Basic Dough for Fresh Egg Pasta Recipe (2024)

By David Tanis

Basic Dough for Fresh Egg Pasta Recipe (1)

Total Time
20 minutes, plus 1 hour resting
Rating
5(806)
Notes
Read community notes

Fresh pasta isn’t something you can master in one go. There’s a learning curve. Only experience can teach you how the dough should feel and how thin to roll it. (Not that it needs to be rolled by hand with a rolling pin. A hand-crank pasta machine is a fine tool, perfect for a small batch.) But pasta making isn’t rocket science either. Most competent home cooks will succeed, even if they never match the prowess of mythic Italian nonnas. Fresh homemade egg pasta is definitely worth the effort, though, and it is always better than commercially produced versions.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 2cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼teaspoon salt
  • 2large eggs plus 2 egg yolks, beaten
  • Semolina or rice flour, for dusting

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

285 calories; 5 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 48 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 185 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Basic Dough for Fresh Egg Pasta Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Put flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add eggs and yolks, and mix with hands or wooden spoon for a minute or so, until dough comes together. (Alternatively, use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.) If dough seems dry or crumbly, add 1 or 2 tablespoons cold water, but only enough to keep the dough together.

  2. Step

    2

    Turn dough out onto a board and knead to form a ball. Flatten dough ball to a 1-inch-thick disk, wrap in plastic, and let rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour (several hours is fine).

  3. Divide dough into 4 pieces. Knead each piece until smooth. Roll with a rolling pin or pasta machine as thinly as possible (but not quite paper-thin). Cut each sheet in half, making 8 smaller sheets. Dust dough sheets lightly with semolina to keep them from sticking. Stack 2 or 3 sheets, roll loosely, then cut into ½-inch-wide noodles or other desired shape. Continue until all dough is used. Gently fluff noodles and spread on a semolina-dusted baking sheet. Refrigerate, uncovered, until ready to cook.

Ratings

5

out of 5

806

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Peter

I agree with the comment re getting the feel of the dough over time. There is a certain silky feel and a degree of springiness which is right.

One other important element not mentioned is resting. I've found it essential to roll the dough several times to close to desired thickness, then let it rest covered with a kitchen towel for 20 minutes, then finish rolling. Gives it a much better consistency.

David Tanis

You are absolutely correct. In addition to letting the dough rest after making it, rolling it part-way and resting it (for at least 5 minutes) makes superior pasta. This relaxes the gluten, allowing the dough to stretch in the final rolling, rather than forcing it through the rollers with brute strength.

chef Pace, milano

This is the classic recipe and the one all the people in Italy use, every child knows 100 gr. 00 flour, pinch of salt and 1 large egg, if you want it a bit richer add 1 egg yolk. Is 00 flour available in the US? This amount is good for 2 portions.

Mimi

This is my "go to" for pasta -- Remember to hold back a bit of the flour and add if needed or you may have cornmeal texture depending on your humidity.

Ralph

My favorite recipe is half all purpose and half semolina flour in a ratio of twice flour weight to egg weight.

For two people, the following is typical:
1 egg = 52 g
AP flour = 52 g
Semolina flour = 52 g

Weigh the egg in a measuring cup...weigh the flour in the food processor bowl, add egg to flour and mix until it looks like a sandstorm. The dough will come together nicely when you knead by hand. Rest dough for 15 minutes and roll out.

Everyone has an opinion :>)

Cie

Completely new to this. 3 whole eggs for 2 cups durum semolina. Hand-rolled and cut into fettuccine. Just-made noodles were good, but those dried in the fridge for a few days were even tastier, I found.

Colleen

This is for the beginners like me: I made as directed, flattened into the disk and wrapped it up to rest, but thought the dough was so dry and crumbly, it would never work. (I even went and bought wonton wrappers - just in case...) Came back in a couple hours, and it was like magic! Also made ricotta from scratch for the first time which is easy & delicious. Who knew? This was all for the Mezzelune Pasta with Peas & Shiitake recipe. Yum!

Kneading Made Easy

I watched a YouTube video on pasta making, and this recipe is perfect as it is.
For kneading, with your dough cut into quarters, as this recipe notes, flatten the quarter piece and run it through the machine on the thickest setting. After running it through, fold it in half, crimping the folded end, and run it through again another 5 or 6 times, and your pasta dough will be smooth, silky and perfect.

M

chef Pace, milano 6 months agoThis is the classic recipe and the one all the people in Italy use, every child knows 100 gr. 00 flour, pinch of salt and 1 large egg, if you want it a bit richer add 1 egg yolk. Is 00 flour available in the US? This amount is good for 2 portions.

Bocaboy

Like Chef Pace, I use half this recipe to make fresh pasta for me and my wife. The point of the extra egg yolks is to add additional fat and richness. A variation is to eliminate the extra yolks and add 1 tablespoon EVDO.I use a Marcato 150 manual pasta machine to roll and cut the pasta. A common mistake is to make the dough too moist and by not dusting the dough with additional flour while it's rolled. That will make it slightly tacky and the pasta strands will stick together.

Brad

I am not a fan of only all-purpose flour for noodles as they just don't have that al dente "bite" but are gummy IMHO. I use this recipe but use 1 cup semolina and 1 cup all purpose, 2 eggs and water as needed, usually 1-3 tablespoons. The dough is stiffer and must rest and be kneaded before use. The noodle texture is one I much prefer. I tried all semolina but that did not work either. I have no dried pasta in my house and just freeze this in batches.

Sheila

I find this recipe to be extremely robust. I have used a variety of flour combos (semolina, all purpose, tipo 00). Sometimes I’m lazy and use 4 eggs instead of separating one. Yesterday I let the dough sit for 6 hours on the counter before rolling because some gardening came up. Turned out wonderfully. It mixes up well in my food processor and I use my Kitchen Aid mixer to roll/cut it.

Lindsay

My new go-to pasta recipe. I ended up needing 2 1/2 tablespoons of water to help the dough come together, but the final product was fantastic. I rolled and cut it with my KitchenAid attachments and the dough was smooth and pliable. I served it with Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce -- perfection!

David

Dried pasta (spaghetti, shapes, etc.) is usually vegan -- just flour and water. It's very hard to make fresh pasta without eggs...

ariana

Better with 3 whole eggs and 3 yolks

nicole

Delicious. No notes. Rolled to size 6 on my machine and made fettuccine with short rib and tomato sauce.

Jeanette R

The 00 flour I use is sold by King Arthur as Pizza Flour. It’s the only 00 flour at my local Acme Market. Works just fine!

Prairiedogg

about how many servings is this recipe?

Emily B

Very easy, very executable recipe for the home chef. I halved it and rolled into linguine. Probably going to freeze the leftovers, and may try this recipe for ravioli tomorrow!

Meghan M

Super easy and great recipe. Use the paddle attachment and add 2 Tbs of cold water as instructed, no more no less. After resting and shaping into four balls, cover each again and refrigerate for like 10 minutes before rolling out with a pasta maker, makes the dough slightly less pliable and thus less likely too break while working with.

alexgoes

When doubling the recipe, add 2T water.

Gary D

I used OO flour & a machine dough hook. I had to add a couple of tablespoons of water to get the right consistency, understandable given flour varies. Mix turned out perfectly & I didn't need to dust the pastry at all.

Mira

I’m disappointed because they don’t tell you how long to cook it for. I made this and didn’t know how long to cook it because they forgot that. It looked cooked on the outside but kinda raw on the inside, and it isn’t that healthy to eat raw eggs.

Gary D

My mother learned from my Italian Nonna. We've always let the noodles dry out on the table before cooking. Very fragile by then, but it works for us.

Janet

It was absolutely correct to rest the dough before rolling and again midway during the rolling. This dough was supple and flavorful. I was also able to use it in my extruded for some yummy ziti.

sally

This recipe is excellent. I’ve made it a number of times with not always the same successful result. I will say that I put less than 2 cups of flour; usually closer to 1 3/4 C, and tend to add just a tiny bit of water otherwise it really doesn’t hold together properly. Getting the dough to feel right takes practice.

Julie Meyer

I made this with 00 flour. As noted by another contributor, I held back on the flour - about 1/8 cup. I made a circle in the middle and pulled flour into the yolks. Immediately, I could tell it was too dry. I added 2 T water and left probably about 1/4 flour in the bowl. I kneaded a bit to try and incorporate all the flour. I will update after I cut and cook, but it seemed to be too much flour for 00.

esther

I've found that dough made with semolina flour is a lot easier to handle than all purpose. Makes great pasta for a hearty sauce. I still use AP for a lighter sauce.

meg

I just made this and my noodles came out tough rather than silky. Any idea why? I didn’t use any water and i have a pasta machine that i used to roll and cut. I rested for about 20 mins before the final roll and cut as well, as per the other suggestions.

Claire in SF, CA

From Notes:My favorite recipe is half all purpose and half semolina flour in a ratio of twice flour weight to egg weight.For two people, the following is typical:1 egg = 52 gAP flour = 52 gSemolina flour = 52 gWeigh the egg in a measuring cup...weigh the flour in the food processor bowl, add egg to flour and mix until it looks like a sandstorm. The dough will come together nicely when you knead by hand. Rest dough for 15 minutes and roll out.

La Tia

Can you dry the pasta?

Allison D.

The process for doing this is not so simple and not recommended. I watched an entire series on this from the YouTube channel Alex, where he explored dried pasta in depth. Highly recommend that to give a much higher appreciation for the science that goes into drying pasta.

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Basic Dough for Fresh Egg Pasta Recipe (2024)
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