Fresh Pasta Dough

Have you ever wanted to make fresh pasta dough?

This recipe for pasta dough is tried and tested, one I learned from my Aunt in particular for making lasagne. As such, the ratio of ingredients below is for making enough dough for a regular sized lasagne. Sometimes I like to make a double batch so I have lots of pasta sheets to play with, and make some linguine with the left overs. You can also make this dough the day before you wish to use it, simply stop at step 3 and keep your dough in the fridge until you need to roll it out and cut it for your dish.

A rough guide however if you want to scale the recipe is 100g of plain flour to 1 egg.

Prep: 35 minutes

Total: 1 hour 30 minutes (min)

Ingredients:

2 cups of plain flour or pasta flour
1 teaspoon of salt
3 large eggs
water (as needed)

Directions:

Mix ingredients to combine in a food processor or mixer, until kneadable, stretchy and silky. You can do this by hand but will take a bit longer (and give you more of a work out!)
Tip out onto floured workbench and kneed by hand for 2-4 minutes, or until dough begins to be more pliable and together. If it is sticking to your hands kneed in more flour as the mix is too wet. If it is not kneading together properly your mix may be too dry (which can happen from using smaller eggs), in that case add a few drops of water and kneed through until the texture is soft but not sticky. be careful not to add too much water or you’ll have to add a lot of extra flour, creating more work for yourself.
Wrap in cling wrap and rest for minimum 30 minutes. I tend to put my dough in the fridge, particularly if it’s a hot day as it helps with rolling it out.

Using A Pasta Machine – KitchenAid Mixer Attachment

Set attachment to setting 1 (this will be the widest the two rollers will be spaced)
Turn mixer onto speed 2.
Quarter your dough and roll through the machine. (Do read the tips below before starting this step)
Fold dough in half, then put through the roller again, fold ends first. Repeat 3 times. You should hear a pop or two as it goes through, meaning the air is being pushed out of the layers.
Set pasta attachment to setting 2 (the rollers should move closer together). Roll dough through twice. (Do not fold the pasta sheet before rolling through from this step onwards – we’re now trying to length the pieces!)
Repeat again on attachment settings 3,4 and 5. Each time the rollers will move closer together, thinning out your pasta sheet. You can make even thinner pasta if you continue to go up the settings, but 5 is great for making lasagne sheets or fettuccine.
IF MAKING LASAGNE SHEETS: Lay rolled out pasta flat on clean tea towels or pasta drying racks and allow pasta to dry out for at least 30 minutes before using.
IF MAKING CUT PASTA: After finishing step 6, turn off your mixer and change attachments to your cut pasta attachment. My machine came with both spaghetti or fettuccine. With the cutting attachment on, turn speed to 2 and roll through pasta. Hand on a pasta rack to dry for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

TIPS:

To make it easier going through the machine I like to dust my bench with some more flour, kneed the quartered dough for a moment and reshape into an even piece.
You can also dust a small amount of flour on either side of your dough each time you put it through the machine to prevent it sticking to the rollers if you are worried your dough is still too wet or sticky.
When kneading by hand, use your palms to roll the dough across the bench, not your fingers. This way you will avoid straining your fingers and find the process much easier.

If you do try this recipe let me know how you went!

Catherine x

For more recipes check out my recipe page full of tried and tested delicious dishes!

Fresh Pasta Dough