4 Essential Pasta Ingredients
To make great homemade pasta, you'll need the following ingredients on hand.
. 1. Flour: In Italy, pasta is made with doppio zero (aka type "00" or pasta flour). This style of wheat flour
is very finely milled, and it tends to be more elastic than other flours. If you can't find doppio zero flour,
you can substitute all-purpose flour or coarse semolina flour, though the texture may be less delicate.
. 2. Eggs: The eggs in fresh pasta help bind everything together. They're also what gives pasta that
beautiful golden hue. Use high-quality, fresh eggs for the best flavor.
. 3. Olive oil: A little bit of olive oil can make your pasta dough smoother, but too much will give you
mushy pasta.
. 4. Salt: When it comes to homemade pasta dough, salt is really just for flavor. Add a pinch to the
dough, and remember to cook your pasta in well-salted water.
How to Make Homemade Pasta by Hand
Making pasta by hand, as Italians have done for thousands of years, is relatively easy and
involves only about a half-hour of active working time.
. 1. Make the dough right on the countertop. You can also use a marble cutting board or other clean,
cold work surface. Start with a mound of flour, make a well in the center, and add the wet ingredients
to the well.
. 2. Mix the ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients together, either with a fork, whisk, or your fingers.
Slowly incorporate the flour until you're left with a shaggy dough. Kneading the dough by hand—rolling,
pressing, and punching it on the work surface—will turn the coarse dough into a smooth, shiny ball.
You'll need to commit to 10–15 minutes of hand kneading to activate the gluten in the dough.
. 3. After letting the dough rest, it's time to roll. You can do this with a long rolling pin and a sharp
knife or pizza cutter, but, depending on the type of pasta you're making, there are some additional
tools that can help you. A hand-cranked pasta roller will turn out uniform sheets of pasta, while
a chitarra (a device that with strings that looks like the fretboard of a guitar) will cut through rolled pasta
dough to make fettuccine or linguine. Ravioli, lasagna, pappardelle, and tagliatelle are all good options
if this is your first time making pasta, since they don't require any special tools.
HoMaking pasta by hand, as Italians have done for thousands of years, is relatively easy
and involves only about a half-hour of active working time.
. 1. Make the dough right on the countertop. You can also use a marble cutting board or other clean,
cold work surface. Start with a mound of flour, make a well in the center, and add the wet ingredients
to the well.
. 2. Mix the ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients together, either with a fork, whisk, or your fingers.
Slowly incorporate the flour until you're left with a shaggy dough. Kneading the dough by hand—rolling,
pressing, and punching it on the work surface—will turn the coarse dough into a smooth, shiny ball.
You'll need to commit to 10–15 minutes of hand kneading to activate the gluten in the dough.
. 3. After letting the dough rest, it's time to roll. You can do this with a long rolling pin and a sharp
knife or pizza cutter, but, depending on the type of pasta you're making, there are some additional
tools that can help you. A hand-cranked pasta roller will turn out uniform sheets of pasta, while
a chitarra (a device that with strings that looks like the fretboard of a guitar) will cut through rolled pasta
dough to make fettuccine or linguine. Ravioli, lasagna, pappardelle, and tagliatelle are all good options
if this is your first time making pasta, since they don't require any special tools.
How to Make Homemade Pasta Using a Stand Mixer
A stand mixer can be a great pasta-making companion.
How to Make Homemade Pasta Using a Stand Mixer
A stand mixer can be a great pasta-making companion.
. 1. Mix the dough. Create a mound of flour with a well in the center, and add the wet ingredients to the
well. Mix with a fork or your fingers, gradually working the flour into a shaggy dough. For easier clean-
up, mix the dough with your hands directly in the bowl of the stand mixer.
. 2. Knead the dough with the stand mixer. If you mixed the dough on the counter, use a bench
scraper to transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. You
can then let the stand mixer do the kneading for you. On low speed, it will still take about 10 minutes
for the dough to achieve a smooth, elastic texture.
. 3. Roll out the pasta dough. If your stand mixer has a pasta machine attachment, you can also use it
to roll out your dough. After letting the dough rest, give it a quick roll with a rolling pin so that it will fit
the width of the pasta machine. Lightly flour your pasta machine and the back of your hands. Position
the machine at one end of your workspace, giving the dough plenty of room to stretch. Starting with the
machine on its widest setting, feed the rolled out pasta dough into the machine. When it’s halfway
through, pull it out. Repeat two or three times on the widest setting, until you have a sheet with uniform
thickness. You can then gradually decrease the thickness of your pasta sheet until the sheet of pasta
has reached the desired thickness. Some pasta attachments include pasta cutters that will cut pasta
sheets into perfect ribbons.
How to Serve Homemade Pasta
You can use fresh homemade pasta instead of dried pasta in any pasta recipe. For the best flavor, cook your
fresh pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until just al dente, then use tongs to place the pasta directly in
the sauce.
If you really want to taste your efforts, stick to simple sauces, like pesto, browned butter and sage, or cacio e
pepe. Homemade pasta dough is also the best way to experience filled pastas like ravioli and agnolotti, since
fresh fillings like ricotta cheese don't hold up to drying or freezing.
How to Store Homemade Pasta
Fresh pasta has a short shelf life, but for cut pastas, like fettuccine, you can either air-dry or freeze the pasta.
You can buy special pasta drying racks, or you can dry strands in little nests on a baking sheet. Homemade
dried pasta will keep in an airtight container for up to one month. You can also freeze pasta on a sheet pan
and then transfer it to an airtight container or plastic bag. Frozen pasta will keep for up to two weeks and does
not need to be defrosted before cooking.
HOMEMADE PASTA INGREDIENTS:
Alright, before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few important notes about the pasta ingredients you will
need to make 1 pound of classic homemade egg pasta:
Flour: I really love to make my homemade pasta with “00” flour, which yields the silkiest pasta. But if I am
making a sauce that is a bit more hearty, I will use half “00” and half semolina flour, which makes the pasta a
bit more sturdy and helps the sauce to cling to the pasta better. That said, any of these three flours (or a
combination of them) will work with this recipe:
“00” flour: My personal favorite, which makes the texture extra silky.
Semolina flour: A heartier flour, which can help the pasta cling better to the sauce. (Semolina is also my
favorite flour to sprinkle on the cutting board and pasta, while you are in the process of rolling out the dough.)
All-purpose flour: Also works pretty well if this is the only flour you have on hand.
Eggs: This recipe calls for four large eggs.
Olive oil: This will also help to moisten the dough. (If the dough is still too dry, you can also add in a few
teaspoons of water.)
Sea salt: We will add a teaspoon of fine sea salt to the recipe, plus I recommend adding a little extra to your
pasta water when cooking the pasta.
HOMEMADE PASTA EQUIPMENT:
I’ve included instructions below for how to make homemade pasta completely by hand. Or if you happen to own a
food processor (my favorite method) or a stand mixer, those can save you some extra work too.
When it comes to actually rolling out the pasta, you can do so by hand (with a rolling pin and a knife). Or you can
additionally invest in a:
Pasta maker: I purchased the Atlas 150 pasta maker and really love and recommend it. Or, if you happen to
own a KitchenAid stand mixer, their pasta roller attachment works well too.
Pasta drying rack: Optional, but very helpful (and pretty!). I opted for this wooden pasta drying rack and love
it.
HOMEMADE PASTA EQUIPMENT:
I’ve included instructions below for how to make homemade pasta completely by hand. Or if you happen to own a
food processor (my favorite method) or a stand mixer, those can save you some extra work too.
When it comes to actually rolling out the pasta, you can do so by hand (with a rolling pin and a knife). Or you can
additionally invest in a:
Pasta maker: I purchased the Atlas 150 pasta maker and really love and recommend it. Or, if you happen to
own a KitchenAid stand mixer, their pasta roller attachment works well too.
Pasta drying rack: Optional, but very helpful (and pretty!). I opted for this wooden pasta drying rack and love
it.
How to Make Homemade Pasta Using a Stand Mixer
A stand mixer can be a great pasta-making companion.
. 1. Mix the dough. Create a mound of flour with a well in the center, and add the wet ingredients to the
well. Mix with a fork or your fingers, gradually working the flour into a shaggy dough. For easier clean-
up, mix the dough with your hands directly in the bowl of the stand mixer.
. 2. Knead the dough with the stand mixer. If you mixed the dough on the
HOW TO MAKE PASTA IN A FOOD PROCESSOR:
This is my preferred way to make homemade pasta because it’s the quickest and easiest! Simply add all four
ingredients to the bowl of a food processor (fitted with the normal blade attachment). Pulse for about 10 seconds,
or until the mixture reaches a crumbly texture (see above). Remove the dough and pat it into a ball with your
hands and place it on a lightly-floured cutting board. Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes until it is smooth and
elastic. (If the dough seems too dry, add in an extra tablespoon or two of water. If the dough seems wet or sticky,
just add in some extra flour, but you the dough to be fairly dry.) Form the dough into a ball with your hands, wrap
tightly in plastic wrap and let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Use immediately or refrigerate
for up to 1 day.
. counter, use a bench scraper to transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough
hook attachment. You can then let the stand mixer do the kneading for you. On low speed, it will still
take about 10 minutes for the dough to achieve a smooth, elastic texture.
. 3. Roll out the pasta dough. If your stand mixer has a pasta machine attachment, you can also use it
to roll out your dough. After letting the dough rest, give it a quick roll with a rolling pin so that it will fit
the width of the pasta machine. Lightly flour your pasta machine and the back of your hands.
