Fresh Pasta Dough
This homemade pasta dough is the foundation of so many simple, beautiful meals. Made with just flour, eggs and bit of olive oil, it’s a true testament to the power of pure, simple ingredients. Making homemade pasta takes a bit of practice, but the result of your effort will be well worth it.
The recipe(s) in this post have been adapted from my personal pasta bible; Flour + Water: Pasta. In this comprehensive cookbook Chef Thomas McNaughton generously shares his knowledge, techniques and recipes for creating beautiful pasta dishes. The recipes come from his acclaimed Italian restaurant Flour + Water in San Francisco, California – a must visit if you happen to find yourself in the area.
Making fresh pasta at home is a practice of patiences. I would know because in the last few weeks I’ve made about 30+ batches of pasta dough in preparation for this post. My number one, top tip for making beautiful homemade pasta: embrace the ritual.
Making homemade pasta is the perfect weekend cooking project. Not because it’s terribly labor intensive or time consuming – more so because it’s a slow, meditative process. The more care you put in, the more delicious your pasta will be. It may seem daunting at first, but every time you make pasta from scratch you will get better and better at it and the routine of it will become easier and more intuitive.
This recipe is really two recipes in one; Standard Egg Dough and Stuffed Pasta Dough. Both doughs are made the same way but the ingredients, the eggs specifically, vary slightly.
- Standard Egg Dough is made with only egg yolks. This is the dough you would use to make most pasta shapes, for example; tagliatelle, spaghetti, fettuccine, pappardelle etc.
- Stuffed Pasta Dough is made with both egg yolks and whole eggs. This is the dough you would use to make any type of stuffed or filled pasta, for example; ravioli, tortellini, agnolotti, mezzelune.
Note: You’ll notice this recipe is listed by weight (grams) rather than volume measurements, so you’ll need a kitchen scale. Any basic culinary scale will do. Why is this recipe listed by weight? Weighing out ingredients provides a more accurate measurement leading to more consistent results every time. It’s also easier and less messy to weigh out your ingredients – I promise!
Ingredients You’ll Need:
To make fresh pasta dough you will need: “00” flour, eggs, salt and olive oil.
*See recipe card for additional notes and ingredient substitutions.*
Note: “00” (double “O” or zero-zero) flour is a finely milled, powdery Italian flour. It’s considered the gold standard for making pasta and pizza dough.
How to Make Pasta Dough:
Step 1. Mixing and Kneading
Pasta dough is tough and dense. I recommend mixing and kneading in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. The stand mixer does a great job and will save your arms and back from unnecessary fatigue.
Step 2. Resting
Resting the kneaded dough is a necessary step to allow the dough time to hydrate and the gluten structure to relax which will make the rolling process easier. Rest the dough at room temperature for 30-60 minutes or in the refrigerator overnight. Pasta dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Any longer than 24 hours and it it will start to oxidize and turn an unpleasant brownish green color – technically still fine to eat but not very attractive.
Step 3. Rolling
Once the dough is rested it’s ready to be rolled. If your dough was rested in the refrigerator, allow it to come to room temperature before rolling.
Common Pasta Dough Mishaps and Fixes:
- Dough is too dry or crumbly to knead: if the mixture is too dry to form a ball add water, 1-teaspoon at a time until the dough comes together.
- Dough is too wet/sticky: add more flour, 1- tablespoon at a time until dough is no longer sticky.
- Dough is tough and difficult to work with: your dough needs to rest longer. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let rest for another 15-20 minutes at room temperature.
- Pasta crumbles when cooked: if your pasta is breaking apart in the water as it cooks it a sign the dough was under-kneaded.
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Fresh Pasta Dough
Ingredients
Standard Egg Dough: tagliatelle, spaghetti, fettuccine, pappardelle
- 360 grams "00" flour
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- 300 grams egg yolks - about 18-20 yolks
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
Stuffed Pasta Dough: ravioli, agnolotti, mezzelune
- 360 grams "00" flour
- 100 grams whole eggs - about 2 large eggs
- 90 grams egg yolks - about 5-6 yolks
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Mixing and Kneading: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the flour, eggs, salt and olive oil. If the mixture is too dry to form a ball add water, 1-teaspoon at a time until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes. When it's ready it will be smooth and firm, like modeling clay. Note: unlike bread dough, pasta dough is almost impossible to over-knead, if you're unsure if it's ready give it a few more minutes.
- Resting: Turn the dough out onto a clean kitchen counter, it doesn't always come together neatly in one uniform ball and thats okay, it will come together as it rests. Knead the dough a few times with your hands and form it into a disk shape. The dough will be dense and tough at first but will soften as it rests. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Once it's rested and at room temperature it's ready to roll.
Notes
- “00” Flour – (double “O” or zero-zero) flour is a finely milled, powdery Italian flour. It’s considered the gold standard for making pasta and pizza dough.
- Eggs – use the best quality eggs you can find. Local to you and pasture raised, ideally.
- Dough is too dry or crumbly to knead: If the mixture is too dry to form a ball add water, 1-teaspoon at a time until the dough comes together.
- Dough is too wet/sticky: add more flour, 1- tablespoons at a time until dough is no longer sticky.
- Dough is tough and difficult to work with: Your dough needs to rest longer. Wrap it up in plastic wrap and let rest for another 15-20 minutes at room temperature.
- Pasta crumbles when cooked: if your pasta is breaking apart in the water as it cooks it a sign the dough was under-kneaded.
- Pasta dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Any longer than 24 hours and it it will start to oxidize and turn an unpleasant brownish green color – technically still fine to eat but not very pretty.
Thank you for sharing this recipe