Fresh Homemade Pasta

It’s amazing how long I went in my life just eating dried pasta. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fast, easy, and especially great for one pot dishes where you cook the pasta directly in the sauce. But once I realized how easy (and fun!) it actually is to make fresh homemade pasta, I never looked back!

My love affair with fresh pasta started when studying abroad in Rome. I obviously ate a lot of pasta there, but I also had an awesome Italian teacher who would give us her family recipes passed down through the generations (as long as we could figure out what she was saying in Italian!). One of those recipes was for fresh pasta.

Since then, I’ve tinkered with ratios and techniques and finally found what I think to be the perfect pasta recipe. It’s so easy and makes for a deliciously chewy texture. Everyone has their own method though, so I recommend playing around once you’ve gotten the general process down.

Once you’ve learned the basics, the possibilities are endless! Make pasta together for a fun date night, or invite some girlfriends over for a wine and pasta night. Do a simple spaghetti bolognese, a tagliatelle for ragu, or even sheets of pasta for butternut squash ravioli. Whatever you choose, it will be way more fun than dried pasta.

Step 1: Mix the Dough

Here’s my number 1 tip for fresh homemade pasta: use a food processor to mix pasta dough! The Italians may roll over in their graves hearing me say that, but it really does incorporate the flour and wet ingredients together so much better than by hand. If you don’t have a food processor, you can certainly go that route though. Just make a little well in the middle of the flour to add your ingredients and slowly whisk it all together.

With a food processor, simply add all of your ingredients and pulse together until the mixture looks like large crumbs. If it looks too dry, add a little bit more olive oil, and if it’s too dry then a couple pinches more flour.

Spill the mixture out and start kneading it together until it forms a ball. You don’t want to over-knead the dough, but make sure everything is incorporated together. Wrap your dough ball in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temp for 30 minutes or in the fridge for up to 8 hours.

Step 2: Roll Out Your Pasta

My second most important tip for fresh homemade pasta: buy a pasta roller! You can certainly roll the dough out by hand with a rolling pin, but it is pretty exhausting to get it as thin as you need it (trust me, I tried it once). If you plan on making fresh pasta more than once, the investment in a pasta roller like this one is worth it.

Take your dough out of the fridge and cut into fourths. Squish one of the pieces down flat with your hand and start feeding it through the roller at the widest setting. Now it’s time to laminate the dough. Lamination is done by folding the dough onto itself (you could do it in half or in thirds), and then feeding it through the widest setting again. It helps with the final texture of the pasta and also helps patch up any pesky holes. I usually do this about 3 times.

Then you can start narrowing the setting on your roller one by one, rolling the sheet through each time. When you stop depends on the noodle you’re making. I usually go to the second narrowest setting for a smaller noodle like spaghetti, but down to the narrowest setting for a bigger noodle like fettuccine, tagliatelle or ravioli. Lay out each sheet and sprinkle both sides with flour so they don’t stick.

Step 3: Cut the Noodles

Most pasta rollers come with a cutting attachment for spaghetti and/or fettuccine, so simply roll each sheet through the attachment. If you’re doing a larger noodle like tagliatelle or pappardelle though, you’ll probably need to do this by hand. Starting on the short side of the sheet, roll it up to be a loose flat cylinder. Cut the cylinders crosswise at your desired noodle size. I usually trim off the ends so you have clean lines on all your noodles.

Sprinkle each cut sheet of pasta with flour and swirl them together into little nests to rest until you’re ready to cook.

Step 4: Cook the Noodles

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and season generously with salt. Add fresh pasta to the water and stir to make sure the noodles aren’t sticking together. Fresh pasta cooks very quickly compared to dry, so watch it closely and drain the noodles once they look slightly thickened. Cooking time depends on how big your noodles are, but it’s typically 2-3 minutes max.

Add to your favorite sauce, pour a glass of wine, and enjoy!

Looking for a good pasta recipe to try out your homemade noodles with? Try my recipe for Duck Ragu!

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