How to make homemade tagliatelle without a pasta maker

Tagliatelle is an Italian ribbonlike pasta made with eggs and flour that you can easily make at home even without a pasta maker. Yes, really.

I rarely make my own pasta at home, because for convenience’s sake, it is much easier and faster to just buy the dry, packaged pasta from the supermarket and stock up the cupboards with the different kinds I need. There’s no need to mix and knead any dough. That said, eating fresh, homemade pasta is a completely different experience than the kind we usually buy.

Let me share with you how to make tagliatelle without a pasta maker. Of course a pasta maker can help to make the flattening of the pasta easier and the slicing more uniform in size, but I learned how to make my own without one from an Italian chef who made tagliatelle from scratch like grandmothers used to do it at home.

As a general rule, for every person, measure 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of flour and 1 egg. But start with 3 ounces (85 grams) of flour first before increasing to 3.5 ounces.

Collect all the ingredients and utensils you will need to make the tagliatelle. You’ll need eggs, flour, a fork, a big, sharp knife, a rolling pin and a big, wooden board.

Pour the flour into the middle of the wooden board, and make a mountain out of it. Create a crater in the middle, and crack the eggs into it.

With the fork, carefully whisk the eggs.

While whisking the eggs, gradually include some flour from the sides of the wall.

Keep mixing with the fork until the mixture becomes thick.

With your hands, knead the dough into a compact ball.

Flatten the dough into a disc by pulling the edges with your hands.

With the rolling pin, flatten the dough some more. Turn the dough 90 degrees after passing the rolling pin on it to maintain an even disc. Keep doing this until the disc is thin enough.

Roll up both ends of the dough to the center, and then run the knife in the middle to slice it in 2.

Slice the tubes into ribbons slightly larger than 1/2 centimeter (about 8 millimeters).

Uncurl the tagliatelle carefully, and then sprinkle with more flour to avoid the ribbons sticking to one another. The pasta can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

How to make fresh tagliatelle

Serves 3

Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 3 minutes | Total time: 23 minutes

Ingredients:

• 9 ounces (can be adjusted until 10.5 ounces) strong, all-purpose flour (farina tipo 0), plus more for sprinkling
• 3 eggs

Directions:

1. Onto the middle of the wooden pasta board, pour the flour, and make a small mountain. Make a crater in the middle of the mountain, and crack the eggs into the crater.
2. Using a fork, whisk the eggs carefully (without breaking the wall of flour), and gradually collect a little bit of the flour with the fork from the sides of the wall while whisking continuously. Continue until the dough becomes thick.
3. When the dough is thick enough, use your hands to knead it, and make a compact ball.
4. Using your hands, gradually pull the edges to flatten the dough into a disc.
5. Use a rolling pin to flatten the disc, and turn it to make an even, large disc. Keep on flattening it with the rolling pin to make it as thin as possible. Sprinkle more flour on both sides of the disc.
6. Roll 2 opposite ends of the dough equally toward the center, and then slice down the middle with a sharp knife.
7. Slice the rolls slightly larger than 1/2 a centimeter thick (about 8 millimeters). After slicing them, unroll the ribbons carefully, and sprinkle them with some flour so they don’t stick to one another.
8. Keep them refrigerated if not cooking immediately. They can last for 24 hours.
9. To cook, drop the pasta into a pot of boiling salted water, and cook for about 3 minutes. Mix with whatever sauce you desire.

More tagliatelle recipes

Tagliatelle with eggplant cream, tomatoes and basil
Hearty pasta with beef ragù
Ratatouille pasta