How to make homemade pasta dough

Here is an Italian homemade pasta dough recipe in pictures.  If you take the time to master this technique you will be rewarded with soft delicate pasta that will be a delight in every bite!

The step-by-step process is written out below, but I've also included visuals to illustrate each part as well. Making the dough by hand (no stand mixer needed!) is the best way to go. Feeling the dough take shape under your hands is a special experience that only makes the finished product that much better!

How to Make Homemade Pasta Dough

I learned this authentic Italian pasta dough recipe in a cooking class I took in Siena, Italy in 2018. We used this recipe to hand-roll pici pasta which proved to be much more challenging than using a pasta roller!

Italian pasta dough ingredients

• All-purpose flour (2 cups)
• Semolina flour (¼ cup)
• Eggs (3)
• Water (1 tablespoon)

Instructions for making dough

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Drop the eggs and water into the center and start to incorporate the flour and eggs together slowly with your fingertips or a fork.
3. Continue to work the dough until it starts to come together and pulls away from the bowl.
4. Take the dough out of the bowl, put it on a lightly floured surface, and knead the dough for 5 minutes.
5. The dough should soft smooth dough ball. If it feels dry and is not forming a ball, add 1 tablespoon of water, and continue to knead. Repeat as necessary.
6. After the dough has become a soft smooth ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and cover it with a towel. Set aside in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes.

Pasta Dough Notes

Pasta dough will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days covered in plastic. Even though the dough hasn't spoiled, it will be much harder to work with than if you only let it chill for 20 minutes.

Instructions for rolling out dough with an Atlas pasta roller (pasta machine)

1. Ready your pasta drying rack.
2. Cut the pasta into 4 equal parts.
3. Take 1 section to work with and cover the remaining parts with plastic and/or a towel so they don't dry out. You can leave the dough you are not working with at the moment on the counter.
4. Take the section you are working with and flatten it into a rectangle with your hands.
5. Fold it into equal thirds (like you would an 8x11 piece of paper going into an envelope.)
6. Set the pasta on the widest open setting (1 on the Atlas pasta roller), and pass the dough through.
7. Repeat this folding and passing through this setting 4 times.
8. Next, turn the setting one notch (2), and without folding it roll it through this setting twice.
9. Repeat this process up to the #6 setting.
10. Slice the flattened dough into desired lengths (about 12 inches). Dry the pasta like this for lasagna noodles or continue to cut the pasta in the steps below.
11. Run the short lengths through the cutter and place them on the drying rack. Try to keep pasta strands from overlapping.
12. To cook, plunge dried or semi-dry pasta into salted rapidly boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Drain and serve immediately.

Finished Pasta Notes

If the pasta is left too long on the drying racks, it will curl and become brittle. I've woken up many mornings to find the pasta has broken off the rack and scattered all over the island.

To keep this from happening, only the pasta is semi-dry and a little stiff, take it off the rack in small groups, dust the grouping with flour, and curl them gently into little nests. Let them continue to completely dry like this.

Dried pasta should be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. It can also be stored like this in the refrigerator for 2 weeks and in the freezer for 3 to 4 months.

Step-by-Step Visual Process of Rolling Out Pasta

After you make the pasta dough (recipe below), cut the dough into 4 equal pieces.

Folding it like a sheet of paper ready for an envelope.

Passing the dough through the widest setting.

Links to equipment I use here:

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Thank you so much! ❤️

Wooden pasta drying rack

Plastic pasta drying rack  (This one is my favorite!)

Atlas hand crank pasta maker

The second pass through the widest setting.

Depending on if you are making long wide sheets for lasagna or fettuccini noodles, you may want to vary the pasta's thickness.  For lasagna noodles, I like to stop at #5.

For fettuccini, I like a very delicate noodle so I'll take it all the way up to #6 or #7.  The higher you crank it up, the thinner and more delicate noodles you'll get.  The lower the number, the pasta will have more of a "chew" to it, as well as more substance. 

Yes, this is the same piece of dough.  Cranked twice at each number up to #7.

These sheets are smooth and elastic!

dry it like this...

or this...

Boil it in salted water for no more than 3 minutes, less if you like it more al dente.  Al dente means it's got a 'bite' to it and it's a pasta you can chew!

Once you make your own homemade Italian pasta dough you'll see how easy it is and you will love how fresh and tender it is!  Add it to your favorite sauce or simply give it a little olive oil and salt.  Either way... Buon Appetito!!!

What to serve with homemade pasta

These are some of our favorites:

Chicken or Turkey Piccata

Saltimbocca (chicken wrapped in prosciutto & sage with mushroom sauce and spinach)

And for dessert?

Quick and easy Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake!