Fresh Homemade Egg Pasta Dough
This fresh homemade egg pasta dough is an Italian classic made with 00 flour, semolina flour, eggs, salt, and olive oil and will forever change your mind about buying the boxed stuff. Here's how to make it—with or without a machine—and cook it.
Ingredients
- 2 cups “00” flour or unbleached all-purpose, (2 1/4 cups when making by hand)
- 1 tablespoon semolina flour, plus more for dusting the work surface and the dough
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 3 extra-large eggs
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, up to 2 tablespoons, if dry
Instructions
Mix the pasta dough in a food processor
- Put 2 cups “00” flour or unbleached all-purpose, the 1 tablespoon semolina flour, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, and pinch freshly grated nutmeg into the work bowl and pulse briefly to combine.
- Break the 3 extra-large eggs into the work bowl, drizzle in 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, and process the mixture until it forms crumbs the size of small curds. Stop the machine and pinch together a bit of the mixture between your fingertips and roll it around. It should form a soft ball. If the mixture seems dry, drizzle in another tablespoon of oil and pulse briefly. If it seems too wet and sticky, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse briefly.
- Turn the mixture out onto a clean work surface sprinkled lightly with semolina flour and press it together with your hands to form a rough ball.
Knead the dough
- Using the palm of your hand, push the egg pasta dough gently but firmly away from you, and then fold it over toward you. Rotate it a quarter turn, and repeat the pushing and folding motion. Continue kneading in this fashion, using a scraper to dislodge any dough stuck to the work surface. It will begin as a shaggy mass but will eventually turn smooth as you knead it over several minutes. You may not use all of the flour on the work surface.
- When the dough is smooth and silky, form it into a ball and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Prep and roll the dough
- Set up your pasta machine with the rollers on the widest setting (#1 on a standard Marcato Atlas machine). Scatter a little semolina flour on the work surface around the machine and have more on hand for sprinkling the dough.
- Divide the pasta dough into 4 equal pieces. Rewrap 3 pieces and set them aside. Knead the fourth piece briefly on the work surface.
- Then, using a rolling pin or patting it with the heel of your hand, form it into an oval 3 to 4 inches long and about 3 inches wide. Feed the dough through the rollers of the pasta machine, then lay the strip on your work surface. Fold the dough into thirds, as if you were folding a letter, sprinkle with a little semolina, and pass it through the rollers again. Repeat the folding and rolling process a few more times, until the strip of dough is smooth.
- Move the roller setting to the next narrower notch and feed the strip of dough through the setting twice, sprinkling it with a little semolina each time to keep it from sticking. Move the notch to the next setting. Continue to pass the pasta dough through the rollers, twice on each setting, until you have stretched it to the appropriate thickness.
- Once you've stretched the pasta dough (it will be a fairly long ribbon, depending on how thin you've stretched it), lay it out on a semolina-dusted surface (my mother would sprinkle an old tablecloth with semolina, but a clean dish towel works well), and cover it lightly with plastic wrap while you stretch the remaining 3 pieces in the same fashion.
Cut the pasta into shapes
- After rolling the pasta dough cut it into the shape you desire by hand or with a machine.
☞ TESTER TIP: We’ve got some terrific tips on cutting pasta by hand.
If making noodles, such as tagliatelle, linguini, spaghetti, etc., place a wire cooling rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss the cut pasta with a considerable amount of semolina flour (don’t worry about using too much flour, as it’ll fall off in the boiling water), and arrange the noodles on top of the rack in small piles. Use the pasta within the hour.
Notes
To make the pasta dough recipe by hand
- Combine 2 1/4 cups “00” flour, the 1 tablespoon semolina flour, sea salt, and freshly grated nutmeg on a clean work surface and pile into a mound.
- Make a well in the center of the mound, and break the eggs into it.
- Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil into the well.
- With a fork, break the egg yolks and whisk together the eggs and oil. Using the fork, gradually incorporate just enough of the flour from the inside wall of the well into the egg mixture to create a batter-like consistency. Work carefully so that you don’t break the wall of flour, causing the egg mixture to run out and cause a mess. (If it happens, don’t panic. Use your palms to scoop up the egg mixture and work it back into the flour. No harm, no foul.)
- Use your hands to draw the remaining wall of flour over the egg mixture. Gently knead it until it’s incorporated, but here’s the trick: don't feel like you have to use all that flour. Only work in as much as you need to reach the right consistency. Your hands will tell you when the dough is smooth and firm; any extra flour left on the board can simply be brushed away.
Nutrition
Serving: 1portion | Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 104mg | Sodium: 235mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.2g