Make your own pasta dough from scratch with this easy homemade pasta recipe. Made with only four ingredients and the help of your Kitchen Aid, every step of this recipe is simple and easy.
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I love to make my own pasta whenever I get the chance and thanks to my Kitchen Aid mixer I can whip up a batch of tasty noodles in no time flat. This homemade pasta dough Kitchen Aid recipe is one you’re going to want to keep close for all of those special occasions.
While it’s just as easy to buy a box of dry pasta from the store, nothing compares to the taste of fresh homemade pasta and once you try it, you’re going to agree. The hardest part is deciding how to use your wonderful pasta once it’s ready. Will it be covered in sauce? Used in a soup? Or simply given some butter and garlic?
Ingredients
- Flour
- Salt
- Eggs
- Olive Oil
Please see the recipe card below for the exact measurements needed.
How to Make Homemade Pasta Dough
- Pile your flour onto a large cutting board or cleaned countertop. Create a well in the center of the flour. If you are hesitant to use your counter or cutting board for this, you can also choose to use a large mixing bowl.
- Add in your eggs, salt, and olive oil.
- Use a fork to gently beat the eggs and gradually pile the flour on top, into the well, as you go.
- Slowly pull the flour into the mixture until a dough begins to form. At this point, stop using the fork and continue the mixing by hand.
- Once the dough has been formed, it should be able to be easily kneaded and not be sticky at all.
- Knead the dough by hand for 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Test the elasticity of the dough by balling it up and pressing it with your finger. If the dough bounces back, it’s ready to use.
- Rest the dough on the counter at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. You can also do this up to a day in advance and keep the dough stored covered in the fridge.
- After the dough has rested, cut it into 4 equal-sized pieces.
- Use a pasta press or a rolling pin to press the pasta into a sheet of your desired thickness.
- After the pasta has been pressed, cut it into the desired shape by using a pasta press or by cutting it by hand.
- Once cut, place the pasta into a pot of salted boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes or until the pasta is cooked through and al dente in texture. Make sure to check in on it as the cooking time will vary depending on the pasta shape and thickness. Taste it to know when it’s finished.
Recipe Tips
I use this KitchenAid attachment kit for making my fresh pasta. When I use it, I always start pressing the pasta dough into a sheet on level 1. I press it out and fold it over on itself a couple of times to smooth everything out. Then move up to levels 2, 3 and so on, this is a faster progression. I press it out really thin, about 4 or 5 if I'm making lasagna sheets, similar if I'm making fettuccini. If I'm making spaghetti, I find it cuts better when it's on a 2 or 3.
This is something else that will take practice. Additionally, the sheets are easy to lay out, dust with flour, fold on themselves and pick back up again. Once the pasta is cut into shapes, I find it easiest to catch it along with my arm and take it straight to the pot of boiling water. Otherwise, I tend to get clumps. If you do get a clump, don't cook it. Just ball it up, press it out and try again - no harm done! If you're making a lot, just toss it in flour and it should be ok to sit and not clump.
If you don't have a pasta press, you can roll it out by hand and cut it by hand. Just be sure it is thinner than you think it needs to be, it will thicken slightly when it cooks.
Here are a couple of resources with more photos and videos for you to reference:
- Fresh Pasta rolled and cut by hand
- Video of making fresh pasta
Variations
- Adding herbs. If desired you can add herbs to the dough so that it is well flavored. Mixing in Italian seasoning or even sun-dried tomato pieces could really take your pasta up a level.
- Dessert. If you really feel up to it you can take your pasta and turn it into a dessert dish by serving it up with some cinnamon sugar mixture or chocolate sauce.
FAQs
You can use almost any flour that you already have on hand. While most pasta recipes request that you use semolina flour, you can also get away with using all-purpose flour or even whole wheat flour. The main thing to keep in mind is that you want the gluten in the flour to be activated and working well so that you get the dough to the perfect consistency.
If you use too much flour or not enough flour the mixture will turn out tough. It’s important to make sure you have a good non-sticky consistency when kneading the dough because too little flour will give you a sticky mess with clumps that are hard to press out.
Adding salt to the water as you boil pasta will help to make the pasta more flavorful as it cooks. It will enhance the flavors and make the pasta taste incredible so it’s definitely worth doing!
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Homemade Pasta Dough
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- On a large cutting board or counter, pile flour and then create a deep well in the center.
- Add eggs, salt, and olive oil into the well.
- Using a fork, gently beat the eggs, gradually pulling in flour as you do so.
- Slowly pull in the flour until a dough starts to form, then combine the rest by hand.
- If you are hesitant to try this on your counter or cutting board, you can use the same method in a large bowl to practice.
- Once the dough is formed, it should easily kneaded and not sticky.
- Knead for about 5 minutes by hand, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Test elasticity by balling up the dough and pressing your finger in the middle. If the dough bounces back, it is ready.
- Rest the dough at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. You can make it up to a day in advance and store it in the fridge.
- Once the dough is rested, cut into 4 pieces.
- Using a pasta press or rolling pin, press pasta into a sheet of your desired thickness (see note).
- After pasta is pressed, cut into the desired shape using a press or by hand (see note).
- Once cut, place in salted boiling water for about 5 minutes, until cooked through and al dente. You'll want to check on it - the cooking time will vary between pasta shapes and thickness. Taste it to know when it's done.
Alli
Fresh pasta is so incredible!