Fresh handmade pasta is a culinary delight that transforms simple ingredients into a restaurant-worthy dish. Making pasta from scratch may seem intimidating, but with a few essential tools and techniques, anyone can create tender, flavorful pasta at home.
This guide will walk you through the process step-by-step, from mixing the dough to shaping the pasta, ensuring that even beginners can achieve perfect results.
⬇️ Table of Contents
Fresh Handmade Pasta Technique
Fresh pasta is an amazing type of dining experience fit for Kings and Queens. The number of different kinds of pasta from around the world is actually unknown for certain.
Most put the number around 350 types of pasta. Wow, that is a crazy huge number of types of pasta; the sky is the limit with possibilities.
Making Fresh Pasta In the Food Processor
Begin by adding 2 cups of flour plus 1 teaspoon of salt. Pulse the food processor a few times to combine the two flour. I used Whole Wheat Flour and All-Purpose Flour.
Whole Wheat Flour has a protein level of around 13-14%, which means the protein in flour turns into gluten. Pasta is built on gluten development. The best practice is to use high-gluten flour to create the textural chew within the pasta that we all have come to love.
It is not too tough/chewy or too soft. If you want softer pasta, then do so by using the pasta machine and work your way down to setting #9, which is the thinnest. I'll show you how to do that in a moment.
Next, add the eggs one at a time, along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. The flour will turn into a dough ball very quickly. Allow the machine to run for about 10-15 seconds after coming together.
Not any longer, or risk the food processor blade ripping the dough. Once the dough forms a large ball, stop the food processor.
How To Make Fresh Handmade Pasta (Classic Italian)
Old World Style - The Well Method
Begin by creating a mound of flour on a counter or use a large bowl. Choose one of the two pasta recipes listed at the end of this post. Using your fingers, create a well in the middle. Next, add salt, olive oil, and eggs to the middle of the well.
Look at the picture above. See the side of the bowl with the red arrows? You want to try to use as little of that pile of flour as possible. Our goal is to combine just enough flour to bring everything together.
We want the pasta dough to be moist but not wet. This is a simple balancing act. Just add enough flour so that your fingers don't stick to the dough, and it will come together into one mass.
Kneading the Pasta Dough Method - Developing Gluten
This is the part of making fresh pasta that gets messed up. I'll show you two ways to "work" the dough to the point of perfection.
Once you combine/mix the ingredients into "dough," then place the dough on a workbench, counter, or in a large bowl. Allow the pasta dough to rest/relax for 3 to 4 minutes before beginning the kneading. I suggest using that time to clean up a little.
Kneading the pasta dough: This is the part of the process you need to see with your own eyes. This short 1-minute tutorial - Kneading the dough to develop gluten, is a must-watch. ⬇️
How-To Use a Pasta Machine
A traditional pasta machine gets the job done nicely for cutting the two traditional cuts of pasta, fettuccine (the wide-cut pasta) & Linguine (closer to the size of spaghetti).
Optional #1 - Use a knife and make large ribbons called Tagliatelle
Fresh Pasta Sheet Before Being Cut Into Shape.
Linguine
Fettuccine
Start on setting #1, using the dial on the side of the pasta machine, and pull the knob outward to move the setting/numbers.
The pasta machine moves from #1 "width" all the way to #9 width, which represents the thickness with numbers, with #1 being the thickest setting.
Here is another key tip to success with fresh pasta: the way you use the numbers on the pasta machine dial. Most would think that you would start on number one and then move on to the next number, which is not the correct technique.
The key is to begin on number 1, lightly flouring the pasta before rolling it through to prevent it from sticking to the pasta machine. Then, you will want to fold the pasta back over on top of itself, just like closing a book.
Then, run it again through the pasta machine. What we are doing on setting number 1 is shaping the pasta, training the pasta to fit the machine, this process will help get the pasta into the full length of the pasta roller, then ultimately finishing on width number 7.
Repeat this process 3 to 4 times on number setting #1. Remember, each time the pasta is rolled through the machine, we are developing additional gluten. Once you're done with number 1 go in any order you like. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 or 1,3,5,7.
The machine will go to 9, but that setting is almost unusable due to being so thin and hard to handle.
Cutting the Pasta for Fettuccine & Linguine
Begin by holding the pasta sheet directly over the pasta machine and feeding the pasta into the cutter's opening. Once you begin cutting the pasta, start by turning the crank handle.
Do not stop if possible; work at a nice pace, trying not to cut too slowly. Flour the pasta before running the dough through the pasta machine. This will help avoid sticking.
Once through the pasta machine, place the pasta on a cookie sheet pre-dusted with flour, add the flour directly to the freshly cut pasta. When you cook the pasta the extra flour will come off in the cooking water.
Cooking Fresh Pasta
Cooking fresh pasta is not like cooking normal dry pasta. Nowhere even close. A few things need to be understood. First, the pasta cooks quickly.
How quick? Between 45 seconds and 2 minutes. For the linguine, I suggest around 70-90 seconds. For Fettuccine(thicker pasta cut), around 2 minutes.
To cook the pasta, make sure the water is boiling from the moment you add it. Be sure to salt the cooking water to a level just like the sea, around 6% salinity. This helps flavor the pasta; please do not skip this step.
If you are not sure if the pasta is cooked through, test a piece by cooking it, then cutting it in half and looking down the middle. Do you see any raw flour? When the pasta is cooked, you will see only one solid shade of one color.
Lastly, this pasta TIP is HUGE, so HUGE...When you remove the pasta from the cooking water, always be sure to 'Marry" the pasta with the sauce.
When someone skips this step, an Italian grandmother will roll over in their grave. The freshly cooked pasta wants to drink up that beautiful sauce once out of the cooking water, not in a few minutes.
📖 Recipe
Fresh Handmade Pasta
Suggested Equipment
Ingredients
Metric Measurements
- 8 oz Whole Wheat Flour
- 8 oz All-Purpose Flour
- 5 whole Extra Large Eggs
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
US Measurements
- 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 4 whole Extra Large Eggs
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
Instructions
Making Fresh Pasta in Food Processor
- Begin by adding 2 cups of flour, plus 1 teaspoon of salt. Pulse the food processor a few times to combine the two flours. I used Whole Wheat Flour and All-Purpose Flour.
- The Whole Wheat Flour has a protein level around 13-14% which the protein in flour actually turns into gluten. Pasta is built on gluten development. The best practice is to use a high gluten flour to create the textural chew within the pasta that we all have come to love. Not too tough/chewy, not too soft.
- If you want a softer pasta, then do so by using the pasta machine and work your way down to setting #9 which is the thinnest.
- Next, add in the eggs one at a time along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. The flour will turn into a dough ball very quickly. Allow the machine to run for about 10-15 seconds after coming together. Not any longer, or risk the food processor blade ripping the dough. Once the dough forms a large ball stop the food processor.
- Knead the pasta dough on average 8 to 15 minutes. Your technique/skill will determine the about of time it takes. If more flour is needed due to too much moisture from the eggs, add under a ½ cup when adding more.
Window Panel Test - Gluten Test
- This test will tell if you've worked / kneaded the dough enough.Take a piece of dough and flatten it out. Then begin to pull the edges little by little working your way around the flatten piece of pasta. Think of it as a car steering wheel and you keep on turning pulling out a little bit of the pasta into a window shape. The pasta will rip at some point. The idea is for it to not rip too soon. The larger the "Window" you create the stronger your pasta dough is and this is the measurement of how much gluten you've developed.
michelle says
I've always wanted to know how to do this. Seems very time consuming though.
Steven Pennington says
You can make pasta within 30 minutes. I often use the food processor method. If you watch the video you'll see what you need to do to make sure the pasta's gluten is developed enough to put into a pasta machine. Once you experience successful homemade pasta you'll be in love. So good...Enjoy, Michelle. Come back and tell us how things went...