Homemade Pasta

Homemade Pasta is not only fun and easy recipe to make in your own kitchen, but nothing compares to the taste and texture.

Whether you want to knead and cut the dough by hand, or you use a Kitchenaid stand mixer to mix and a roller to flatten and cut, I'll share all of my homemade pasta tips & tricks!

Why this recipe works:

Homemade Pasta is something everyone should make at least once in their lifetime. I'm sure 99% of us cook the basic dried pasta that comes in a box. There's no harm in that. I do it myself!

This recipe is easy to follow, even for beginner cooks. The pasta not only tastes great, but the texture is absolutely perfect - soft with a "bite".

I've taken a few cooking classes where we made homemade pasta and I have the technique down! Don't be intimidated by the process.

I will walk you through it, step by step, and share as many tips and tricks as I can.

Think you can't make homemade pasta because you don't have a stand mixer or a pasta roller? Wrong.

They've obviously been making it in Italy without any fancy tools for as long as pasta has been around. But like with any job, the right tools make it easier.

Ingredients needed:

My pasta dough consists of olive oil, water, eggs, and equal parts all-purpose flour and semolina flour. I've made pasta using only all-purpose flour before and thought it was too doughy.

The semolina gives the pasta more bite. It adds to the taste and the texture.

You can, of course, only use semolina, but I find that the combination of the two flours yields a dough that is easy to work with and tastes great.

Here's how to make it:

1. You will combine all of the ingredients. This can be done on a clean surface (photos 1 & 2) or you can combine them in the bowl of your stand mixer.
2. Then you have to knead the dough (photo 3). Next, you'll just need to cover your dough, either with plastic wrap or a towel, and let it rest at least 30 minutes. This is what allows the gluten to form which will give your pasta the chew it needs.
3. Then, after a rest period, you will then roll it out by folding it into thirds for smooth edges (photo 4) and then continuing to roller thinner and thinner (photo 5).
4. Once the sheet of pasta is at your desired thickness, you can cut it into individual noodles (photo 6).

After the pasta is made:

Once the pasta is rolled and cut, you then have three choices.

• You can throw it in a pot of salted boiling water for a few minutes to eat it.
• If you don't plan on eating all of it right away, you can store it in an air tight container in the refrigerator or the freezer.
• Or, finally, you can hang your pasta on a drying rack.

Recipe tips for success:

1. To ensure your pasta dough has been kneaded enough, stick your knuckle into the dough. It should slowly push back. If you create an indentation and the dough just stays, you need to continue kneading.
2. You know the dough is ready when there is elasticity.
3. You can most certainly knead the dough by hand, but it is a physically demanding process that will work your biceps for at least ten minutes. Pasta dough is not as soft as bread dough, so you'd be in for a workout.
4. If you have a stand mixer, you can easily knead the dough with the dough hook. If not, knead the dough by hand on a well floured surface.

How to you make it without a machine or pasta roller:

I'm not going to lie. I highly recommend using a pasta roller, but I'll explain how to do it by hand in case you don't have one.

1. To roll out pasta by hand, simply divide the dough into chunks. Using a dough cutter will make this step even easier.
2. Ensure you're working with enough all-purpose flour on your surface and rolling pin to keep things from sticking. Roll out the dough much like you would a pie crust. The goal, however, is to create long sheets that are about an ⅛ inch thick.
3. Once the sheets are rolled out into long and thin sheets, you can slice the dough into noodles. I recommend using a clean straight edge, like a ruler, otherwise you might get very funny shaped pasta.

Tips for using a pasta roller:

The same process works whether you use a hand roller or the KitchenAid attachment. I actually have the Atlas hand roller and highly recommend it. There's just something fun about cranking the pasta through manually.

• Working with small pieces of well-floured dough, send through the roller on the widest setting. Fold the dough into thirds and send it back through with the folded ends on the sides. Do this one more time and send it through the widest setting. The reason you do this is to get a pasta sheet with straight edges so there's little waste when you cut.
• Continue to work the dough through the roller, rotating the dial each time to make the pasta sheet thinner and thinner. Ensure your dough always has enough flour so that it doesn't stick to your roller.
• I usually go to the thickness setting of 5, but you can choose how thick or how thin you want your pasta.
• Once you have your sheet, you can then make your own ravioli or lasagna. Again, having the right tools helps, so if you're making ravioli I recommend using a ravioli press. If you plan to cut spaghetti or linguine noodles, send the pasta through the cutting side.
• Ensure each of the noodles are well covered in flour so they don't stick. You can't go overboard here because it will all come off when you cook the pasta.

Recipes to serve with homemade pasta:

• Think about how delicious some basil meatballs with a rich homemade pasta sauce would taste on top of this pasta?
• Fettucine Alfredo made with homemade pasta and a rich garlic infused homemade Alfredo sauce. Yes please.
• How about some meat and cheese ravioli or butternut squash ravioli in a sage brown butter sauce? Yep - I made that with my homemade pasta.
• Can you imagine how much better a tender pork marsala would taste over it?  You get the idea.

Finally, if you enjoy making things like homemade pasta, you'll surely enjoy making homemade gnocchi.

Recipe video below:

Don't be intimidated. It really is easy to make.

If you have any questions in the meantime, don't hesitate to ask in the comments below!

Homemade Pasta

Homemade Pasta is not only fun and easy recipe to make in your own kitchen, but nothing compares to the taste and texture of fresh homemade pasta. Whether you want to knead and cut the dough by hand, or you use a kitchenaid to mix and a roller to flatten and cut, I'll share all of my homemade pasta tips & tricks!

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CLICK TO PLAY RECIPE VIDEO

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Scale: 12 servings

Recipe Created By: Krissy Allori

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 ½ cups Semolina Pasta Flour
• ▢ 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 4 eggs (room temperature and slightly beaten)
• ▢ 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
• ▢ 4 tablespoons Water
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Homemade pasta can either be made by hand or in a stand mixer.

• If making by hand: Combine semolina, flour, beaten eggs, water, oil, and salt. Mix to make a stiff dough. Knead 10 minutes by hand.
• If using a stand mixer, combine semolina, flour, beaten eggs, water, salt and oil in stand mixer bowl. Knead on medium speed with a dough hook.
• If dough is too sticky, sprinkle on additional Semolina until it comes together. If dough is too dry, sprinkle water until you get the right consistency. You'll want to knead until the dough is elastic. Slice into the dough with a paring knife; if you see lots of air bubbles, keep kneading. The dough is kneaded when it forms a smooth elastic ball and has very few air bubbles when cut. Test by pressing your knuckle into the dough; if it starts to bounce back then it's ready.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap or in a covered bowl and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

Rolling and cutting the dough:

• On a lightly floured surface roll out to desired thickness and cut as desired. Alternatively, cut into small chunks, flour, and roll through pasta roller. For this process, send through on thickness of 0. Fold in thirds and rotate so that straight edges are on the side and send it through again. Fold in thirds once more, again with straight edges on sides, and then send it through thickness 0 for a third pass. Then, change thickness to 1 and send dough through once. Continue process stepping through thicknesses 2, 3, 4 and end with 5. Give dough sheet one last dip in flour and then run it through the fettucine cutting side.
• You can dredge pasta in flour to ensure it doesn't stick together. Either set on cookie sheet until ready to cook or dry pasta on a drying rack.
• To cook, bring a large pot of heavily-salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender (approximately 3 - 5 minutes). When making lasagna, no need to boil noodles. Add directly to your recipe. 

Notes

Tips for using a pasta roller:

The same process works whether you use a hand roller or the KitchenAid attachment. I actually have the Atlas hand roller and highly recommend it. There's just something fun about cranking the pasta through manually.

• Working with small pieces of well-floured dough, send through the roller on the widest setting. Fold the dough into thirds and send it back through with the folded ends on the sides. Do this one more time and send it through the widest setting. The reason you do this is to get a pasta sheet with straight edges so there's little waste when you cut.
• Continue to work the dough through the roller, rotating the dial each time to make the pasta sheet thinner and thinner. Ensure your dough always has enough flour so that it doesn't stick to your roller.
• I usually go to the thickness setting of 5, but you can choose how thick or how thin you want your pasta.
• Once you have your sheet, you can then make your own ravioli or lasagna. Again, having the right tools helps, so if you're making ravioli I recommend using a ravioli press. If you plan to cut spaghetti or linguine noodles, send the pasta through the cutting side.
• Ensure each of the noodles are well covered in flour so they don't stick. You can't go overboard here because it will all come off when you cook the pasta.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Calories: 194kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 215mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 1g | Vitamin A: 80IU | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1.9mg

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This post was originally created in February 2018 and has been updated with process photos, helpful information, and cooking tips. Don't worry - I didn't change the recipe!