Homemade Pasta Recipe | The Prairie Homestead (2024)

Learn how to make your own homemade pasta recipe. Not only is homemade pasta superior in taste to store-bought noodles, it’s also very easy to make and only needs 3 simple ingredients that you probably already have available in your kitchen. This is a great heritage cooking recipe to learn.

Rocket science has no place in my kitchen.

As much as I love to cook, I sometimes run across certaintutorials/techniques that make my no-fuss brain want to explode.

Take fresh pasta for example.

Many of the “basic” fresh homemade pasta recipes you find floating around Google make homemade pasta seem all but attainable with their complicated formulas, detailed instructions, and mind-numbing array of ingredient options.

No thanks.

But today I’m here to let you in on a little secret the homemade-pasta-gods probably don’t want you to know:

It’s entirely possible to make very delicious, perfectly textured, from-scratch homemade pasta without the fuss. And only three ingredients. You’re welcome.

Looking for more heritage cooking recipes that are simple, easy, and super tasty? Check out my Prairie Homestead Cookbook!

Want more proof that making pasta is easy? Here’s my video showing me making homemade pasta (scroll down for the recipe):

Homemade Pasta Recipe

Yield: approximately one pound

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (see note below)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I love this one)
• 3 large eggs

Directions:

Combine the flour and salt.

Make a well in the center of the flour, and add the eggs.

Gently begin to mix the eggs, gradually drawing in flour with each stroke. Eventually a stiff dough will form.

Knead the pasta dough for 8-10 minutes.

If the dough is too dry and won’t stick together, add a 1/2 teaspoon of water. If it is too sticky, sprinkle in a bit more flour.

Keep in mind this dough will be much stiffer than traditional bread dough. However, the longer you work it, the smoother and more pliable it will become.

We are looking for a smooth, satiny consistency, which will develop the longer you knead.

Cover the well-kneaded dough tightly with plastic wrap, and allow it to rest for around 45 minutes. (This resting phase is super important, as it gives the dough time to relax. Otherwise, you’ll fight it the whole time you are rolling it out.)

After the resting period, divide the dough into four portions and roll into a small, flat circle. Now comes the cool part!

How to Use a Pasta Machine

I’m really picky with my kitchen gadgets, and generally only keep the necessities. However, I’m very loyal to my pasta machine (affiliate link) and it has earned its place in my crowded cupboards. However, if you’re hand-rolling the dough, something like this noodle cutter could be helpful.

Rolling the dough is a process– you need to make several passes, throughout each thickness setting for the best results. I start with the biggest setting (usually 5 or 6), run it through once or twice there, then gradually adjust the settings to be thinner and thinner until I have the perfect sheet of golden pasta.

Between each pass, I fold the strip into thirds. This helps square up the edges and keeps things even. Then simply roll it through the cutting side of the machine to slice into spaghetti or fettuccine.

Rolling Pin Instructions:

If you don’t have a pasta machine, you can use a rolling pin and knife (or pizza cutter) instead. Keep in mind you’ll want to roll it out as thin as humanly possible, as it will plump up considerably once you cook it.

Roll each portion of dough out on a well-flour surface and then cut into thin strips. Your noodles will be more rustic, but they’ll still taste amazing. If you’re hand-rolling the dough, something like this noodle cutter could be helpful for cutting more even noodles. (You know, if you mind your noodles being rustic and uneven…)

From here, you can either cook your pasta right away (3-4 minutes in salted boiling water) or dry it for later. If you’re drying your pasta for later, this drying rack can help them dry faster and more evenly.

It also freezes well– just make sure you don’t throw it into the freezer in a big lump, because then you’ll end up with a pasta dumpling when you go to cook it.

Serve your perfect homemade pasta with homemade sauce, or olive oil, Parmesan, and fresh herbs.

You can also try your homemade pasta with either my homemade butternut squash alfredo sauce or my fresh fast tomato sauce recipe. Yum!

Kitchen Notes:

• There are a variety of opinions when it comes to flour for making homemade pasta, and some people get all fancy with specialty flours (traditionally, pasta is made with semolina flour). However, I’ve had wonderful results just using regular unbleached all-purpose flour. If you like, you can use a mix of whole wheat flour, combined with the all-purpose. Keep in mind the more whole wheat you use, the more the consistency of the finished noodles will change.
• If at any point, your fresh pasta is wanting to stick to the surface, the machine, your rolling pin, or other pieces of pasta, add more flour. I’m usually very generous with my flour-sprinkling. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a sticky blob.
• I’ve not tried this recipe with gluten-free flours, sorry!
• You can easily make flavored fresh pastas by adding fresh or dried herbs to the dough (some good options might be chives, oregano, basil, or thyme.), or spice it up with garlic or onion powder.

Homemade Pasta: Your Questions Answered

How do I cook homemade pasta?

Homemade pasta cooks way quicker than store-bought pasta. Place your homemade pasta in a pot of boiling salted water, and boil it for two minutes. Taste and, if not done to your preference, continue boiling for up to two more minutes (so 2-4 minutes total).

How do I store homemade pasta?

If you’re not eating all of the pasta right away or you want to use the pasta later, you can air dry the pasta on a drying rack or on a baking sheet for about an hour. Then transfer it to an airtight container and either refrigerate the pasta for 2-3 days or freeze for around 2-4 weeks. Be careful how your package your pasta or it can turn into a blob of smooshed dough.

Why do you need to have the dough rest before making pasta?

You allow the dough to rest to give the flour time to fully absorb the liquid and also to allow the gluten to relax. Gluten is what allows the pasta to stretch and be rolled out super thin.

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More Heritage Kitchen Tips:

• Learn how to make French Bread
• Check out my Heritage Cooking Crash Course to learn how to make quick and easy from-scratch meals.
• Homestead Kitchen Tools I Cannot Live Without
• Top Tips for Cooking From Scratch With Limited Time