form a well in the middle of the flour. You should be able to see the table at the bottom of your flour.
Crack 4 eggs into the hole in the well. Add ¼ tsp salt and 1 tsp olive oil.
Use a fork to scramble the eggs inside the flour well. As you mix, use your fork to slowly incorporate flour from the edges of the well. Slowly keep adding more flour with your fork as you stir. The egg should turn into a paste.
When the mixture is too thick to mix with a fork anymore, start kneading with your hands. Make sure to press with the heel of your hand, working the flour into the dough. (You may need to not incorporate all of the flour or add more depending on the consistency of your dough. The dough should not be sticky or crumbly. It should be a happy medium in between. If your dough is too dry, wet your fingers with some water and continue to knead the dough.)
Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes until the dough is smooth and has turned a darker yellow color. You can test if your dough is ready by pressing your finger into it. If the dough begins to bounce back instead of staying pressed in, then it is done. If it does not bounce back, continue to knead.
Form your dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Allow to rest at room temperature for about half an hour. When the dough is done resting, cut it into small sections (about 8).
Pass these sections through the pasta roller on your pasta machine. Because each pasta maker is different I cannot give the numbers of the settings, but choose a large setting, then a medium setting, and finally a small setting (on my Kitchenaid Pasta Maker, I run the pasta through the #1, then #3, then #5).
Allow rolled pasta to rest on parchment paper while you roll the other dough. Dust lightly with flour. If you are leaving the pasta on the counter for more than 5-10 minutes, cover it with a clean kitchen towel.
Once all pasta is rolled flat, change the settings on your pasta maker to the pasta cutter.
Roll the pasta through one more time to cut into fettuccine shapes.
Lay the fettuccine on the parchment/butcher’s paper again and allow to dry.
Cook as normal pasta. Homemade pasta will normally cook faster than store-bought pasta.

Video

Notes

Flour: Use all-purpose, unbleached flour
Salt: Table Salt
Olive Oil
Egg(s): Extra Large
It may be helpful to roll your dough through your pasta maker at the same setting multiple times before moving onto the next size. This just ensures that the dough doesn’t crack.
To create consistent noodles with no rough edges you can fold your dough into thirds after passing it through the pasta maker the first time. Just fold the rough edges toward the middle and roll the dough through again to flatten the layers together. It should come out a nice rectangle.
You can buy a pasta rack to let your noodles dry on or you can leave them on a sheet of parchment paper. Either way, let them dry for just a couple hours before storing them in the refrigerator.
Once you are finished mixing your dough it should not be sticky, but don’t be afraid to sprinkle some flour on it if it does stick to any of your equipment or if you are stacking the rest of the dough on top of each other after rolling.
You can add extra flavor to your dough by adding some fresh or dried herbs but take some time to perfect this basic pasta dough before taking this step!
Some chefs mix up their dough in a food processor. You can give this a try but I prefer feeling the mixture with my hand to have more control over the texture and amount of ingredients.
The recipe I was taught was measured in grams. When I measure this way it gives me more consistently perfect pasta dough every time.

Nutrition