Making pasta from scratch is a simple and timeless kitchen skill that uses just 2 ingredients with no special equipment needed. It's incredibly satisfying to make and unlike store-bought pasta, has a fresh, delicate texture and richness that elevates any dish. This recipe creates the pasta dough from which you can create any pasta shape you like, the easiest ones to create without any special tools are the ribboned pasta (tagliatelle, fettuccine, pappardelle etc.) which I'll detail in the method below here.
Time to prepare : 20 minutes
Time to chill : 30 minutes
Time to cook : 2 - 3 minutes
Servings : 6
Ingredients
420g plain or 00 flour*
4 large eggs*
Method
Pasta dough
Tip the flour onto a large, clean surface or silicone mat*. Create a large 'well' in the centre of the flour mound.
Crack the eggs into the 'well' and use a fork to gently start to whisk the eggs in with the flour, working from the outside in.
Once you can no longer whisk the egg mixture into the flour with the fork, continue to bring the dough together using clean hands until all of the flour has been absorbed. This should take about 5 minutes and can be quite messy but don't worry - it's well worth it! If your dough is too try, you can use a little bit of water (gradually adding 1/2 tbsp at a time) until the dough comes together into a ball and there's no more dry flour remaining. You don't want a sticky dough, so be careful not to add too much extra liquid.
Knead the dough with your palms for 3 - 4 minutes until it forms a smooth dough ball, it's okay if there are cracks in the dough.
Wrap the dough ball in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
Rolling and cutting
Remove the dough from the fridge and cut the dough into 4 equal parts, working with 1 segment at a time. Cover the remaining segments with the cling film and a tea towel to stop them from drying out.
Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin and begin to roll your dough out, flipping it over every few rolls. Aim for a large rectangle shape that's as thin as you can possibly make it, like a sheet of paper.
Trim off any wonky or frayed edges and then fold the dough over itself several times. Use a sharp knife to cut the folded dough into strips, between 1/4" thick and 1" thick depending on what pasta you are making.
Lightly flour your fingers and then unravel the cut pasta to reveal the fresh strips.
Repeat with the remaining segments, creating small 'nests' with the cut strips and placing it on a clean baking sheet or cooling rack before cooking or storing.
Cooking and storing
You can cook your fresh pasta straight away. Place in a large saucepan of salted boiling water, it should take 2 - 3 minutes to cook depending on the thickness of the pasta strips. The pasta will float to the surface when it's ready.
If you're planning on using your pasta within 24 hours, you can wrap the tray of pasta nests with cling film and keep in the fridge until ready to cook.
The best way to store fresh pasta is to freeze it. 'Flash' freeze the pasta nests on the baking sheet for about 1 hour, uncovered in the freezer until the nests firm up. Then transfer them into a ziplock bag and use within 6 weeks. No need to defrost, cook them straight from frozen.
Nutritional Information
(per serving)
290 calories
4g fat, 50g carbs, 13g protein
Good to know/storage
'00' flour is plain flour that has been ground extremely fine, making it perfect for delicate doughs such as pasta or pizza. You can find it in most supermarkets but if you don't have it, regular plain flour is perfectly fine to use.
Use 4 large or 5 small eggs, depending on the size of your eggs you might need to add a splash more liquid (water) but a little goes a long way and you can always add more but you can't take it away - so add it gradually 1/2 tbsp at a time. The dough should be on the drier side as appose to sticky, a few cracks in the dough surface is fine.
Silicone mats are a great non-stick surface for pastry and dough work, stopping the dough from sticking to the worktop surface and making it a lot easier to clean up. I use mine every time I'm working with pastry, pasta or dough and it's one of my favourite kitchen tools. I love and use this one.
Fresh pasta weighs more than dried pasta, I use 120g fresh pasta per person.