On Homemade Pasta

One of life's great joys!

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Making pasta at home is such a luxurious activity. Starting with the simplicity of ingredients and the meditative kneading (and kneading and kneading) and ending with a bowl of something so delicious and magical is something that everyone should experience at least once.

Usually, I am ingredient-agnostic. Don’t have cake flour? Use plain. Don’t have Rancho Gordo beans? Use whatever dried bean you have on hand. I don’t care—I’m just happy you’re cooking! For this recipe though, I’m breaking my own rules and telling you that I need you to find two special things: high-quality local eggs and 00 flour.

Why? If you’ve never heard of 00 flour (also called double zero or doppio zero) this flour is ground to an extremely fine texture, so dense that it almost resembles powdered sugar. You can read more about this ingredient here, but in a nutshell, the finer ground makes the gluten behave differently and makes for chewier pasta.

As for the eggs…well, I have to be honest. I once made the mistake of buying the most expensive eggs on the grocery store shelf, and it ruined me for life. Then, when I bought eggs from the farmers’ market and tasted those fresh, bright orange yolks, I got even more ruined. As someone who bakes way too much, I cannot possibly afford to buy only these beautiful artisanal eggs for baking projects, but if I’m making something like pasta, you better believe I’m splurging for the good stuff. You can taste the difference! I swear!

Laminate herbs into your pasta or keep it plain — either way, you won't believe how easy it is to make pasta at home. Welcome to the cult.

Homemade Pasta