An Overview of What You’ll Find in this Post:

Whether you’ve always been too intimidated to try fresh pasta or you’ve made it a few times but never got the feel for it, you’re in the right place! This post is a comprehensive guide to fresh pasta, including an easy fresh pasta dough recipe & step-by-step instructions with tons of visuals, plus tons of tips & tricks to help you troubleshoot.

While the full how-to is detailed in the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post, the sections of the blog post itself break down all of hows & whys, including (click below for shortcuts within this post)…

• Details on the 5 ingredients you need to make fresh pasta dough including potential ingredient substitutions, plus an overview of the helpful equipment & materials you need to make pasta.
• Step-by-step instructions for how to make fresh pasta without a machine as well as a shortcut method that requires far less elbow grease, plus troubleshooting tips & tricks.
• Everything you need to know about how to cook homemade pasta & tons of recipe inspiration for your first homemade pasta dinner.

Read on to learn more about this Fresh Pasta Recipe, or jump straight to the recipe & get rolling! I’m so excited to make pasta together! ♡

One of the best things about making homemade pasta dough is that you need very minimal ingredients & they’re all simple staples. To make this fresh pasta recipe, you need just 5 ingredients, which you probably already have in your kitchen:

• Flour
• Eggs
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Water
• Salt

Fresh Pasta FAQ: What’s the best flour for homemade pasta?

There are 3 types of flour commonly used in fresh pasta recipes – 00 flour (i.e. finely milled, high-protein flour), all-purpose flour, & semolina flour. This particular fresh pasta recipe is made with a combination of all-purpose flour & semolina flour, which creates dough that is both easy to work with & has great texture.

While pasta purists may swear by a base of 00 flour (i.e. finely milled, high-protein flour), I’ve opted for all-purpose flour. It yields great results &, especially if you’re just getting started with pasta making, the difference in the pasta is pretty negligible. As a bonus, it’s always in my kitchen (& I’d guess the same can be said about you!). Since the ingredients list is so minimal & since flour plays such an important role in fresh pasta dough, it’s important to use really high-quality flour. That’s where I always turn to my friends Bob’s Red Mill.

Bob’s Red Mill Organic Unbleached All-Purpose Flour is a staple that you’ll always find in my kitchen. It’s milled from the highest quality North American wheat & it has a 10-12% protein content to help facilitate gluten development, crucial for making homemade pasta with satisfying chewy texture.

Ingredient Spotlight ⇢ What is Semolina Flour?

Semolina is a type of flour milled from durum wheat. It’s high in protein, high in gluten, & has a much coarser texture than your typical powdery-fine all-purpose flour. This coarseness is exactly why I’ve added it to my basic pasta dough recipe – it adds amazing weight & texture to fresh pasta:

• Weight: Since semolina is denser than all-purpose flour, the resulting pasta is a littler more substantial & satisfying, which is especially great for hearty sauces like ragu or bolognese.
• Texture: Semolina’s coarseness also helps create pasta with slightly rougher texture, which gives pasta sauce something to cling to as it’s tossed with the pasta & results in a pasta dish that’s simply tastier!

If you don’t keep your kitchen stocked with semolina flour, you can make this fresh pasta recipe using 100% all-purpose flour with great results. I will say – it’s definitely worth picking up a bag! It makes a notable difference in homemade pasta & it’s great for pizza night, too! Here too, I always count on Bob’s Red Mill. Bob’s Red Mill Semolina Flour is absolutely beautiful & has the perfect texture.

Fresh Pasta FAQ: Is homemade pasta better with or without eggs?

While you can make homemade pasta using just water (no eggs), eggs add not just moisture, but also protein & fat. The resulting fresh pasta dough is much easier to handle. Because gluten development is so important in creating satisfying texture, working with fresh pasta dough that’s a little easier to knead makes a world of difference in the overall texture of the pasta, especially as beginners!

This fresh pasta recipe calls for a combination of whole eggs & egg yolks. The whites of the whole eggs add moisture & the additional yolks add fat, resulting in homemade pasta that’s rich in flavor & has smooth, supple texture.

You can make a batch of fresh pasta dough with no more than your two hands & a rolling pin, however there are a couple of simple tools that help make learning how to make fresh pasta a whole lot easier! After prepping countless batches of homemade pasta dough, here’s what I suggest:

• Digital scale – Weighing out flour in grams is a more precise method of measurement than using measuring cups. Because hydration is so important in making fresh pasta dough, precise measurements help eliminate any guesswork, which is really helpful for beginners.
• Bench scraper – A bench scraper comes in handy in bringing the pasta dough together, plus you keeping your work station nice & tidy. Eliminating overwhelm – especially in your first time making pasta! – is very helpful.
• Pasta roller – While you can make homemade pasta without any special equipment or machines, rolling out pasta by hand is labor-intensive & a pasta roller makes a world of difference. I invested in these pasta attachments for my KitchenAid mixer, which I absolutely love. Since the motor of the KitchenAid does all of the cranking, they make rolling out fresh pasta dough so much easier. They are an investment, but I couldn’t recommend them more – especially if you’re really interested in making homemade pasta with any sort of regularity. If you’d like to start with something a little smaller, hand crank pasta machines are great – I’ve used this hand crank pasta roller with great results (& it’s only $40!).

Preparing a batch of homemade pasta consists of three key steps. The rest of this post details all of the hows & whys of (click below for shortcuts within this post!):

1. Mixing & Kneading Homemade Pasta Dough by hand & using a KitchenAid stand mixer
2. Rolling Out & Cutting Fresh Pasta with a pasta roller & by hand
3. Cooking Fresh Pasta

Fresh Pasta Pep Talk!

Some real talk before we jump into all the details. Your first attempt at making this fresh pasta recipe won’t be perfect. Learning how to make homemade pasta is more technique than recipe. It takes practice to get a feel for what fresh pasta dough feels like as you mix & knead it together. That said, I’m confident that if you read through the steps & troubleshooting tips below, you’ll be sure to create a delicious pasta meal to be proud of. Approach it with an open mind & have fun – you might end up falling in love with it! (I did!)

First, form a flour well:

Combine the flours in a pile on a clean, sturdy work surface. Create a well in the center; the well needs to be large enough to contain all of the wet ingredients. Add the eggs, olive oil, & water in the prepared well. Use a fork to whisk the egg mixture thoroughly.

Why? ⇢ This traditional technique allows us to thoroughly mix the wet ingredients before pulling in the flours gradually, giving us more control over the dough & eliminating any lumps, bumps, or flour pockets.

Full Recipe Directions, including step-by-step photos, included in the Recipe Card, below.

Mix the pasta dough:

While whisking steadily, gradually pull flour from the edges of the well into the wet mixture. Once the mixture is too thick to continue whisking, use your hands to bring the dough together into a ball.

Homemade pasta dough tip! ⇢ Because the dough is rather wet & sticky at this point, I like to use a bench scraper to pull it together. Its flat edge makes it easy to fold the loose flour into the dough without creating an overwhelming mess on your hands or your workspace.

Full Recipe Directions, including step-by-step photos, included in the Recipe Card, below.

Knead the pasta dough:

Knead the pasta dough until it’s tight, tense, smooth, & supple. Be sure to really use your body weight to roll & stretch the dough but avoid tearing (as it breaks the glutens). You’ll know the dough is ready when you can press it with your finger & it bounces back quickly, about 10-12 minutes.

Why? ⇢ Kneading develops the glutens in the flour, creating homemade pasta with a beautiful springy, chewy texture.

Full Recipe Directions, including step-by-step photos, included in the Recipe Card, below.

Rest:

Wrap the dough in plastic & set aside to rest for at least 1 hour.

Why? ⇢ A resting period allows all of the wonderful glutens developed in kneading to relax a little bit, making the homemade pasta dough much easier to roll out & cut for cooking.

Full Recipe Directions, including step-by-step photos, included in the Recipe Card, below.

Tip! Make-Ahead Fresh Pasta Dough. ⇢ Once you’ve reached this point, your pasta dough will keep, wrapped tightly in plastic & stored in the refrigerator, for up to 1 day. Feel free to mix & knead your pasta dough up to 1 day in advance, allowing it to come up to room temperature for 30 minutes – 1 hour before rolling & cutting your pasta.

Create a flour well:

Add the flours to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with its dough hook attachment & mix to combine. Create a well in the center; it needs to be large enough to contain all of the wet ingredients. Add the eggs, olive oil, & water in the prepared well. Run the mixer on low, allowing the dough hook to mix the wet ingredients.

Why? ⇢ The rotating dough hook emulates the traditional flour well technique, thoroughly mixing the wet ingredients & gradually pulling in the flours to create fresh pasta dough without lumps, bumps, or flour pockets.

Full Recipe Directions, including step-by-step photos, included in the Recipe Card, below.

Continue to mix to knead the pasta dough:

Once a dough ball is formed, increase the mixer’s speed to medium & let it knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. The resulting dough should be smooth & supple, though it won’t be quite as tense & tight as it is when you knead it by hand.

Quick tips! ⇢ As the dough initially comes together into a shaggy ball, some flour may hang out at the bottom of the bowl. If so, simply shut off the mixer & use your hands to knead a few times, incorporating the loose flour into the dough. Note, the dough ball will be pretty sizable compared to the bowl – this is exactly what we want, as it allows the dough hook to really knead the dough against the side of the bowl. This can cause your mixer to shake a little bit as it kneads, so be sure to position the mixer a safe distance from the edge of your countertop to prevent it from walking off.

Full Recipe Directions, including step-by-step photos, included in the Recipe Card, below.

Rest:

Turn the pasta dough on a lightly floured surface & knead it a few times by hand, just to bring the dough together into a smooth ball. Wrap the dough in plastic & set aside to rest for at least 1 hour.

Why? ⇢ A resting period allows all of the wonderful glutens developed in kneading to relax a little bit, making the homemade pasta dough much easier to roll out & cut for cooking.

Full Recipe Directions, including step-by-step photos, included in the Recipe Card, below.

Tip! Make-Ahead Fresh Pasta Dough. ⇢ Once you’ve reached this point, your pasta dough will keep, wrapped tightly in plastic & stored in the refrigerator, for up to 1 day. Feel free to mix & knead your pasta dough up to 1 day in advance, allowing it to come up to room temperature for 30 minutes – 1 hour before rolling & cutting your pasta.

A few pasta dough tips & tricks to keep in mind:

• Troubleshooting – My homemade pasta dough is too wet! ⇢ Your pasta dough is too wet if it is sticky to the touch & doesn’t come together in a nice ball. Wet pasta dough is a nightmare to roll out since it sticks to everything it touches – your hands, the counter, the pasta rollers or rolling pins, etc. Fortunately, of all the problems you could have, this is the easiest one to fix! Working 1 tablespoon at a time, knead more flour into the dough until it’s barely tacky.
• Troubleshooting – My homemade pasta dough is too dry! ⇢ Your pasta dough is too dry if it tears easily as you knead it or if the edges crumble. Working 1 teaspoon at a time, knead more water into the dough until it’s barely tacky. The added moisture will make the surface of the dough ball really slippery & sticky at first, but it will smooth out as you continue to knead.
• Troubleshooting – How to tell when pasta dough is properly kneaded & ready to rest? ⇢ After 10-12 minutes of kneading, the surface of the dough will be totally smooth & supple, though the ball itself will be really tight & tense as a result of proper gluten development. Press it with your finger – if it bounces back quickly, the pasta dough is ready to rest.

Rolling out Fresh Pasta Dough with a Rolling Pin:

1. Roll out the pasta dough with a rolling pin: Divide your fresh pasta dough into 2 pieces. Lightly dust your work surface, a rolling pin, & a section of fresh pasta dough with flour. Use your bodyweight to roll the dough as thinly & evenly as possible. Because you did such a great job developing its glutens, the dough will want to snap back into a smaller shape as you roll it, so be patient & persistent! If the dough gets sticky, simply dust everything with a little more flour & keep at it until the sheet of pasta reaches your desired thickness. Repeat the process with the remaining fresh pasta dough.
2. Cut the pasta with a sharp knife: Once all of the pasta is rolled, cut as desired. Leave the sheets whole for lasagna or filled pastas or use a sharp knife to cut into noodles (e.g. pappardelle, spaghetti, fettuccini, tagliatelle, etc.). Generously dust the cut pasta with semolina flour & cover with a kitchen towel until you’re ready to boil it.

Rolling Out Fresh Pasta Dough with Pasta Roller:

1. Prep: Set up your pasta roller according to manufacturer directions. Divide the rested dough into 4 pieces.
2. Laminate the dough: Lightly dust the dough with flour & use your hands to press it into a thin, even layer. I like to press it into as rectangular a shape as possible to make it easier to roll out into long, rectangular sheets of pasta. Pass the dough through the pasta machine, with its rollers set to their widest setting. Fold the dough in half, pressing down on it to seal the edges, then give it a quarter turn & run it through the machine again. Repeat 1-2 more times, until the sheet of pasta is about as wide as the roller.
3. Roll out the pasta dough: Adjust the pasta machine to its next setting & run the dough through. Continue running the dough through the roller, adjusting to its next setting after each pass through, until you reach your desired thickness.
4. Cut the pasta: Once all of the pasta is rolled, cut the pasta as desired. Leave the sheets whole for lasagna or filled pastas, use a sharp knife to cut into thicker noodles (e.g. pappardelle), or use your pasta machine’s attachments to cut into another desired shape (e.g. spaghetti, fettuccini, tagliatelle, etc.). Generously dust the cut pasta with semolina flour & cover with a kitchen towel until you’re ready to boil it.

Fresh Pasta FAQ: Can you cook fresh pasta immediately?

Yes, once it’s rolled & cut your fresh pasta can be cooked immediately. There is no need to let it dry further before cooking it.

Tip! Make-Ahead Fresh Pasta. ⇢ Once you’ve reached this point, your pasta will keep, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. If you’re planning on a make-ahead approach, it is best to let it dry ever so slightly before storing it to prevent sticking. Let it rest, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes before transferring to an airtight container & refrigerating.

How to cook homemade pasta:

1. Boil water: Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. If you’re cooking your pasta immediately, you can begin boiling the water once the fresh pasta dough is rested, just before you begin to roll out & cut the pasta. Tip! ⇢ Be sure to use a big pot, which gives the pasta enough room to move about as it cooks & prevents sticking.
2. Heat the sauce: Add your pasta sauce of choice to a second pot or skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Cook the pasta: Add the pasta to the boiling water – the water will likely stop boiling once the pasta is added & when it returns to a boil the pasta should nearly be done! How long to cook homemade pasta? ⇢ Begin checking for doneness after 1 minute, cooking the pasta no more than 2-3 minutes – fresh pasta cooks very quickly!
4. Finish the pasta: Dip a liquid measuring cup in the boiling pasta to carefully reserve some of the starchy pasta water. Drain the pasta & immediately transfer to the warm sauce. Toss the pasta with the sauce, cooking 1-2 minutes until everything is melded together nicely. Tip! ⇢ Adjust as needed so the sauce evenly coats the pasta. If the mixture is too thick, toss in a little of the reserved pasta water; if the mixture is too loose, crank up the heat or toss in a handful of parmesan cheese!

The fun part about learning how to make homemade pasta is that it’s a single technique that you can put to use in an infinite number of ways. Use this fresh pasta recipe to make any of your favorite pasta dishes at home. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

• PWWB Best-Ever Bolognese (pictured) – A recipe I’ve tweaked & perfected over 10+ years, this is my personal favorite recipe on PWWB & it’s seriously the best bolognese sauce ever.
• Weeknight Bolognese – A slightly easier & quicker bolognese sauce recipe.
• Ragu – AKA slowly simmered Italian goodness, ragu is a hearty meat sauce perfect for pairing with fresh pasta. Try my Slowly Braised Lamb Ragu or my Slowly Braised Pork Ragu.
• Lasagna
• The Classics – Creamy Marsala Pasta with Sausage, Spicy Italian Sausage and Peppers Pasta, or Pasta all’Amatriciana
• Something New – Seared Scallop Pasta with Kale Pesto or Mascarpone Pasta with Chicken
• All PWWB Pasta Recipes