Homemade Pasta

Making pasta at home isn’t just for experienced cooks. It’s easier than you might think to make perfectly stretchy, tender, and chewy pasta right on your kitchen counter. The secret to making homemade pasta that has all the flavor and texture of authentic Italian noodles is to use Italian 00 flour.

Homemade Pasta with 00 Flour

Any Italian grandmother will tell you that it’s nearly impossible to achieve the perfect bite of pasta without 00 flour. The difference between 00 flour and all-purpose, the kind of flour that’s probably sitting in your pantry, is that 00 is more finely ground. This fine, powdery texture means that it creates very tender doughs. This is ideal for things like crisp pizza dough and pasta. 00 flour is also commonly used in very fine pastry recipes.

Pasta Dough Ingredients

If you’re starting with a great foundation of high-quality 00 flour, you only need three other ingredients to make homemade pasta (and one of them is salt!). This recipe uses 4 eggs, which enrich the dough and give your pasta its signature golden hue.

The fat in egg yolks helps tenderize the gluten in the wheat flour. While the protein strengthens your noodles so they hold up well after they’re cooked. A bit of fine sea salt enhances the overall flavor of your dish, while extra-virgin olive oil adds that signature Italian flavor.

Shaping Homemade Pasta

You can shape your pasta dough into whatever size or length you like. If you have a pasta maker at home, use it to flatten the dough into sheets. Then, use a pizza cutter or pasta cutter to make fettuccine, ravioli, or any fun shape you can think of.

You can also use an extruder to make spaghetti, penne, or other tube-shaped pasta. Once you’ve mastered this simple 4-ingredient homemade pasta dough recipe, the possibilities are pretty endless, and always delicious.