Fresh Egg Pasta
Cooking Skills: Pasta 2
Chapter 1 · Fresh Egg Pasta
Skill goal
Make fresh egg pasta by hand, from flour and egg, and cut it into ribbons without any machine.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
This course assumes you have worked through Cooking Skills: Pasta 1: cooking in salted water, finishing in the pan, the tomato sauces, the ragù and the white sauce. Pasta 2 is about making the pasta itself.
Fresh egg pasta is made from just flour and egg. It is softer, silkier and richer than dried, cooks in two or three minutes, and soaks up sauce differently, which is why it suits delicate sauces. It is not better than dried pasta, just different: dried is the right choice for a tomato sauce, fresh for butter, cream or a ragù on ribbons.
| Step | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Make a well, add egg | Flour in a mound, egg in the middle | Lets you mix gradually without a mess |
| Knead 8 to 10 minutes | Push, fold, turn | Develops the gluten, so the dough stretches |
| Rest 30 minutes | Wrapped, at room temperature | Relaxes the gluten, so it rolls without shrinking |
| Roll thin | From the middle outwards, quarter turns | Even thickness, about 1 to 2 mm |
| Dust and dry for 5 minutes | Semolina, not flour | Stops strands sticking; semolina doesn't absorb into the dough |
| Cut and nest | Loose nests on a floured tray | Keeps the ribbons separate |
| Boil 2 to 3 minutes | Plenty of salted water | Fresh pasta cooks very fast |
What you need
- A long, thin rolling pin (a clean wooden dowel or broom handle works too).
- A big board or clean worktop, a sharp knife, and a bench scraper if you have one.
- A clean tea towel, cling film, and a tray dusted with semolina.
- Optional extras you do not need yet: a pasta machine (chapter 3), a fluted pasta wheel, a ravioli cutter.
Plain flour is the default in this course. Italian "00" flour is very finely milled and makes a smoother, silkier dough. Semolina (ground durum wheat) is for dusting. Both are easy to try in the experiments.
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
Basic egg dough
Fresh pasta is only flour and egg. The skill is in the feel: kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic, and resting it so it rolls out without springing back. The ratio is about 100 g of flour to 1 medium egg.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 100 g plain flour (or Italian "00" flour)
- 1 Lion-marked medium egg
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 2 tbsp fine semolina (or extra flour), for dusting
- Tip the flour onto a clean board or into a large bowl, add the salt and make a well in the middle. Crack the egg into the well.
- Beat the egg with a fork, gradually pulling in flour from the sides, until it forms a shaggy mass. Then use your hands to bring it together into a rough ball.
- Knead on a lightly floured board for 8 to 10 minutes, pushing it away with the heel of your hand, folding it back and turning it a quarter turn. It starts rough and sticky and ends up smooth and springy, like an earlobe.
- If it is crumbly, wet your hands and keep kneading (a few drops of water at a time). If it is sticky, dust with a little flour.
- Wrap in cling film (or put under an upturned bowl) and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Resting lets the gluten relax, so the dough rolls out instead of fighting back.
Raw egg and raw flour
The dough contains raw egg and raw flour. The Food Standards Agency advises against eating or tasting uncooked flour or dough, because raw flour is not treated to kill bacteria such as E. coli. Don't taste the dough or any filling that contains raw egg, wash your hands, the board and your tools after handling raw dough, and use Lion-marked eggs. Cook fresh pasta thoroughly. Pregnant women, children under 5, people aged 65 and over, and anyone with a weakened immune system should be especially careful.
Level 2 · The easiest cut
Maltagliati ("badly cut") with tomato sauce
The scraps shape: cut the rolled sheet into rough diamonds and triangles. They don't have to be even, and that's the charm.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 100 g plain flour (or Italian "00" flour)
- 1 Lion-marked medium egg
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 2 tbsp fine semolina (or extra flour), for dusting
- 150 ml tomato sauce from Cooking Skills: Pasta 1, chapter 3
- 15 g parmesan, grated
- Make and rest the dough as in the basic recipe. Roll it out:
- Cut the rested dough in half if you wish and keep the rest wrapped. Dust the board and the dough lightly with flour or semolina.
- With a long rolling pin, roll from the middle outwards, giving the dough a quarter turn after every few strokes, and stretching it as you go, until you have a sheet about 1 to 2 mm thick: you should be able to see the pattern of the board, or your hand shadow, through it.
- Lightly dust the sheet with semolina and let it dry for about 5 minutes, until it feels leathery but not brittle. This stops the cut strands sticking.
- Cut the sheet into rough diamonds and triangles about 4 to 5 cm across, with a knife or pizza wheel. Spread them out on a tray dusted with semolina.
- Warm the tomato sauce in a wide pan. Boil the maltagliati in plenty of salted water for 2 to 3 minutes: they are ready a minute or so after they float, tender but with a slight bite.
- Scoop out a mugful of water, drain, and toss in the sauce with 2 tablespoons of the water for 30 seconds. Serve with the parmesan.
Level 2 · Ribbons
Hand-cut tagliatelle with butter and parmesan
Rolled up loosely and sliced like a Swiss roll, then shaken out into long ribbons.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 100 g plain flour (or Italian "00" flour)
- 1 Lion-marked medium egg
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 2 tbsp fine semolina (or extra flour), for dusting
- 15 g butter
- 15 g parmesan, grated
- 1 pinch black pepper
- Make and rest the dough as in the basic recipe, then roll it out:
- Cut the rested dough in half if you wish and keep the rest wrapped. Dust the board and the dough lightly with flour or semolina.
- With a long rolling pin, roll from the middle outwards, giving the dough a quarter turn after every few strokes, and stretching it as you go, until you have a sheet about 1 to 2 mm thick: you should be able to see the pattern of the board, or your hand shadow, through it.
- Lightly dust the sheet with semolina and let it dry for about 5 minutes, until it feels leathery but not brittle. This stops the cut strands sticking.
- Fold the sheet loosely into a flat roll about 8 cm wide. With a sharp knife, cut across into ribbons 6 to 8 mm wide. Unroll them with your fingers, toss gently in semolina and gather into loose nests on a tray.
- Boil in plenty of salted water for 2 to 3 minutes. Scoop out a mugful of water, then drain.
- Return to the pan with the butter, parmesan, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the water. Toss for 30 seconds until glossy.
Level 3 · Wide ribbons
Pappardelle with ragù
Pappardelle are wide, about 2 cm, and made to carry a chunky meat sauce. They are the easiest ribbon to cut, since there are fewer to do.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 100 g plain flour (or Italian "00" flour)
- 1 Lion-marked medium egg
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 2 tbsp fine semolina (or extra flour), for dusting
- 150 ml slow beef ragù from Cooking Skills: Pasta 1, chapter 6 (fresh or thawed)
- 15 g parmesan, grated
- Make and rest the dough as in the basic recipe, then roll it out:
- Cut the rested dough in half if you wish and keep the rest wrapped. Dust the board and the dough lightly with flour or semolina.
- With a long rolling pin, roll from the middle outwards, giving the dough a quarter turn after every few strokes, and stretching it as you go, until you have a sheet about 1 to 2 mm thick: you should be able to see the pattern of the board, or your hand shadow, through it.
- Lightly dust the sheet with semolina and let it dry for about 5 minutes, until it feels leathery but not brittle. This stops the cut strands sticking.
- Cut the sheet into ribbons about 2 cm wide (use a fluted pasta wheel for a rustic edge if you have one). Dust and nest them on a tray.
- Warm the ragù in a wide pan with a splash of water until steaming hot.
- Boil the pappardelle for 3 minutes, scoop out a mugful of water, drain, and toss in the ragù with 2 tablespoons of water for 1 minute. Serve with the parmesan.
Experiments
Experiment
Plain flour, "00" flour or semolina
How much does the flour change the pasta?
- Make three small batches of dough with 100 g of flour and 1 egg each: one with plain flour, one with "00", and one with 80 g plain flour and 20 g fine semolina.
- Rest and roll each to the same thickness, cut into tagliatelle and cook for the same time. Taste with a little butter.
Look for: Plain flour makes a slightly firmer, more rustic pasta, "00" is silkier and more delicate, and the semolina version has more bite. Which do you want to buy again?
Experiment
Resting: none, 30 or 60 minutes
See what the rest does.
- Make three identical doughs. Roll one at once, one after 30 minutes and one after 60 minutes.
- Notice how hard each is to roll, and how much it springs back.
Look for: The unrested dough shrinks back and fights you. After 30 minutes it rolls easily, and an hour makes little extra difference.
Experiment
How thin
Find your best thickness.
- Roll one batch of dough to 1 mm, another to 2 mm and a third to 3 mm (use a coin or ruler to check). Cut them all into tagliatelle.
- Cook for 2, 3 and 4 minutes, and taste each with a little butter.
Look for: The thinnest cooks fastest and can be slippery or break, the thickest is chewy and starchy. Most people like about 1.5 mm.
Experiment
Extra yolk
Does a richer dough taste different?
- Make one dough with 100 g of flour and 1 whole egg, and another with 100 g of flour, 1 whole egg and 1 extra yolk (add a few drops of water if it is dry).
- Roll, cut and cook both, and compare colour and taste.
Look for: The extra yolk gives a deeper yellow, richer, silkier pasta. It's an easy upgrade for a special dish, or a way of using up spare yolks (Cooking Skills: Eggs 2, chapter 2).
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic dough | ||||
| Maltagliati with tomato | ||||
| Tagliatelle with butter | ||||
| Pappardelle with ragù | ||||
| Plain vs 00 vs semolina | ||||
| Resting 0, 30, 60 minutes | ||||
| 1, 2 and 3 mm | ||||
| Extra yolk |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Dough crumbly and won't come together | Egg small or flour dry | Wet your hands and knead; add water a few drops at a time |
| Dough sticky | Egg large or humid day | Knead in a little flour, a teaspoon at a time |
| Dough springs back when rolled | Not rested long enough | Cover and rest another 15 minutes |
| Dough tears when rolled | Too thin in one place, or too dry | Roll more gently; rest; patch with a wet finger |
| Ribbons stick together | Not dusted, or left to sit | Dust with semolina and nest loosely; cook soon |
| Pasta gluey after cooking | Overcooked, or too little water | Taste at 2 minutes; use a big pan of boiling water |
Food safety: fresh pasta
The dough contains raw egg and raw flour. The Food Standards Agency advises against eating or tasting uncooked flour or dough, because raw flour is not treated to kill bacteria such as E. coli. Don't taste the dough or any filling that contains raw egg, wash your hands, the board and your tools after handling raw dough, and use Lion-marked eggs. Cook fresh pasta thoroughly. Pregnant women, children under 5, people aged 65 and over, and anyone with a weakened immune system should be especially careful.Uncooked fresh pasta, which contains raw egg, should be kept in the fridge (0 to 5°C) and cooked within 24 hours, or frozen straight away. (There is no pasta-specific official guidance, so this is a cautious rule based on the Food Standards Agency's general advice on chilling and freezing homemade food.) Freeze it in a single layer on a tray, then bag it, and cook from frozen.
Cooked pasta is a starchy food, and like rice it can grow bacteria if it is left warm. There is no pasta-specific official guidance, so this course uses the cautious rule: cool it quickly (within about an hour), put it in the fridge, and eat it within 24 hours; freeze it if you won't. Reheat until steaming hot all the way through.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I can mix and knead an egg dough until it is smooth and elastic.
- I know why the dough needs resting.
- I can roll it to about 1.5 mm without a machine.
- I can cut tagliatelle and pappardelle by hand.
- I can handle raw dough safely.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Pasta 2, chapter 2 is Hand-Shaped Pasta: orecchiette, cavatelli, pici and pinched farfalle, shaped with your fingers from simple semolina dough.