How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough by Hand (No Machine Needed)

Once you make fresh pasta yourself, the packaged kind is hard to go back to. The good news is that pasta dough is one of the simplest things you can make in a kitchen. You need flour, eggs, a clean counter and a little patience. Here is the basic method I like to start beginners with.

What you need

This makes about 2 to 3 servings:

• 200 g (about 1 and 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour, or tipo 00 flour if you can find it

• 2 large eggs

• A pinch of salt

• A fork, a bench scraper or knife, and a rolling pin

A handy rule to remember: about 100 g of flour for every large egg. Want more pasta? Just scale it up.

Step 1: Make a well

Pile the flour on a clean counter, mix in the salt, and make a wide well in the centre, like a little volcano. Crack the eggs into the middle.

Step 2: Mix with a fork

Beat the eggs with a fork, then slowly pull in flour from the inside walls of the well. Go gently so the walls don't collapse and the egg doesn't run across your counter. When it turns into a thick, shaggy paste, switch to your hands and a bench scraper and bring everything together.

Step 3: Knead

Push the dough away with the heel of your hand, fold it back over itself, and give it a quarter turn. Repeat for about 8 to 10 minutes. It will start rough and dry, then turn smooth and springy. If it feels sticky, dust in a little more flour. If it is crumbly and won't hold together, wet your hands and keep kneading.

Step 4: Let it rest

Wrap the dough and let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes. This relaxes the gluten, so the dough rolls out easily instead of springing back at you. Please don't skip this step.

Step 5: Roll it thin

Cut the dough into a few pieces and roll one at a time, keeping the rest covered so it doesn't dry out. Roll from the centre outward, turning the dough as you go, until it is thin enough that you can almost see your hand through it. For filled pasta like ravioli, thin is everything.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Adding too much flour while rolling, which makes the pasta tough

• Skipping the rest, so the dough fights you the whole way

• Rolling too thick, especially for ravioli, where the edges double up

• Letting the sheets dry out before you shape or fill them

Learn it in class

Reading about pasta is one thing. Feeling when the dough is just right is another, and that is much easier to learn with a chef standing next to you.

In our Pasta from Scratch: a Ravioli Love Story class, you make pasta dough by hand, roll it thin, then shape and fill your own ravioli with chicken or butternut squash ricotta. We serve it with tomato sauce and sage lemon butter, start with bruschetta with eggplant, tomato and feta, and finish with apple crostata and cinnamon ice cream. It is a hands-on 2 hour class, beginners are welcome, and all ingredients and the meal are included.

Cooking as a couple? Our Couples Class: Elevated Italian Trattoria includes homemade pasta carbonara and runs about 3 hours.

See upcoming dates and book your spot, or explore all our Italian and pasta making classes in Vancouver. We cook at Gray Olive Cafeteria, 4190 Hastings Street, Burnaby, with free street parking on Hastings after 6pm.

Happy rolling,

Chef John