Let me teach you how to make tagliatelle pasta from scratch with helpful tips and tricks I learned while studying in Italy. This egg-based pasta requires only four main ingredients.
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Taking the time to make pasta from scratch can be a really fun and relaxing activity.
During my days of going to culinary school in Italy, I spent hours in the pastry lab making many different types of handmade pasta. From angel hair to stuffed ravioli and even chocolate dessert pasta, it was a magical time of shaping pasta with a view of the beautiful Ionian Sea.
This from-scratch pasta recipe will show you how to make Northern Italian dough, which is made with eggs and 00 flour. Plus, I'll teach you how to cut tagliatelle shaped pasta with and without a pasta machine.
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What You'll Learn In This Recipe
- How to make classic Northern Italian pasta dough with eggs.
- Helpful tips and tricks for ensuring your pasta turns out perfectly every single time.
- The importance of using certain types of flour.
Ingredients You Need
There are only a few ingredients that you'll need to make tagliatelle pasta from scratch.
- 00 soft wheat flour: 00 flour has a smaller grain size compared to other types of flour. This will result in a light and tender pasta. Don't use all-purpose flour.
- Eggs: I highly suggest using a digital food scale to weigh out the eggs. When measuring the whole eggs, whisk the whites and the yolks together then measure on a digital scale.
- Salt: Give your pasta some flavor with a small amount of fine sea salt. Do not use large granules, otherwise, it will not distribute evenly throughout the pasta.
- Semolina flour: Semolina flour is used to keep the pasta from sticking to one another.
How To Make This Recipe
Making tagliatelle pasta from scratch is easier than you may think! Be sure to pay close attention to the look and feel of the dough during the kneading and shaping process.
1. Add 00' flour, whole eggs, egg yolks, and fine sea salt to a mixing bowl.
2. Using clean hands, mix the ingredients together just until a shaggy dough forms.
3. Pour the shaggy dough onto a clean work surface and gently knead/pat the excess flour together to form one solid dough.
4. Shape the pasta dough into a square. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow it to rest until you touch the dough and it has slightly softened.
5. After about 30 - 35 minutes, you'll notice that the dough has softened and the flour has absorbed the liquid from the egg and egg yolks.
6. Cut the dough into 3 equally sized pieces. I love using a bench scraper for this step.
7. Use your hands or a rolling pin to slightly flatten the pasta dough so it can fit into the widest setting of the pasta machine. I also like to dust each side of the pasta with semolina to ensure it doesn’t stick.
8. Pass the pasta dough through the widest setting on the pasta machine.
9. Fold each side of the pasta to the middle.
10. Then, pass the pasta dough through the widest setting again.
11. Reduce the pasta machine width setting by one, then continue to pass the pasta through the machine. Continue flattening the pasta, reducing the setting by one, until it reaches a medium setting, about 1 mm thick (for me setting 7).
12. Finally, use the pasta machine attachment to cut the pasta into thin, tagliatelle shapes (around a diameter of 6 millimeters wide).
Dust the pasta with semolina flour to prevent sticking then shape the pasta into a nest before placing it on a sheet tray filled with semolina flour.
Expert Tips
- It's best to weigh out the ingredients using a digital kitchen scale. The pasta dough recipe will turn out better because the measurements will be more accurate.
- It's really important to fully scrape out the containers (especially the container with the egg) so all of the ingredients are used when mixing the pasta dough. The eggs help to hydrate the dough, so pay attention when measuring and mixing the ingredients.
- Don't roll the pasta until it's too thin or it will cook too quickly and become very mushy.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can still make tagliatelle with a rolling pin and a sharp chef's knife. First, roll the dough really thin (1 mm thick). Next, fold the dough in half, then in half again. Cut the pasta dough into 6 mm wide pieces to make tagliatelle.
It takes a while to fully knead the flour and eggs together - just have some patience. I like to use the heel of my hand to push the flour into the dough and knead it into one cohesive piece.
If you find that the dough is very sticky and you're having a hard time rolling it out, use semolina flour to lightly dust the outside of the pasta. This will help with sticking.
Yes, this pasta dough can be made 1 day in advance and kept in the refrigerator until you're ready to roll out the dough. Allow the dough to come to room temperature so it's easier to handle.
Yes! You'll want to allow the tagliatelle to dry out at room temperature until they've fully hardened. Place fully dried pasta in an airtight storage container for up to 3 months.
More Italian Pasta Recipes
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Italian Tagliatelle Pasta (4 Ingredients)
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons 00' soft wheat flour
- 1 ounce whole eggs (about ½ large egg)
- 0.7 ounce egg yolks (about 1 - 2 egg yolks)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- semolina flour for dusting
- coarse sea salt for cooking
Instructions
- Add 00' flour, whole eggs, egg yolks, and fine sea salt to a mixing bowl. Using clean hands, mix the ingredients together just until a shaggy dough forms.
- Pour the shaggy dough onto a clean work surface and gently knead/pat the excess flour together to form one solid dough.
- Shape the pasta dough into a square. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest until you touch the dough and it has slightly softened, about 30 - 35 minutes.
- Cut the dough into 3 equally sized pieces. Use your hands or a rolling pin to slightly flatten the pasta dough so it can fit into the widest setting of the pasta machine. Dust each side of the pasta with semolina to ensure it doesn’t stick.
- Pass the pasta dough through the widest setting on the pasta machine. Fold each side of the pasta to the middle, then pass the pasta dough through the widest setting again.
- Reduce the pasta machine width setting by one, then continue to pass the pasta through the machine. Continue flattening the pasta, reducing the setting by one, until it reaches a medium setting, about 1 mm thick (for me setting 7). You can add additional semolina flour throughout this process if the dough starts to get sticky.
- Use the pasta machine attachment to cut the pasta into thin, tagliatelle shapes (about 7 mm wide).
- Dust the pasta with semolina flour to prevent sticking then shape the pasta into a nest before placing it on a sheet tray filled with semolina flour.
- Boil a pot of water and generously season with coarse sea salt. Cook pasta for 30 seconds - 2 minutes, until slightly softened. Finish cooking with sauce of choice.
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