How to Make Homemade Pasta with a KitchenAid

This Kitchenaid homemade pasta recipe is the *best* step-by-step guide to making fresh egg pasta with your Kitchenaid Pasta attachment. We'll cover everything from flour selection to kneading to feeding through the machine. Once you learn this method, I'm confident you'll develop a deep appreciation for the soothing experience of crafting your own pasta!

I have a soft spot for freshly made pasta, especially classic egg pasta, which is delicate and velvety with a slight chew. It's perfect for a creamy mushroom pasta sauce, a rich, slow-cooked lamb ragu, or a delicate egg yolk ravioli.

And you know the best part? Pasta uses common household ingredients, so you can enjoy a delicious bowl whenever a craving hits.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

This recipe yields a soft, delicate dough with just the right chew! Here are a few other reasons to trust this recipe:

1. Well-tested and developed: With over 15 years of pasta-making experience, including a workshop in Italy and recipe testing for the cookbook "Pasta Every Day," I've honed the art of crafting delicious homemade pasta.
2. Mistake-free results: Save yourself the trouble of trial and error. I've made all the mistakes, researched extensively, and consulted multiple Italian cookbooks to provide a seamless, foolproof recipe.
3. Comprehensive guidance: My recipe offers valuable tips, tricks, and best practices to ensure your success.

Ready to give this a go? Before you begin, I highly recommend putting on your favorite music and pouring a glass of wine (or sparkling lemonade!). Now, let's get to it!

Perfecting the Recipe

What do we mean when we say we want to make great pasta? Depending on the type of dough, this could mean different things.

For example, fresh fettuccine should be silky, soft, and slightly elastic. Ricotta gnocchi should melt in your mouth, never feeling too dense or lumpy. Malloreddus, on the other hand, should offer a chewy and satisfying bite.

The Role of Flour:

Flour is a vital ingredient in fresh pasta dough. Kneading flour with liquid (like eggs) forms gluten, giving pasta its slightly stretchy, elastic quality.

Homemade pasta can use various flours, such as 00, semolina, or local varieties like red fife wheat. It's essential to distinguish the two main types of flour used. According to Marc Vetri in Mastering Pasta, soft, lower-protein flour provides elasticity (stretch), while hard, high-protein flour provides plasticity (structure).

Soft flour is usually used in egg dough, and hard flour is common in semolina dough. Many recipes, though, use a combination of both. As long as you understand when to use each type, you can experiment with unique combinations.

In this recipe, we're focusing on egg dough from Central and Northern Italy. This dough serves as the foundation for creations like fettuccine, pappardelle, farfalle, garganelli, and ravioli.

Recipe Notes:

• I call for whole eggs because they're easier to work with. Egg yolk doughs, while richer, are more difficult to knead.
• Although the classic ratio of 1 egg to 100g of flour is most traditional, a more precise guideline from Evan Funke recommends an egg dough with 57% hydration compared to the flour weight. This is, in turn, the ratio I used in developing the recipe.
• Ultimately, however, the key to perfect pasta lies in its feel; adjust moisture and flour as needed, and with practice, you'll develop an instinct for the ideal consistency.

Ingredient Notes

Flour: My base recipe calls for 00 flour only, but you can add 10% to 25% semolina flour if you want more chew.

• 00 Flour - This is a softer wheat flour (though still relatively high protein!). The “00” annotation refers to the fineness of the flour when milled, ensuring the sheets will easily slide through the rollers. I prefer Antimo Caputo's 00 flour.
• Semolina Flour - Semolina flour is made by milling durum flour, hard wheat flour with higher protein and a characteristic pale yellow color. Because of its coarse nature, it’s most often used for dusting to keep pasta from sticking to itself. Semola rimacinata, a finer grind, will work too.

Eggs: If you can afford to, try to use high-quality large eggs for a rich dough.

Olive Oil: A touch of extra-virgin olive oil provides moisture for easier kneading and rolling.

For a full list of ingredients and quantities, refer to the recipe card.

Key Equipment

• Kitchenaid Stand Mixer and a Kitchenaid Pasta Machine: You'll need the pasta roller attachment and, optionally, the cutter attachments.
• Scale: Optional but highly recommended for accurate results.
• Bench scraper or a sharp knife
• Rolling pin
• Baking sheets

How to Make Homemade Pasta

Make the Dough

Step 1. Make the well:

Measure out your flour onto a cutting board or large wooden work surface. Make a strong well with your fist (or a glass) in the center of the flour, then widen it. You’re looking for a wide, almost crater-like well so the eggs do not spill over the top (Image 1).

Slowly add eggs, one at a time, into the well. Add olive oil and salt. Using a fork, poke the eggs and whisk them until homogenous.

TIP: If this is your first time making pasta, I recommend building your well in a large bowl to avoid a mess (in case the eggs break).

Step 2. Mix the flour into the eggs:

Incorporate more and more of the surrounding flour into the well, being careful not to break it (Image 2).

Step 3. Mix until a thick paste forms:

Begin incorporating more and more of the flour into the well, whisking with the fork until the liquid thickens into a paste. Once it becomes thick and pasty (Image 3), knead with your hands or a bench scraper (Image 4).

Knead

Step 4. Knead the dough:

Alternate between incorporating more of the remaining flour and kneading the dough (Image 5). Continue kneading the dough until it comes together into a shaggy mass.

TIP: If the dough feels quite dry (which can happen in the winter), wrap it in plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 15 minutes to hydrate.

Next, wash and dry your hands, and discard any unincorporated dry bits from the work surface with a bench scraper.

TIP: Evan Funke, a master pastaio, notes that once your pasta is in a solid ball, it takes much more effort to incorporate small scraggly bits into the dough. If there are a few bits leftover, just discard them and continue kneading.

Knead aggressively for 5 - 7 minutes, digging the heel of one hand into the dough and stretching it, then folding it over itself. Rotate 45 degrees and continue digging, stretching, and folding (Image 6). If the dough feels dry, you can lightly wet your hands or mist the dough directly to control the humidity.

Step 5. Rest the dough:

At this point, your dough should feel quite smooth and slightly tacky but not sticky, with no dry bits remaining (Image 7).

Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for at least 20 minutes (up to 2 hours) at room temperature before rolling out. After 20 minutes, your dough should feel very smooth and soft (Image 8).

Step 6. Divide the dough:

Divide into 4 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one section of dough until it’s about ⅓-inch thick (leaving the rest sealed in plastic wrap).

Roll Out the Dough

Step 7. Shape the dough:

Attach your roller attachment to the Kitchenaid mixer, and turn the dial to '1' (the widest setting). Over low speed, feed the dough through the attachment.

After the initial feeding, the dough will form an oval shape (Image 9). To make a uniform rectangle, fold one end halfway up the dough, then fold the other end on top so you’ll have three even layers like an envelope (Image 10). Roll the dough out to ¼-inch thickness.

Step 8. Feed the dough:

Feed the dough through the next highest setting ('2') twice, then continue feeding through narrower settings until you’ve reached the thinness desired (Image 11). See the below section, 'How to Cut Different Pasta Shapes' to determine thinness.

Step 9. Cut the dough:

Coat sheets with a little flour, then cut into the desired shape by hand or with the machine (see below section on cutting tips).

Step 10. Store pasta:

Dust the noodles with semolina flour to prevent sticking, then roll the strands into a nest and store on a semolina-dusted baking sheet covered with a kitchen towel (Image 12). Repeat rolling out and cutting the remaining dough.

Step 11. Cook:

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, and cook pasta until al dente. Sauce and serve! Bon Appétit!

How to Cut Different Shapes

Regardless of your method, make sure to generously dust the sheets with semolina flour or 00 flour to prevent sticking.

Cutting with the Attachment

Spaghetti: Switch out the pasta sheet roller with the Spaghetti cutter, then run the sheet through the cutter.

Recommended Thickness: Setting 4 or 5.

Fettuccine: Run sheet through the Fettuccine cutter.

Recommended Thickness: Setting 5 or 6 (I prefer 6 for thinner, delicate strands).

TIP: If desired, you can cut the sheet in half crosswise for shorter noodles.

Cutting by Hand

Loosely fold the sheet of pasta over itself lengthwise in 2 ½-inch increments (Image 2), then use a sharp knife to cut widthwise (the short way) into desired lengths (Image 3).

Dust with more semolina flour, then unravel each piece (Image 4).

Tagliatelle: Cut pasta into ¼-inch pieces.

Recommended Thickness: Setting 5 (for chewier strands) or 6 (for more delicate strands).

Pappardelle: Cut pasta into ¾-inch to 1-inch pieces.

Recommended Thickness: Setting 5 or 6.

Tips and Tricks

Pasta is a bit of an art and science. Well-kneaded dough will be slightly springy, smoth, and tacky, but not sticky. Don't be afraid to adjust as needed! For example, if it feels dry, wet your hands or keep a spray bottle nearby.

Knead on a wooden cutting board, preferably. Wood absorbs moisture and prevents sticking or rapid drying. Non-wood surfaces will work but can yield slightly stickier dough.

Use flour generously. Generously dust the pasta with semolina flour before rolling, cutting, and storing.

Storage Instructions

Room Temperature: Store freshly cut pasta in a single layer on a semolina-dusted baking sheet for up to 2 hours. Cover with a damp kitchen towel to prevent drying.

Fridge: Fresh pasta can be kept in the fridge up to 24 hours in an airtight container. Line with semolina-dusted parchment paper to prevent sticking.

Freezer: For longer storage, freeze pasta on a parchment-lined sheet for 1 hour. Transfer to an airtight container or ziploc bag and freeze up to 1 month. Cook directly from frozen.

Check out my guide for step-by-step details on storing fresh homemade pasta.

Recipe FAQs