4 Ingredient Homemade Pasta

Posted by Rachel Schwartz on 9/15/2020 to Family

close up of hands feeding sheet of dough through a manual pasta machine

Making your own pasta from scratch often sounds wonderful and delicious in theory but can appear to many as overwhelming or too time-consuming in practice. In actuality, making homemade pasta is not as hard as it may seem. This 4-ingredient homemade pasta is easy to make and offers three methods to choose from, based on the equipment you have on hand.

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 eggs

If you have a food processor, add all ingredients to the bowl and pulse for 10 seconds or until the mixture is crumbly. Then, remove the dough from the processor and form it into a ball with your hands and placed on a floured cutting board or countertop. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes or until the dough is smooth and pliable. If you have a stand mixer, you will need to use the dough hook attachment and knead the dough for around 10 minutes or until it reaches the same smooth, pliable texture.

If you are choosing to create your pasta by hand, then start by forming the flour into a mound on a large cutting board. Using your fingers or a spoon to create a well in the middle of the flour, add the eggs to that well. Sprinkle the salt and olive oil on top of the eggs. With a fork, gently whisk the eggs until they are combined and then begin slowly whisking in some of the surrounding flour into the mix. Once all flour has been added and the mixture is thick, fold the dough in to form a loose ball. Then, knead the dough until has become smooth and pliable, about 10 minutes.

From here, regardless of which method above you used, make another ball with the dough and warp it up tightly in plastic wrap. Leave the dough out at room temperature for half an hour. After half an hour, roll out the dough and create your pasta shape by hand, using a pasta maker, or pasta machine.

The pasta is now ready to be cooked in a pot of salted boiling water. This should take no more than five minutes or so. Drain and serve.