Fresh Pasta

The path

1. 1
   Level 1Free

   By Hand

   Six shapes and a pasta dinner for friends

   15 Steps, about 41 minutes each. Anyone who can crack an egg. No pasta machine, no special flour, no cooking experience needed.

   1. Chapter 1: The dough. An egg dough rolled by hand into tagliatelle, a perfect cacio e pepe, and your first semolina orecchiette.
   2. Chapter 2: Shapes. Orecchiette with a real sauce, pici, farfalle, and your first filled ravioli.
   3. Chapter 3: Pasta night. Light potato gnocchi in brown butter, a richer egg dough, and a pasta night for friends with two shapes.

   1. 1
      Make your first dough

      A smooth egg dough, kneaded by hand and resting in the fridge.

      Fresh egg pasta needs only flour and eggs. The traditional ratio is about 100 grams of flour per large egg. Kneading turns the shaggy mix into a smooth, elastic dough, because it develops gluten, the stretchy protein network that lets pasta roll thin without tearing.

      Resting matters as much as kneading. After 30 minutes wrapped, the gluten relaxes and the flour fully absorbs the egg, so the dough rolls out easily instead of springing back.

      The detail beginners miss is judging the texture. Egg sizes and flours vary, so the same recipe can come out sticky or dry. Sticky dough gets a dusting of flour; dry, cracking dough gets a few drops of water on your hands. Aim for a dough like firm play dough that doesn't stick to your palm.

      Here's an example. 200 grams of flour in a mound, a wide well in the middle. 2 eggs cracked in, beaten with a fork, flour pulled in from the inside wall until a shaggy mass forms. Kneaded 8 to 10 minutes, pushing with the heel of the hand, folding, turning. Smooth and springy. Wrapped, rested 30 minutes.

      Right is a smooth ball that slowly springs back when poked. Don't taste raw dough: raw egg and raw flour can both carry bacteria. Wash your hands after handling raw egg.

      Fiona's PastaPBS Food
      Show your group
   2. 2
      Roll a sheet by hand

      A sheet of egg dough rolled thin enough to see your hand's shadow through it.

      Yummy ItalyFood52
   3. 3
      Cut and cook tagliatelle

      A plate of tagliatelle you cut yourself, cooked and buttered.
      Show your group

   See all 15 Steps

   1. 4
      Master cacio e pepe

      A cacio e pepe with a smooth, creamy sauce and no clumps.

      EpicuriousAmerica's Test Kitchen
   2. 5
      Semolina dough and orecchiette

      An egg-free semolina dough and a tray of orecchiette.
   3. 6
      Orecchiette with a real sauce

      Orecchiette with a broccoli or greens sauce, cooked the Puglia way.

      Great Italian Chefs
   4. 7
      Roll pici

      A plate of pici: thick, hand-rolled Tuscan noodles.

      Pasta Grannies
   5. 8
      Pinch farfalle

      A tray of farfalle (bow ties) cut and pinched from an egg sheet.

      With Spice
   6. 9
      Make a ravioli filling

      A thick ricotta and spinach filling, ready to pipe or spoon.

      Fork in the Kitchen
   7. 10
      Fill and seal ravioli

      A tray of square ravioli, sealed with no air pockets.

      Kitchen & CraftFarmSteady
      Show your group
   8. 11
      Make potato gnocchi

      A tray of light, pillowy potato gnocchi.

      MobFood52
   9. 12
      Gnocchi in brown butter

      Gnocchi browned in butter with sage, crisp outside, soft inside.

      Matins KitchenWilliams Sonoma
   10. 13
       A richer egg dough

       A golden, yolk-rich dough rolled into perfect fettuccine.

       America's Test Kitchen
   11. 14
       Plan your pasta night

       A menu for four: two shapes, two sauces, a shopping list and a prep timeline.
   12. 15
       Host a pasta night

       Two handmade pastas served to friends or family at your table.

       Havoc in the Kitchen
       Show your group
2. Level 2Unlocks after Level 1

   Filled and Colored

   Tortellini, agnolotti and colored doughs

3. Level 3Unlocks after Level 2

   Sauces of Italy

   A regional menu, start to finish

Where it ends: a pasta night you host

Free lessons in By Hand come from Fiona's Pasta, PBS Food, Yummy Italy, Food52, Epicurious, America's Test Kitchen, GialloZafferano, Great Italian Chefs, Pasta Grannies, With Spice, Fork in the Kitchen, Kitchen & Craft, FarmSteady, Mob, Saveur, Matins Kitchen, Williams Sonoma, Havoc in the Kitchen, Nigella Lawson. We link to their work and never copy it.