How to Make Pasta

Guide Note Easy and fun to make, fresh pasta is a treat that is sure to add a unique twist to your next Italian-themed dinner party or special family meal. How to Make Pasta Guide will walk you through all the steps you need to create fresh, delicious pasta. Just a few ingredients and a couple kitchen tools are all you need.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Step 1: Gather Ingredients and Supplies
• Step 2: Mix the Dough
• Step 3: Knead the Dough
• Step 4: Cut out the Pasta
• Step 5: Cook the Pasta
• Conclusion
• References

Pasta Tips

1. Use the freshest, best quality eggs possible.
2. You can use semolina flour if you like: it is a high-quality flour that is often used in making pasta.
3. You can also add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pasta dough.
4. When rolling out pasta, keep all surface areas floured so the pasta does not stick.
5. Cook pasta in a large stock pot to allow the pasta plenty of room.

• by MelissaC

Introduction

• Pasta has a long and somewhat unclear history. While legend holds that Marco Polo brought the basic idea of pasta-making from China to Europe, people have apparently enjoyed pasta long before the 12th century.¹ Today, pasta is part of numerous cuisines, and scores of people across the world enjoy it in its many wonderful forms from lasagna to ramen. While grocery stores and food specialty shops contain many types of prepared pasta, making your own fresh pasta is delicious and easy. This guide to How to Make Pasta will help you create your own pasta noodles, perfect for serving with your favorite marinara or Alfredo sauce.

Step 1: Gather Ingredients and Supplies

• Pasta recipes generally call for only three ingredients: eggs, flour and salt. A little water is added if the dough is too dry.² While many pasta recipes instruct you to use white flour, semolina flour is very popular for pasta dough.³ For a healthy alternative, wheat flour can be substituted for white flour.⁴ There are also gluten-free pasta dough recipes for people with allergies.⁵

• Pasta dough is relatively easy to make, but rolling out and shaping the pasta noodles is more complex. A pasta machine gives even, consistent results, but you can roll the noodles out and shape by hand if you don't have a machine.^{6 7}
  

  (Creative Commons photo by Patricia Turo)
  This Guide will show you how to make pasta both with and without the assistance of a pasta machine.

Ingredients

• 3 cups of Flour
• 3 Eggs
• a pinch of Salt

Equipment

• Fork
• Mixing Spoon
• Measuring Cups
• Food Processor (optional)
• Rolling Pin or a Pasta Machine

Step 2: Mix the Dough

• You can mix the pasta dough together in a food processor or a mixer with the dough hook attached if you like.² However, these devices are not crucial to making pasta dough. Handmaking pasta dough is not difficult. If you know how to make bread, you will find that making pasta is a snap.

Making the Dough by Hand

1. Pile the flour in a mound on the countertop.
   • -Don't want a messy countertop? Use a bowl.
2. Make a deep well in the center of the flour.⁸
3. Break the eggs into this well.⁹
4. Add the salt.
5. With the fork, gently start pushing flour into the eggs and mixing them together so that the eggs and flour blend.¹⁰
6. Mix together until the dough forms a firm, solid ball that is resilient.¹⁰
7. The dough should be in a solid, firm ball that is not sticky. Add more flour if it is too wet.

• 
  
  
• YouTube: Fresh Pasta (Time: 6:07)

Making the Dough By Machine

1. Put the flour and salt in the food processor or mixer with a dough hook attached.
2. Beat the eggs together.
3. Add eggs and process the dough until it forms a ball that leaves the side of the container.²

• 
  
  
• YouTube: Making Pasta Dough (Time: 1:32)

Step 3: Knead the Dough

• Kneading is important to pasta because kneading breaks down the gluten in the flour.¹¹ Kneading gives pasta dough the proper texture, so be sure not to skip it! Use the same kneading method you would for bread and work the dough until it is satiny and smooth.

1. Knead this dough about eight minutes or so.¹²
2. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap.
3. Let it sit for at least thirty minutes to allow the gluten to develop.⁸

Step 4: Cut out the Pasta

• A pasta machine will allow you to roll the pasta out evenly and easily. However, people in past centuries have made pasta without the assistance of a machine, so it is not vital that you have one. Do make sure to cut the pasta evenly so that your batch of pasta cooks consistently.

Cutting Out by Hand

1. 

   (Creative Commons photo by Glen MacLarty)
   Sprinkle flour on a clean counter and roll the pasta dough out very thin.⁹
2. When the pasta is 1/8 an inch thick, it is ready to be cut out.¹³
3. Cut the pasta into thin strips or into the desired shape.
4. To make fettuccine, roll the dough up like a jelly roll, then cut off 1/4 inch strips of dough.⁹

Using a Pasta Machine

1. Separate the dough into quarters and flatten them out into a sheet that is narrower than the pasta roller.¹⁴
2. Dust the pasta machine rollers with flour, making sure to coat on all sides.⁷
3. Set the pasta machine on its widest setting.
4. Feed the pasta through the machine.¹⁵ When it comes out, make sure it does not stick together.
5. Fold the pasta in thirds as if you were folding up a letter.²
6. Pass the pasta through the machine several times, folding it after each pass.²
7. Turn the machine to a thinner setting and pass the dough through a few times.⁹
8. Keep turning the machine down to a thinner setting and passing the pasta through until it is the desired thickness.
9. Make sure to cut the noodles out before the pasta starts drying¹⁴
10. You may wish to purchase a pasta machine attachment which will help you cut out fettuccine, lasagna and other types of pasta more evenly and effectively.¹⁶

Step 5: Cook the Pasta

• It is important to cook pasta in plenty of water. A quarter pound of pasta should be boiled in at least a quart of water.¹⁷ After being cooked, fresh pasta will not be as firm as cooked dried pasta, so cook it until it is tender and to your liking.¹⁸ Fresh pasta cooks much more rapidly than dried pasta, so you need to supervise it carefully while it is boiling.¹⁹

1. Bring four quarts of lightly salted water to boil.
2. When the water has boiled, add the noodles.
3. It usually takes only four minutes or less for fresh pasta to cook, so don't walk away from it.¹⁸
4. A minute or so after the pasta has risen to the top of the water, test a piece to see if it has cooked to your liking.¹⁹
5. Drain pasta and serve with your favorite sauce.

Variations

1. Wheat pasta is a healthy alternative to white flour pasta.²⁰
2. To make red pasta, add some tomato paste and cooked mashed carrots.²¹
3. Indulge your appetite for cheese by adding cheese to your pasta dough.²¹
4. For vegans or people with allergies, pasta can be made without eggs.²²
5. Basil, parsley, sage, thyme, mint, tarragon, marjoram, pepper and rosemary mingled together in your pasta dough make for a wonderfully flavorful meal.²³
6. Adding spinach to pasta dough is a classic technique.²⁴

Conclusion

• With this handy How to Make Pasta guide, you won't ever have to face a pasta shortage in your kitchen again. If you forgot to buy dried pasta during your last food shopping trip or you had more guests over for spaghetti than you bargained for, don't worry! Simply reach for some flour and eggs and make a batch of fresh homemade pasta. Watch as ordinary Chicken Alfredo or lasagna come alive with the addition of fresh pasta.²⁵

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References for How to Make Pasta

1. ↑ Brandeis University: Introduction: A Brief Historical Geography of Pasta (August 2008)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} Recipetips.com: Making Homemade Pasta
3. ↑ GourmetSleuth.com: Semolina Flour
4. ↑ RecipeZaar: Whole Wheat Pasta
5. ↑ RecipeZaar: Improved Gluten Free Pasta Recipe
6. ↑ China Trader Online: Pasta Machine
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Allrecipes.com: Making Noodles
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Food Network: Boiled Spaghetti Recipe  
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} Martha Stewart: Fresh Pasta
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Allrecipes.com: Fresh Pasta 
11. ↑ Allrecipes: Fresh Pasta
12. ↑ Epicurious: Fresh Taglierini Pasta
13. ↑ YouTube: Making Homemade Pasta (Time: 2:41)
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Epicurious: Food-Processor Pasta Dough
15. ↑ YouTube: The Real Emilian Fresh Pasta (Time: 9:46)
16. ↑ Amazon.com: Pasta Machines
17. ↑ Allrecipes.com: Pasta Cooking
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1} Recipetips.com: Checking Doneness of Pasta
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} Recipetips.com: Pasta Tips and Techniques
20. ↑ Epicurious: Fresh Egg Pasta
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1} About.com: Flavored Pasta
22. ↑ Instructables: Vegan Pasta
23. ↑ Epicurious: Pasta "Rags" with a Thousand Herbs
24. ↑ Food Network: Spinach Pasta Dough Recipe  
25. ↑ AllRecipes: Chicken Alfredo

More Pasta Recipes

• Epicurious: Fresh Piedmont-Style Pasta Dough
• Epicurious: Pasta Dough for Agnolotti
• Martha Stewart: Pasta Dough
• Cooks.com: Basic Pasta Dough
• Food Network: Pasta Dough for Ravioli  
• Food Network: Spinach Pasta Dough Recipe