Skip the dried pasta and follow this step-by-step guide for fresh homemade pasta that will change how you look at pasta night from now on.
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Easy Homemade Pasta Recipe
When living in Europe, some great friends gave me an Italian pasta maker for Christmas. I haven’t pulled it out since I’ve been in the States. Today, I bought some fresh scallops and visited a farmer’s market, so I decided dinner should be a homemade affair from start to finish.
What I love about making pasta from scratch is that it is not only tender and flavorful but also allows you to experiment with different pasta shapes and even add flavors to it!
This fresh pasta recipe is easy, but the process takes some time. If you don’t have the time or the tools, you can buy fresh pasta at the market and serve my recipe for Scallops Primavera over any size noodle.
Fresh Pasta
Ingredients
- 6 1/2 ounces flour
- 2 eggs
- 2-4 tbsp. olive oil
- 2-4 tbsp. water
- 1 generous pinch of salt
Instructions
- PREP: Sprinkle a little bit of flour on a clean work surface.
- MIX: Place the flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add two eggs and mix with one hand. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and continue to mix. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon water and mix.
- KNEAD: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop. Add salt. Then, alternate between adding oil and water 1 tablespoon at a time, until you have a smooth dough-like consistency.
- REST: Shape the pasta dough into a ball and cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
- CUT: With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1/4-inch slices, which are just a little bigger than pappardelle pasta.
- PASS: Set the pasta maker to position 1 and pass the dough through the flat rollers. Sprinkle the dough with flour and change the thickness of the rollers one step. Pass through again and repeat, until the pasta reaches your desired thickness.
- COOK: Place in a large pot of boiling salted water for 3-5 minutes or until al dente.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients for basic pasta dough
- Flour. Semolina flour or all-purpose flour can be used for this recipe.
- Eggs. Room temperature eggs are imperative here. Otherwise, the cold eggs will shock your dough and make it harder to work with.
- Olive oil
- Water
- Salt
See the full recipe card for servings and a full list of ingredients.
How to make your own fresh pasta
- Prep: Sprinkle a little bit of flour on a clean work surface.
✔️ PRO TIP
Just like with baking, using small amounts of flour on your clean surface will keep the dough from sticking or picking up microscopic debris as you knead it.
- Mix: Place the flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add two eggs and mix with one hand. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and continue to mix. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon water and mix.
- Knead: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop. Add salt. Then, alternate between adding oil and water 1 tablespoon at a time, until you have a smooth dough-like consistency.
- Rest: Shape the pasta dough into a ball, cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap, and let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Cut: With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1/4-inch slices, which are just a little bigger than pappardelle pasta.
- Pass: Set the pasta maker to position 1 and pass the dough through the flat rollers. Sprinkle the dough with flour and change the rollers’ thickness one step. Pass through again and repeat until the pasta reaches your desired thickness.
- Cook: Place in a large pot of boiling salted water for 3-5 minutes or until al dente.
✔️ PRO TIP
You can pass pasta sheets through the pasta machine to make lasagna sheets or layer two sheets of pasta with filling to make homemade ravioli.
How to serve fresh pasta
I love pairing this fresh pasta with Scallops Primavera or my garden-fresh spaghetti sauce, but the best part of making your own pasta is that you can have it any way you like. Pair with your favorite sauce and a little parmesan cheese to make a bowl of perfect pasta just as you like it.
Storage
Fresh homemade pasta dough can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for two or three days. It can also be frozen for several weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pasta is traditionally made with semolina flour due to its lower gluten content, which makes for a less sticky dough. However, you can use all-purpose or whole wheat flour or even a mix in this recipe; it just may affect the amount of kneading and cooking time. Play around with this recipe to find what you like best.
Yes, it’ll just take a little longer and a bit more hard work. Instead of using the pasta machine, you can use a rolling pin and elbow grease to thin out your pasta sheets.
Absolutely, this will save you some time and effort, especially if you have a dough hook attachment.
Hi Christie, this was the first recipe I’ve prepared from your site. I love to cook, and I’m always looking for creative recipes.
I made the Roasted Scallop Primavera for dinner tonight. Yes, it was amazing. Yes, I’ll be making it again. Yes, I’ll be sharing this recipe with my friends, and looking for your other recipes to add to my collection.
I made this recipe exactly as written, but I may have been too heavy-handed with the Tony’s. I like heat more than my husband, so I might have gotten carried away. He ate it, and really liked it, but it was too much heat for him. Next time, I’ll be a little more cautious, knowing that I can add heat at the end with spicy oil just on my portion. Tonight I added Harissa oil, and it was perfect!
Thanks for an awesome recipe!