Al Dente Homemade Pasta Recipe [with the Kitchenaid Pasta Attachment]

Whether it's your first time making it or you're a pasta expert, making your own pasta is a revelation. Here is the perfect al dente homemade pasta recipe with step by step instructions using the Kitchenaid Pasta Attachment. Your Italian red sauce will swoon with delight.

Growing up in an Italian-American house, we ate a lot of pasta. I mean a lot. Pretty much every Sunday our dinner plates were filled to the brim with homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. My grandmas especially would have loved how easy this perfect al dente homemade pasta recipe is...we might have had it every week!

p.s. it was a darn good childhood.

What is al dente pasta, anyway?

Al dente translated means “to the tooth”. Which, admittedly, is kind of confusing. When you bite into pasta that has been cooked al dente:

• The pasta will taste firm yet soft.
• There’ll be a noticeable white rim between the outside and inside of the pasta noodle.
• The noodle will hold its shape and not fall apart or be too white in color (both of which mean that the pasta is overcooked).

It’s worth it to make fresh pasta

Here's why:

• It’s easy. Seriously! I wouldn’t tease you. This fresh pasta recipe has only three ingredients (not counting water)!
• Making pasta is soul-touching. Making homemade pasta is as satisfying as painting a room or spinning some perfect pizza dough.
• Accomplishment. When you use a pair of tongs to twirl that luscious al dente pasta on your plate, your heart is literally going to soar. And that first perfect bite is one proud moment.

The Equipment You’ll Need

There are a few different techniques to make homemade pasta. You can use a mixer and dough hook for the whole thing. You can use your hands from start to finish. You can even use a food processor (my favorite is the Magimix food processor) to mix the dough together and roll the rest by hand or with a rolling pin. And the Atlas hand crank pasta maker was my first pasta machine...it's so easy and old school...the best!

My favorite tools for making pasta are a combo of:

• Your hands. The best tool in your kitchen. Period. And they are also the best tool for making amazing pasta dough at home because feeling the dough is key for knowing when the dough is ready. And the feel is everything, dahling. [see below].
• Kitchenaid pasta attachment. This pasta roller literally changed my pasta-making life. Because there’s no cranking, you can use both hands to run the dough through the machine.
• A clean work surface. Either a clean countertop or cutting board.
• A bench scraper. Comes in handy when gathering the flour on your work surface.

Secrets to making homemade pasta dough

• Confidence. Reading through the recipe not just once but TWICE will help you gain the confidence to make pasta dough. And a good glass of wine.
• Practice. Just like anything, the more you practice making pasta, the simpler it will be. And the more you’ll understand what I mean by feel.
• Good weather. The weather and room temperature does affect how flour absorbs moisture and how the dough responds. When it’s more humid outside, the dough is going to absorb more moisture; conversely when it’s cooler out, you might have to work a little harder or add a little more water to help the dough along.

Why you’ll love using the kitchenaid pasta roller to roll homemade pasta

• Hands free. Ok— well maybe not 100% hands free, but you will have both hands to fold and catch the dough and feed it through the pasta roller vs. cranking a pasta machine with one hand and catching the dough with the other.
• Speed control. Using the first speed setting on the Kitchenaid mixer leads to the perfect tempo and speed for smoothly rolling pasta dough.
• It comes with a cutting attachment. Beautifully cut linguine, fettuccine, spaghetti all can be yours in literally seconds!

What you’ll need for this recipe

Three ingredient homemade pasta? You betchya! If you consider water an ingredient, then it’s technically 4 ingredients but again —that isn’t much!

The beauty of pasta dough is that the ingredients are simple (and ones you probably already have)!

1. Large eggs. A combination of whole eggs and egg yolks gives our flour the best texture and the extra yolks bring richness. And large eggs, please!
2. Flour. We are using both semolina and "00" flour. More on that below!
3. Water. Not really an ingredient but a necessary component that you’ll adjust based on your temperature and humidity in your house and outside. There's that "feel" thing again!

How to Make Homemade Pasta

This is the fun part. Put on your favorite music to cook by. [PSA: if you’ve never listened to Brooklyn Duo, you’re in for a treat!].

Step by step instructions

Combine the flours in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Reserve 1 cup of flour [1].

Pour flour onto a clean cutting board or countertop in a mound. Make a well in the center of the flour using the bottom of a measuring cup, leaving flour at the bottom. You don’t want to see the cutting board [2] .

Beat the eggs in a bowl (or if you forget like I did, that’s ok!) Pour the beaten eggs into the well [3].

• Use a fork to pull flour from the sides into the egg, whisking the flour into the eggs [4]. Keep working the flour into the egg until you don’t see any runny egg.

• Surround the dough with your hands and bring it together making a ball [5].

• Add enough water a tablespoon at a time to make a smooth dough [6].

• Keep rolling the dough, adding more flour as needed. Don't worry if you don't use all the flour. The amount might fluctuate based on the weather.
• Roll the dough by pulling it towards you, make a quarter turn, and push it away [8,9].
• Add more flour as needed. You might need as much as a cup more!
• Keep rolling until the pasta dough is smooth (Grandma Nina would say "as a baby's bottom"!)

Allow the dough to relax covered with a damp dish towel or wrapped in plastic wrap for 15-20 minutes.

Flour & Water Balance

Too much flour? Add more water. Too much water? Add more flour. You want a smooth ball of dough.

-Josie + Nina

How to Cut Pasta

Using the Kitchenaid pasta cutter makes it so easy.

• Place the short end of one piece of dough into the end of the cutter with one hand holding the other end of the dough upright. Turn on the machine to low and allow the machine to grab the dough pulling it through and cut it [13,14].
• Loosely wrap the dough into a “nest” and place on a floured baking sheet and sprinkle the cut pasta with more flour.
• Repeat with the rest of the dough.

You can use a pasta drying rack if you have one but don't run out and buy one. You can lay it over a clean dish towel on the back of a chair!

Time to cook!

The best thing is that fresh pasta cooks quickly so you can have dinner on the table in under an hour from making to cooking! And this al dente pasta homemade pasta recipe delivers in the fast cooking department!

Bring a stockpot of water to a rolling boil. Season generously with kosher salt (generous means a handful!).

Gently add the pasta to the pot, one nest at a time.

Lightly stir with a wooden spoon and cook for 2-3 minutes until the pasta is al dente. Test one piece. It should have a firm bite and not be mushy. You’ll know!