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Homemade Pasta, Easier Than You Think!

This homemade pasta is far superior to any dried store bought pasta. It’s so tender and fresh tasting making it worth the extra effort.

Pasta on a drying rack and cooked pasta in a bowl

Homemade pasta has been my nemesis for a long time. I’ve made it before, but I was never confident that it would turn out.  Sometimes it was just fine and other times it was pretty bad. Well, then Chef Manny came to my house for my Mother-in-law’s birthday party and changed everything.

Homemade pasta was on the menu that day and I jumped at the chance to make the dough under his direction. Since we were making a double batch, my daughter made the second batch, so she got a lesson as well. Chef Manny’s method was so easy that both of us turned out perfect dough. I think what makes this method so easy is that first of all you warm the eggs slightly to loosen them up and then you knead the dough in smaller pieces, so they’re easier to handle.

When it was time to roll out the dough that day, it came out beautifully and it cooked up into perfectly tender pasta!  I have now made this recipe many times and it always turns out perfectly.

So don’t fear making homemade pasta! Give it a try yourself and see how easy it really is. After you’ve made it you can top it with my Easiest Ever Marinara Sauce or your favorite sauce.

Ingredients Needed to Make Homemade Pasta

Full Instructions Can Be Found Below in the Recipe Card

  • All purpose flour
  • Semolina flour
  • Salt
  • Eggs
  • Olive oil

How to Make Homemade Pasta

Start out by putting your eggs in a bowl with warm water and let them sit for a few minutes.  This will temper the eggs and loosen them up, which will help the dough come together easier.

While the eggs are warming up, combine the flours and the salt in a large bowl.  Make a well in the middle of the bowl.

Break the eggs into the center of the well and add the olive oil.

Flour in the bowl with a well filled with eggs

With a fork, break up the yolks and start whisking slowly, incorporating a little bit of the flour mixture in at a time.

Showing how to incorporate the eggs and the flour together

Keep mixing with the fork until the dough is stiff. It will be crumbly at the point.

what the dough looks like once the egg and the flour have been incorporated, but not yet ready to form a ball

Now you want to get in with your hands and continue mixing until it forms a ball. If it seems really dry, you can sprinkle a little water into the bowl, but do it sparingly.

The dough after it's been formed into a ball

At this point, cut the dough into four equal pieces.

The dough cut into four pieces before kneading

Here’s where you really get to use your muscle. You’re going to knead each piece of dough for about 4 to 6 minutes until it forms a soft ball, similar to the texture of Play-Doh. If it seems too dry while your kneading, you can dip you fingertips into water, but do so sparingly.

Showing how the dough looks after kneading

Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 15 minutes.

Now it’s time to roll the pasta. Take one piece of the dough and cut it in half.  Then flatten it out enough so that it will pass through the pasta maker.

Dough flattened out before putting through the pasta maker

Start with the pasta maker set at the highest number. Roll the dough through, folding over and rolling again if necessary. As it starts to form a rectangle, keep running it through at a lower number each time until you have a long thin piece of dough.

Showing dough as it's passing through the pasta maker for the first time.

The dough above still had another pass or two before it was thin enough. Just take the pasta maker down to the number one setting and the pasta will be perfect.

To make it easier to handle as you cut it into the noodles, cut the sheet of dough in half crosswise.

Showing the dough cut in half crosswise before continue to roll it out

Now it’s time to cut the pasta. Put the cutting attachment on your pasta maker and run the pasta through that.

Showing pasta dough as it's being cut into fettuccine noodles

Then either hang pasta on a drying rack or put it on a sheet pan in a single layer and sprinkle it lightly with flour.  Allow to dry for at least 30 minutes.

To cook, add it to boiling, salted water and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes until tender. Serve with your favorite sauce.

More Sauces to Serve with Homemade Fettuccine

Finished pasta served with tomato sauce

Yield: 8 servings

Homemade Pasta, Easier Than You Think!

Homemade Pasta, Easier Than You Think!

This homemade pasta is far superior to any dried store bought pasta. It's so tender and fresh tasting making it worth the extra effort.

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 3 minutes
Additional Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 18 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup semolina flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

  1. Put your eggs in a bowl with warm water and let them sit for a few minutes. This will temper the eggs and loosen them up, which will help the dough come together easier.
  2. While the eggs are warming up, combine the flours and the salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the bowl.
  3. Break the eggs into the center of the well and add the olive oil.
  4. With a fork, break up the yolks and start whisking slowly, incorporating a little bit of the flour mixture in at a time.
  5. Keep mixing with the fork until the dough is stiff. It will be crumbly at the point.
  6. Use your hands now and continue mixing until it forms a ball. If it seems really dry, you can sprinkle a little water into the bowl, but do it sparingly, a little at a time. You don't want the dough to be too wet.
  7. At this point, cut the dough into four equal pieces.
  8. Here’s where you really get to use your muscle. Knead each piece of dough for about 4 to 6 minutes until it forms a soft ball, similar to the texture of Play-Doh. If it seems too dry while your kneading, you can dip you fingertips into water, but do so sparingly.
  9. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 15 minutes.
  10. Now it’s time to roll the pasta dough out.. Take one piece of the dough and cut it in half. Then flatten it out enough so that it will pass through the pasta maker.
  11. Start with the pasta maker set at the highest number. Roll the dough through, folding over and rolling again if necessary. As it starts to form a rectangle, keep running it through at a lower number each time until you have a long thin piece of dough.
  12. Take the pasta maker down to the number one setting and the pasta will be perfect.
  13. Now it’s time to cut the pasta. Put the cutting attachment on your pasta maker and run the pasta through that on the fettuccine setting.
  14. Then either hang pasta on a drying rack or put it on a sheet pan in a single layer and sprinkle it lightly with flour.
  15. Allow to dry for at least 30 minutes.
  16. To cook, add it to boiling, salted water and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes until tender. Serve with your favorite sauce or try this pasta sauce

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 240Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 327mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 2gSugar: 0gProtein: 9g

 

 

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Mario C.

Monday 19th of March 2018

Hello Lisa, thank you for showing us how to make pasta, seems very easy. I am going to try your recipe pretty soon. I had made home pasta in the past but I noticed that after a few hours my pasta becomes very brittle and breaks easily, it is not like the one I see at the store, how can I keep the pasta from becoming so brittle? Thank you.

Lisa

Monday 19th of March 2018

Homemade pasta does tend to be more fragile than store bought. I wouldn’t wait for more than a couple of hours after making the pasta to cook it and then you just need to be careful when you handle the dry pasta.

Lisa

Monday 11th of February 2013

Catherine ~ I got my dryer years ago as a gift. But I would think you could find one at any store that sells pasta makers. Maybe Bed, Bath and Beyond or William Sonoma?

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