I know this homemade pasta recipe by heart and make it all the time for my family. It may sound fussy, but homemade pasta is a lot easier than you’d guess. It’s a really fun kitchen project, too, especially if you have kids who like to help. My own love for fresh pasta started 19 years ago at my 21st birthday party. My sister rented out an Italian restaurant and threw a big party. Wine flowed, but it was the restaurant’s homemade pasta that stole my heart. Soon, I had my own pasta maker and the rest is history.
You only need flour, salt, eggs and olive oil to make fresh homemade pasta in all its tender, chewy glory, so I bet you’ve got everything you need right now. A pasta machine is helpful, but I’ve included directions for making fresh egg pasta completely by hand.
Homemade Pasta Ingredients
- Flour: I’ve noticed some chatter online about using Italian 00 flour to make pasta, but that’s not necessary. Regular flour works well.
- Eggs: Technically, this recipe is “pasta all'uovo” meaning an egg-enriched pasta. And mine uses a lot of eggs! I love the richness and golden hue that the extra yolk adds.
- Salt: You’ll need more for the pasta water, too!
- Olive oil: For flavor and to help hold everything together.
How To Make Homemade Pasta
See the full detailed instructions at the bottom of this post.
- Put the flour in a bowl.
- Make a little well in the top of the flour (think about volcanoes in science class.)
- Add the eggs, egg yolk, salt, and olive oil to your well.
- Whisk the flour into the egg mixture little by little.
- When it looks like dough, roll it into a ball.
- Knead the dough until it feels smooth and elastic.
- Nap time! Let the pasta dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into four pieces.
- Roll each piece of dough as thin as possible. (Use your pasta machine here if you have one).
- Cut the pasta.
- Cook the pasta! 2-3 minutes in boiling water, and dinner is ready!
Equipment + Tips
- I use the classic, Italian-made Marcato Atlas 150 pasta machine to roll out my fresh pasta dough, but the KitchenAid pasta attachment is also popular and works well.
- A large stock pot is essential. You want pasta cooking water to be salty and plentiful.
- If you get into making fresh pasta regularly, invest in a pasta basket. It allows you to do multiple batches without reboiling the water and it’s super handy for feeding groups.
- You may have seen Italian grannies add the eggs to the flour on a cutting board, but wait until you have their level of pasta-making skill to mix the dough outside of a bowl or you’re in for a big mess.
- Fun to know: Homemade pasta water is the BEST. The gluten content in homemade pasta is higher than store bought pasta, so the pasta water is incredible for thinning a sauce or helping sauces bind it to the pasta when you toss them together. Use it!
Serving Suggestions
Where do I begin!? With homemade pasta, a little butter and Parm is all you really need, but any simple sauces shine when served with fresh pasta. We traveled for a month a few summers ago and came home to nothing but so many cherry tomatoes and an abundance of eggs from our chickens, so I made this homemade pasta with this 3 ingredient tomato sauce. I felt like a true kitchen maven. Classic pesto, carbonara in winter, or pasta al limone in springtime would all be phenomenal with fresh pasta. The sky’s the limit!
More Classic Pasta Recipes
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