How to make Fresh Homemade Pasta

If you have flour, eggs, salt and oil, you can make homemade pasta and...  it's a lot easier than you think.

Making homemade pasta at home is easy with this 4 ingredient recipe. The thought of making your own pasta can be a bit intimidating at first, but the whole process is a lot easier than you think. I am so excited to have finally checked off pasta making from my to-do list. The only negative thing I have to say about making your own pasta is ......... that once you start it can be quite addictive. Not only to make but also once you get your first taste of fresh, homemade pasta you won't go back to store-bought.   

Fresh homemade pasta is so much fun to make, and the creative possibilities are endless. Now that I have the basics down, I can't wait to experiment with different pasta shapes, flavors, lasagna noodles and homemade ravioli. I prefer all-purpose or pizza flour to make my pasta, but pastry flour, "00" Italian flour and semolina can also be used. If you choose pastry flour, it can be hard to find in the grocery store, but can be purchased online.

When I make homemade pasta, I normally make the pasta dough in a bowl and incorporate the flour into the eggs slowly. If you have a regular stand mixer, you can also make the dough in that. I normally do this when I am doubling or tripling the recipe to make a large batch of pasta. For this method, just add the eggs into the stand mixer bowl and mix them with the dough hook - and start adding the flour a little at a time until it mixes into a smooth dough. 

One of the most important steps in pasta making is letting the dough rest before shaping. By letting the dough rest at room temperature, it relaxes the gluten and lets the flour fully hydrate, making the dough more pliable and easier to roll out into thin pasta sheets without tearing, so do not skip this step. 

I'm not going to go into long-drawn-out process on making pasta because that can get confusing. Really, you just need to know the basics and remember practice makes perfect, and it does get easier each time you do it. Let's get started!!! 

This is what you will need to make homemade pasta:

Ingredients: 

• 🍚Flour - all purpose, pizza, "00" Italian, pastry or semolina flour
• 🧂  Salt - just a bit
• 🥚 Eggs - room temperature is best 
• 🧴  Oil - I use olive or avocado oil 

Equipment:

• 🥣 Bowl - to mix the pasta dough
• 🍴   Fork - to whisk the flour into the eggs
• 🍝 Manual Pasta Maker - to roll and cut the pasta 
• 🍝 Kitchen Aid Pasta Maker Attachment - to roll and cut the pasta
• 🔪 Rolling Pin, Knife or Pasta Cutter Tool  - if you roll and cut the pasta out by hand
• 💗 Pasta Drying Rack - if drying the pasta for long-term storage 

To get started combine flour and salt in a medium bowl and make a well in the center.

Add the eggs and oil. Using a fork lightly beat and break up the eggs.

Slowly incorporate the flour into the beaten eggs.

Keep incorporating the flour from the sides of the bowl into the egg mixture until you have a smooth paste.  

Keep incorporating the flour into the egg mixture until a stiff dough forms. Transfer the dough ball to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until it is smooth (about 4-5 minutes). 

The dough should NOT be sticky. When you press the dough it should not bounce back. After you make the dough, it must rest a bit at room temperature. 

Wrap the dough in a piece of plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. 

Un-wrap the dough and flatten into a disc. Then cut the dough into 4 equal pieces

Feed one of the dough pieces through the pasta maker on the widest setting (re-wrap the remaining pieces so they don’t dry out).Feed the dough through the pasta maker on the widest setting.  

Once the sheet comes out, fold it into thirds (see photo above). This will keep the sides of the dough straight instead of round. Feed the dough through the rollers again a couple more times on the widest setting. 

Then continue to feed the dough through the pasta maker rollers and gradually reduce the settings until the pasta reaches your desired thickness (you are aiming to faintly see your hand through the dough). If the dough starts to get sticky when passing through the rollers, just stop and lightly dust each side with flour and run through the machine again.

If the dough gets too long to handle, just cut it in half using a knife. Let your pasta sheet dry out for about 30 minutes before cutting to prevent the dough from sticking in the pasta machine. 

Now it is time to run your pasta through the pasta cutter attachment. Feed your pasta sheets through the attachment to create desired shape. Toss the shaped pasta with flour and transfer to a pasta drying rack or swirl them into pasta "nests" and lay them on a floured surface to dry for 30 minutes before using. 

If you would like to dry your pasta for long term storage it will need to dry for at least 48 hours. 

Once dry store the pasta in plastic containers with a lid or in storage bags. 

You can also freeze the pasta after you form them into nests. Just place the pasta nests on a covered baking sheet and freezer until solid. 

 

Remove pasta nests and store in large freezer bags. Label, date and freeze.

If you don't have a pasta drying rack you can also dry the pasta on a clean bed sheet (the Amish way) in a spare room. Just spread out the floured pasta and let dry for 48 hours. If you are worried about dust getting on your pasta cover with a top sheet. 

You can also store you pasta in bags with moisture absorbers

I store mine in bags and then place the bags in a 5 gallon covered bucket. 

Now that you know the basics, I hope you will give pasta making a try. 

For more easy - everyday recipes visit the Mommy's Kitchen Recipe Box.