Homemade Pasta

With just two ingredients & a rolling pin, we’ll teach you how to make simple homemade pasta. You haven’t tasted life until you’ve had fresh pasta at home!

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Learning how to make pasta had been on my list for years.

In fact, I was going to spend a boat-load of money so the two of us could take a fancy pasta class together – thank goodness we dodged that bullet!

I thought you needed a pasta machine & a ton of skills, but luckily, I was wrong…

You don’t need any special ingredients or any cooking skills – really.

Impress your friends & family with homemade pasta & revel in their amazement!

Now, what we’re tackling today is a simple tagliatelle pasta. Don’t come after me for my lack of pasta knowledge – but here’s how I understand it.

Tagliatelle is a flat-rolled pasta noodle, about a hair thinner than fettuccine.

I think the two originate from different parts of Europe but don’t quote me on that.

For my simple needs, it’s pretty much the same as fettuccine, which is great because that’s a classic, all-purpose noodle shape.

Ingredients & Equipment

In terms of ingredients, we’re keeping things easy.

You’ll see recipes out there that include oil, salt, or specialty flours, but all you really need is all-purpose flour & eggs.

If you wanna go a little extra, technically the best pasta is made with 00 flour. That’s flour that’s been very finely ground, ideally from Italy, and it’s used primarily for making pizza dough & pasta.

Because good food is so important to us & pasta is so easy to make, it was a no-brainer for me to order a bag of 00 flour, but it’s really not necessary. Once it arrives, I update with notes on whether I think the specialty flour was worth the investment.

In terms of equipment, you just need a rolling pin, a sharp knife, and a good bit of counter space.

I do want to note, I know with some recipes you can get by using a glass or jar in place of a rolling pin, but this dough gets very large by the time you’re done rolling it out.

I really would recommend using a rolling pin to get a nice, even roll.

Mixing Up Rustic Pasta Dough

As I mentioned, this all takes place on a countertop, so you don’t need an electric mixer or any extra equipment.

Pile your flour on the counter & use the bottom of a bowl to make a well in the middle of the flour. Crack your eggs into the well.

Grab a fork & begin mixing cautiously. You want to incorporate the eggs with the flour around the inside edge of your well before breaking that wall, otherwise, you’ll have eggs spilling out everywhere.

Slowly work your way in an outwards motion, until most of the flour is incorporated & you feel like you can work with the dough.

The flour up your hands and get rid of the fork.

Vigorously knead the dough – on the countertop – for 10 minutes. When the dough is kneaded & smooth, form it into a ball, lightly flour the outside and wrap in plastic wrap.

Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to rest.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Flour your countertop & use a rolling pin to roll the pasta dough out as thin as you can – ideally shooting for 3 mm thick. Keep turning your dough so it remains an evenly roundish shape.

Draping some of the dough off the edge of the counter can help stretch it out, though it takes a little finesse to prevent it from sliding off onto the floor – totally not speaking from experience here…

Shaping Your Pasta Dough

Make sure the dough is evenly dusted with flour – on both sides – so it doesn’t stick to itself.

Now envision an imaginary center line running down the middle of your rolled-out dough. Choosing the dough on one side of that line, start lightly rolling it towards the center. It takes a little pressure to get it to actually roll up instead of just sliding, but you don’t want a super tight roll. Stop once you meet the centerline.

Now spin your dough and roll the opposite side towards the center, until it meets your first roll. It will sort of resemble a Palmier when it’s ready to cut.

For more details on shaping, check out our tutorial below…

Cutting Tagliatelle Noodles

Working from one short end to the other, cut strips – trying to keep them as uniform as possible. This cut will determine the width of your pasta noodle.

Once you’ve cut the whole roll, it’s the beautiful moment of truth!

Slide your knife under a long portion of the dough and pick it up. With a little help, your beautiful, hand-crafted noodles should unfurl.

And that’s it! You’ve done it! You’ve just made simple, delicious fresh pasta. Didn’t I tell you it was easy??

Enjoy Your Pasta

If you’ve never cooked homemade pasta before, let me warn you, the cooking time is very short – only 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Get some heavily salted water to a rolling boil, add you pasta, and watch them closely. Once they’re done, toss into your dish of choice and enjoy!

How to Store Homemade Pasta

Ideally, homemade pasta should be enjoyed right away, but I know that sometimes you want to stock up. Luckily, there are a couple of different ways you can store your tagliatelle pasta.

Freezing Fresh Pasta

To freeze it, lay your noodles out on a cookie sheet in the freezer. You may need to cut them in half to make them fit. After 15 minutes, transfer the semi-frozen noodles to an airtight bag, where they’ll keep for 3 months.

To enjoy frozen homemade pasta, boil for 3 to 5 minutes.

Drying Fresh Pasta

To dry it, you have a few different options. You can lay your noodles out on a cookie sheet, hang them from a thin pole or broomstick, or swirl them into little nests sized as individual servings.

For all of these options, it can take 10 hours to two days for the noodles to fully dry, depending on heat & humidity. If possible, get a fan blowing on them to help with the drying process. Also, if needed, toss or move the noodles periodically to make sure everything is exposed to air.

You’ll know the noodles are fully dry by giving them a twist – they should break, not bend.

You don’t need to store your noodles in an airtight container because they’re already dry. In fact, if you do store them in a sealed plastic bag, be extra sure they’re dry, so you don’t have any rot.

Dried homemade pasta will keep fresh for 6+ months, so long as it’s a fairly plain recipe. Exotic flours or added flavors – like tomato or spinach – may affect the shelf life.

To enjoy dried homemade pasta, boil for 4 to 7 minutes.

What do you think? Are you ready to try something new & make your own fresh pasta? Put on an Italian Cafe playlist, pour a glass of wine, and have some fun. It tastes fantastic & if you do it right, you’ll be covered in flour by the end…

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Is this your first time making pasta? How did it turn out? Have you experimented with any fun flavors? Send us an email or leave a comment below! You can also let us know on our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest pages.

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