Homemade Fresh Pasta
There are few things more satisfying in cooking than making pasta from scratch. Just eggs and flour, transformed by kneading and resting into sheets of silky dough that cook in 2 minutes and taste like nothing you can buy from a box. This is the definitive fresh pasta recipe — no stand mixer required.
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Fresh pasta dough is made from two ingredients: flour and eggs. The ratio and the type of flour determine the texture. The classic Northern Italian ratio is 100g flour to 1 large egg. This produces a firm, silky, golden dough that rolls beautifully and holds up to bold sauces. Use Tipo "00" flour if you can find it — it's finely milled, producing a smoother texture. All-purpose works perfectly as a substitute.
The most important step is the rest. After kneading, the gluten in the dough is tight and elastic — it will spring back when you try to roll it. The 30-minute rest at room temperature relaxes the gluten, making the dough much easier to roll thin without it snapping back. Don't skip the rest. Use it to prep your sauce.
Ingredients
- 300g (2½ cups) Tipo "00" flour (or all-purpose flour), plus more for dusting
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- Pinch of fine salt
- Semolina flour for dusting the cut pasta
Instructions
- Make the well. Mound the flour on a clean work surface and make a well in the center large enough to hold the eggs. Add eggs, olive oil, and salt to the well.
- Incorporate the flour. Using a fork, beat the eggs while gradually incorporating flour from the inner walls of the well. Work carefully to avoid breaking the flour walls until the mixture becomes thick enough to handle. Switch to your hands and begin incorporating the remaining flour.
- Knead the dough. Knead by pushing the dough away from you with the heel of your hand, folding it back, rotating, and repeating. Knead for 8–10 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic, and no longer sticky. It should feel like smooth play dough. If it's too sticky, add a little flour. If too dry and crumbly, add a few drops of water.
- Rest the dough. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This is not optional — it relaxes the gluten and makes rolling dramatically easier.
- Roll the dough. Divide into 4 portions (cover remaining portions while working). On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin or pasta machine to roll as thin as possible (about 1–2mm). For a pasta machine, start on the widest setting and work down to setting 5 or 6, flouring lightly between passes.
- Cut the pasta. For fettuccine: dust the sheet with semolina, fold loosely into thirds, and cut into ½ cm strips. Unfurl and toss in semolina to prevent sticking. For pappardelle: cut into 2 cm wide strips. Nest into portions on a semolina-dusted tray.
- Cook immediately or dry. Fresh pasta cooks in just 2–3 minutes in heavily salted boiling water. It's done when it floats and still has a slight bite. Reserve pasta water before draining. Alternatively, dry on a pasta rack for 30–60 minutes before cooking.
- Finish in sauce. Add freshly cooked pasta directly to your warm sauce. Toss over low heat with a splash of pasta water to emulsify the sauce and coat every strand.
Chef's Pro Tips
- Room temperature eggs incorporate more easily than cold eggs straight from the fridge.
- The dough is ready when you can poke it and the impression slowly bounces back. Too much spring = needs more kneading.
- Fresh pasta freezes beautifully. Portion into nests, freeze on a tray, then transfer to a freezer bag. Cook from frozen — add 1 extra minute.
- Pair fresh egg pasta with rich, buttery sauces — it's too delicate for heavy tomato sauces. Cacio e pepe, carbonara, brown butter and sage, or a simple parmesan cream are all perfect.
- For a more intensely yellow dough, use 2 whole eggs + 2 extra yolks instead of 3 whole eggs.