Description
This homemade pasta recipe guides you through making fresh, tender pasta dough from scratch using simple ingredients and a stand mixer with pasta attachments. The detailed steps include mixing, kneading, resting the dough, rolling it out through a pasta sheet roller, cutting it with a fettuccine or spaghetti cutter, and boiling fresh pasta to perfection in just minutes. Perfect for fresh homemade fettuccine or spaghetti lovers looking to elevate their pasta dishes with an easy and rewarding technique.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, sifted (plus extra flour for preparing)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons water (plus more if needed)
Instructions
- Mix Ingredients: Place the beaten eggs, water, sifted flour, and salt in the mixer bowl. Attach the bowl and fit the flat beater. Mix at speed 2 for 30 to 60 seconds. If the dough feels too dry, add more water in 1/2 tablespoon increments until desired consistency is reached.
- Knead Dough: Replace the flat beater with the dough hook. Knead the dough on speed 2 for 2 minutes in the mixer, then remove and knead by hand for another 2 minutes. Let the dough rest for 20 to 30 minutes to relax the gluten for easier rolling.
- Prepare Dough Pieces: Cut the rested dough into four pieces. Flatten one piece into a rectangular shape dusted with flour on both sides while keeping the other pieces covered to prevent drying.
- Roll Dough – Settings 1 to 4: Attach the pasta sheet roller to the stand mixer and set it to the #1 thickness. Run the dough through at speed 2, folding it in half and passing it through the roller several times on setting #1. Dust with flour and continue rolling twice each on settings #2, #3, and #4 for the desired thinness. Skip #4 for thicker dough.
- Cut Pasta: After the final rolling, dust the long pasta sheet with flour on both sides. Replace the roller attachment with the spaghetti or fettuccine cutter, set mixer to speed 2, and feed the dough sheet through the cutter. Use your left hand to catch the long strands, cutting and winding them into nests. Allow the cut pasta nests to dry for a few minutes before cooking.
- Cook Fresh Pasta: Boil the freshly cut pasta in salted water for 3 to 7 minutes until al dente. Fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried varieties, so watch closely.
- Serving Suggestion: This recipe works particularly well with the fettuccine cutter attachment for lovely flat noodles perfect for rich sauces.
Notes
- Adjust water quantity incrementally to ensure the dough is not too dry or sticky.
- Resting the dough is essential to relax gluten for easier rolling and better texture.
- Use plenty of flour when rolling and cutting to prevent sticking.
- Pasta thickness can be customized by skipping or repeating roller settings.
- Fresh pasta cooks quickly; test a strand early to avoid overcooking.
- Store unused pasta by drying completely or refrigerating tightly wrapped.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: Homemade pasta, fresh pasta dough, fettuccine, spaghetti, pasta recipe, Italian pasta, pasta from scratch
