You Don’t Need a Pasta Maker—or Eggs!—to Make Noodles at Home
How to make pasta without a pasta machine
I have a theory: More people would make pasta at home if they could do it without the gear. I’m not exactly positive; I got the pasta-making bug as a teenager and have built up a collection of ravioli stamps, pasta cutters and more, even two hand-crank pasta machines. But I don’t need them to make great pasta at home. And neither do you.
Our upcoming cookbook, “Milk Street Backroads Italy,” breaks down the process of making three pasta shapes at home, either completely with your hands or with nothing more than a fork, rolling pin and food processor. I enjoy making orecchiette—which translates to “little ears” in Italian—but try your hand at cavatelli or pici—a rustic rounded spaghetti—too.
Start with the right flour
Our pasta dough riffs on the classic composition of orecchiette, which usually is made from only semolina—a coarse, gluten-heavy flour milled from durum wheat. We use half semolina and half all-purpose flour. This split makes a dough that’s a dream to work with: soft and workable because of the AP, pliable and extensible because of the semolina, nicely structured, with a gently nutty flavor and pale yellow color. Semolina isn’t hard to find—I tend to have a bag around because I use it when baking bread. If you can’t find it locally, you can order it online.
No eggs, please
For these three handmade shapes, you’re going to make an eggless pasta dough, which is more typical of southern Italy. (Orecchiette hails from 13th-century Puglia, where eggs were not widely available.) The texture of the final pasta should be toothsome and robust; hand-shaped pastas are often a little thicker, more textured and sturdier than silky egg noodles; they not only allow sauce to cling to them, they also better hold their shape.
Take your time shaping your “little ears”
Once you get the hang of forming orecchiette’s signature ear shape, you’ll be on a roll. A few things to keep in mind: There are a couple steps you can’t rush. After you bring your dough together by hand or in a food processor, knead it for at least 10 minutes. Rely on visual cues more than the clock—your dough ball should be smooth and soft and spring back when poked. Then, rest your dough for 20 to 60 minutes at room temperature (or tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to two days). This allows the gluten to relax, so it can be shaped more easily.
Even if you make your dough ahead of time and let it rest in the fridge for a few hours, bring it to room temperature before shaping. This prevents cracking while you form your shells. Shaping is relatively straightforward: Form the dough into ropes by rolling it between your palms, cut the ropes into quarter-inch pieces, then use the pad of your thumb to “rub’ each piece into a semolina-dusted counter so that a hollow curl forms. Voilà, a little ear!
To form cavatelli, perform the same dragging motion along the tines of a fork or against a gnocchi board (these are inexpensive online and a fun tool for several ridged pasta shapes). For pici, roll out your dough to a quarter-inch thick slab, slice into quarter-inch strips and roll each rope against the counter until long, rounded, rustic noodles form. For all of these shapes, don’t forget to dust your baking sheet with semolina or line it with parchment paper, and leave generous space between the formed pasta, so the strands and ears don't stick to each other or the baking sheet.
Don’t overcook it!
Fresh pasta cooks much faster than the dried stuff. Boil your pasta for just about five minutes (start to check them when they begin to float) until they’re al dente. Orecchiette works in a range of recipes—sauce and smaller ingredients pool in each little ear, so it’s wonderful with a textured sauce. If you need inspiration, try it in our Orecchiette with Saffron, Ricotta and Mint; Orecchiette with Sardinian Sausage Ragù; Blistered Tomato Orecchiette with Fresh Mozarella and Orecchiette with Broccolini.
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.
And if you're looking for more Milk Street, check out our livestream cooking classes with our favorite chefs, home cooks and friends for global recipes, cooking methods and more.
