How to Make Homemade Pasta

Making homemade pasta in Italy is an ancient art. From fresh pasta dough you get tagliolini or tagliatelle, ravioli or tortellini and lasagna.

It doesn’t take long to make fresh homemade pasta recipe: 15-20 minutes for a nice smooth and elastic pasta dough, 30 minutes of rest, 15 minutes to roll out… in about 1 hour fresh homemade pasta is ready!

Now we are going to show you how making homemade pasta is really easy, what are the tricks to keep it from drying out, which is the best way to roll out the pasta dough and much more!

See also:

• How to Make Homemade Trofie Pasta
• Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Butter
• How to Make Homemade Passatelli
• Polenta Recipe | How to Make Basic Polenta
• How to Make Homemade Orecchiette
• Pizza dough recipe

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How to Make Homemade Pasta

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Homemade Pasta Tools and Equipment

You can choose to knead by hand (as in this recipe) to make fresh Italian homemade pasta, or you can use a stand mixer (we recommend kitchenaid stand mixer). This way you save time and effort, as a good fresh pasta must be processed for a long time and with a lot of energy.

For a good result of fresh pasta you need to use the spiral dough hook. Ideal for pasta, pizza and other heavy dough. It is commonly used in first and second speed.

We opted for the Imperia pasta maker machine to roll fresh pasta, maybe the most famous pasta maker machine in Italy. This kitchen tool is equipped with both a wood grip handle, to roll out the dough manually, and a two speed motor attachment.

If you have opted for the kitchenaid stand mixer, you can use the pasta maker attachment for kitchenaid: 3 in 1 set that includes pasta sheet roller, tagliolini cutter and tagliatelle cutter.

How to Make Homemade Pasta Dough by Hand

To make this recipe we used a flour mixture made with 50% flour “00” and 50% durum wheat flour that we find perfect both for the dough and for the cooking.

That said, let’s show you how to make Italian homemade pasta by hand.

How to Make Homemade Pasta Dough in a Stand Miker

You can choose to knead by hand as in the steps above or you can use a stand mixer (we recommend kitchenaid stand mixer). In this way you save time and effort, as homemade pasta must be kneaded for a long time and with a lot of energy. For a good result of fresh pasta you need to use the spiral dough hook that is perfect for kneading pasta dough. It is commonly used in first and second speed.

So pour the flour into the bowl of your stand mixer and start mixing with the spiral dough hook at speed 1. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to mix for 5-6 minutes until the mixture is smooth, but not compact. Now increase the speed to 2 and knead for another 5-6 minutes, until you get a ball.

Turn off the machine, take the ball and knead it by hand for 1 minute. Put it back in the bowl of the mixer and knead it again for 2 minutes at speed 1. Now take the ball and wrap it in cling film, then let it rest for at least 15/30 minutes.

How to Roll Out the Pasta Dough with a Pasta Maker

How to Make Tagliatelle/Fettuccine

And now here is the “problem”: what is the difference between tagliatelle and fettuccine?

Well, we would say almost no one. The difference lies only in the width of the pasta strips, although there is not always agreement on the measures. Fettuccine must have a width smaller than tagliatelle. Fettuccine can vary from 3 to 5 mm while tagliatelle between 6 and 10 mm. The recipe and the method are exactly the same for both.

How to make Tagliolini

How to make Pappardelle

Summing up:

• Tagliolini 1-2 mm
• Fettuccine 3-5 mm
• Tagliatelle 6-10 mm
• Pappardelle 1-3 cm

How to Roll Out Fresh Pasta by Hand

Take a piece of dough and with your hands make a ball, the size of a tennis ball. Flatten it with your hands to give it a disc shape. Then roll out the dough on the work surface, always well floured with the DURUM WHEAT FLOUR, with the help of a rolling pin. Start always from the center, sliding it in all directions in order to obtain a pasta sheet of uniform thickness. Keep to roll out the dough until it reaches a thickness of about 1 millimeter.

For a classic pasta such as tagliatelle, tagliolini and pappardelle, roll up the pasta sheet starting from the flap facing down, without pressing.
Then, with a long and sharp knife, cut the pasta into strips of 1-2 millimeters for the tagliolini, about 1 cm for tagliatelle and 1-3 cm for pappardelle.

How to Make Homemade Pasta Without Eggs

If you want to make homemade pasta without eggs you must know that the method is similar to that of fresh egg pasta.

So in the well of the flour fountain add a pinch of salt and pour warm water. The amount of water must be about half the weight of the flour that is 400 g (14 oz) of flour, 200 g (7 oz) of water. Istead of the “00” flour use only durum wheat semolina, so you will get a pasta with more resistance to cooking.

With this type of dough you can get many types of pasta shapes, (orecchiette, corzetti, cavatelli, bucatini, trofie), which, in general, have the characteristic of being thick and therefore should not be drained al dente.

How to Store Homemade Pasta

Let pasta dry on a special drying rack or make some nests with your hands and place them to dry on a tray. Either way, if you don’t cook the pasta immediately, store for 1/2 days in the refrigerator (not more).

How to Freeze Fresh Homemade pasta

You can even freeze Italian homemade pasta in the various chosen formats. For example, you could make tagliatelle and freeze them, so they will be ready to be cooked whenever you want. Here’s how to do it: arrange them in nests and place them on a tray – that you have previously covered with a little baking paper – with a distance of 1 inch between one nest and another.

Then place the tray in the freezer. Wait 1/2 hours for the pasta to freeze. Now take the nests, which will be very stiff, and place them in a freezer bag. Close it with a knot and place them in the freezer. You can keep fresh pasta in a freezer for about 1 month.

How to Cook Frozen Fresh Pasta 

When you want to cook them, don’t defrost but put them STILL FROZEN in plenty of salted boiling water. Stir often and cook for about 5/6 minutes.

This method applies to all types of fresh egg pasta, such as pasta sheets for lasagna (prepare them and freeze them on top of each other separated by sheets of baking paper), tagliatelle, tagliolini, quadratini, farfalle, ravioli and all filled pasta.

What Kind of Flour for Homemade Pasta?

Some people prefer a finer pasta, so they must use a white flour (soft wheat flour). Others love a rustic taste, which you can have adding percentages of durum wheat flour to soft wheat flour (e.g.: 50% flour “00” + 50% durum wheat flour as in this recipe). Instead of “00” flour  you can use durum wheat flour (semola flour), which is richer in protein. This way you can get a pasta dough with a top cooking seal.

So, the basic recipe of homemade pasta wants the “00” flour or durum wheat or mixed. For 400 g (14 oz) of flour you need 4 eggs of at least 70 g (2,5 oz) each.

Salt: Yes or No?

According to the currents of thought of Emilia Romagna region (home of fresh homemade pasta), you should not add salt to the dough but only to the boiling water. According to others, however, a pinch of salt would not hurt …

Homemade pasta made without eggs (flour and water), wants a pinch of salt and warm water to facilitate hydration of the starch.

With the dough without eggs usually you get pasta like cavatelli, trofie, orecchiette, bucatini, fusilli, strozzapreti. For tagliatelle, tagliolini, lasagna and stuffed pasta in general, it’s better using the traditional dough with eggs.

What Sauce with Homemade pasta?

You can dress fresh pasta such as tagliatelle, tagliolini or pappardelle with fresh grated Parmigiano cheese and a little butter and sage, or with a tomato sauce made from fresh tomatoes or even with pesto.

How to Cook Homemade Pasta

Fresh homemade pasta usually has a cooking time ranging from 2 minutes (for tagliolini) to 5 – 8 minutes for larger sizes.

The cooking (as for all types of pasta) must have these proportions: 1 liter (4 cups) of water, 100 g (3,5 oz) of pasta and 10 g (½ tablespoon) of salt.

The proportion between water and pasta is essential. That ensures that the starch contained in the flour can dissolve in the right amount of water without forming a saturated solution of starch. It would make the pasta sticky and not very digestible. When cooking fresh egg pasta, add a teaspoon of oil to prevent it from sticking.

Web Story: How to Make Pasta at Home