Fresh Pasta Dough for Long Pasta

Basic Recipe for Pappardelle, Tagliatelle, and Spaghetti

Making your own pasta is easier than you think. With just a few ingredients and a little attention, you can create a dough that's soft, smooth, and full of flavor. I use this basic recipe for all long pasta types — the only difference is the thickness and width.

Serves 4

Ingredients

·         400 g flour (regular wheat flour or type 00 flour)

·         4 eggs

·         1 tsp salt

Making the dough

Making the Dough

Place the flour on your work surface and make a well in the center.

Break the eggs into the well and beat them with a fork. Add the salt.

Using the fork, a little at a time, mix the flour into the egg mixture. Continue doing this until all the flour is incorporated.

Then knead the dough with your hands until it comes together. This will take about 8–10 minutes.

The dough should feel firm, but it should be smooth and not stick to your hands.

Let it rest

Place the dough in a bowl and cover (with a lid or cling film). Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator 10 minutes before using (in a warm kitchen, 5 minutes is sufficient).

Rolling out the dough

Roll out the dough

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Work with one piece at a time and cover the rest to prevent it from drying out.

First, flatten the dough slightly with your hands or a rolling pin.

If using a pasta machine, always start on setting 1. Run the dough through the machine and then gradually increase the setting (2, 3, 4, and so on) until you reach the desired thickness.

Cutting by pasta type

The basic dough is the same for all long pasta. Only the thickness and width differ.

Tagliatelle

Pappardelle

·         Roll out the dough to setting 6

·         Cut into 2–3 cm wide strips

Tagliatelle

·         Roll out the dough to setting 7

·         Cut into strips approximately 1 cm wide

·         Or use the tagliatelle attachment

Spaghetti

·         Roll out the dough to setting 8 (or 7)

·         Cut into strips of approximately 2 mm

·         Or use the spaghetti attachment

Don't have a pasta machine? Then you can also roll out the dough as thinly as possible with a rolling pin and cut it with a knife.

Let it rest and cook

Lightly dust the cut pasta with flour to prevent the strands from sticking together. Let the pasta rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water with a generous pinch of salt to a boil.

Add the pasta and cook briefly:

·         Pappardelle: 2.5 – 3 minutes

·         Tagliatelle: 1.5 – 2 minutes

·         Spaghetti: 1 – 1.5 minutes

Serve the pasta immediately with a sauce that you've simmered gently.

Fresh pasta doesn't need much—good ingredients and attention are all it takes.