A Simple, Homemade Pappardelle Recipe
Making fresh pasta at home is intimidating, but you can do this! Nothing is better than a simple pasta dish made with tender ribbons of fresh pappardelle. All you’ll need is flour, eggs, olive oil and salt to make these fabulous egg noodles — you probably already have all the ingredients. And as for the pappardelle sauce? When your pasta is just-made it fresh, a little butter and garlic is all you need. If you do want to jazz it up further, though, homemade pappardelle is a perfect partner for homemade tomato sauce, beef ragu, bolognese, or even mushroom ragu.
What Is Pappardelle?
Pappardelle is a wide, long egg-enriched pasta shape. In Italian, it’s pronounced “pah-par-del-ay.” The word pappardelle comes from the Italian verb “pappare,” which means to “gobble up,” which is exactly what you’ll want to do with these delicious homemade noodles. If you’ve never had it before, think of pappardelle as wider than tagliatelle and fettuccine, but still twirl-able.
Ingredients For Our Pappardelle Recipe
For the homemade pappardelle:
- All-purpose flour (“00” flour is the classic type of flour used in making pappardelle, but because most people don’t have it at home, we’re just calling for all-purpose flour. If you happen to have “00” flour, go ahead and use it!)
- Eggs
- Salt
- Extra-virgin olive oil
For the simple pappardelle sauce
- Butter
- Fresh garlic
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh tarragon
- Parsley
How To Make Pappardelle
Grab yourself a favorite bowl. You’ve probably seen Italian grannies make pasta dough on a large cutting board or pastry board, but we like to mix the dough in a large bowl.
Add flour to the bowl, and make a little well in the middle of it.
Pour in the eggs, salt and olive oil into that little well.
Whisk the eggs together, trying not to catch any flour (yet).
When the eggs are whisked, begin to whisk in a little flour at a time until it starts to look like pasta dough.
Gently press the dough together, and move it to a clean countertop, cutting board or pastry board if you have one.
Knead the pappardelle dough.
Form the dough into a ball, and tuck it into a little plastic wrap for a 30 minute-rest.
Cut it into four pieces.
Roll the dough as thinly as possible, using a rolling pin or pasta machine.
Cut the pasta into wide strips, roughly 12 inches long by 1 inch wide.
Curl 6-8 finished pappardelle noodles into a nest, and move the finished “nests” to a floured baking sheet.
Boil the pasta nests for 2 minutes in salted water, and dress in the simplest buttery garlic-herb sauce for a dinner that’ll knock everyone’s socks off. A nice Italian Salad on the side is all you need. For even more inspiration, check out our pasta round up.
How To Freeze Homemade Pappardelle
Freezing pappardelle is the best way to store any fresh pasta that you don’t plan to use right away. Particularly with eggs in the mix, freezing is also the safest way to store it, though drying is also an option. To freeze your fresh pasta, simply take your baking sheet of pappardelle “nests” directly to the freezer. Pop it in there and let them freeze for a few hours. Once they’re frozen, transfer the nests to a freezer-safe container and store them for up to a few months. When you want to serve the pasta, no need to defrost. You can take it straight from the freezer to your pot of boiling, salted water, though you may need to increase the cooking time a bit.
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