Description

This recipe guides you through making homemade spaghetti noodles from scratch using simple ingredients like all-purpose flour, eggs, olive oil, and milk. With a combination of kneading, resting, and rolling the dough, you'll create fresh pasta that's perfect for your favorite sauces. The process includes step-by-step instructions for dough preparation, rolling with a pasta machine, drying, and cooking the noodles to al dente perfection.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
6 large egg yolks + 1 whole egg (140 grams total)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon milk

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Instructions

Create the flour well: Dump the flour into a large bowl or onto a clean work surface. Use your fingers to create a well in the center of the flour. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and egg yolks just to combine, then pour them into the center of the flour. Add the olive oil and milk.
Mix eggs and flour: Using a fork, start whisking the eggs, gradually incorporating the flour bit-by-bit. Continue to whisk, pulling more and more flour into the eggs, until a soft, shaggy dough begins to form. This will take a couple of minutes. It's normal that not all flour is incorporated at this point.
Knead the dough: Dump the whole shaggy mixture onto a clean work surface and use your hands to knead it by folding the dough over onto itself, pressing it down with your palm, and folding again. Incorporate more flour as you knead until you have a smooth, elastic, non-sticky dough. This will take about 10 minutes. Avoid skimping on kneading to develop gluten properly.
Rest the dough: Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 5 hours, up to 1 week. This resting helps hydrate the flour and relax the gluten.
Divide and flatten dough: When ready to make noodles, unwrap and cut dough into 4 equal portions. Take one portion while keeping the rest covered and flatten it enough to fit through a pasta machine.
Roll the dough: Set pasta machine to the widest setting (usually '0'). Feed dough through rollers 10-12 times, folding it in half before each pass. Dust with flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Thin the pasta: Gradually change the pasta machine setting to thinner settings (2, then 3, then 4 as preferred). Feed dough through rollers a couple of times at each setting, dusting with flour regularly. Stop when pasta reaches desired thickness; typically setting 4 for thicker spaghetti.
Cut into noodles: Pass the thin sheet of dough through the spaghetti cutter attachment. If strands are too long, trim with kitchen shears. Lay noodles on a tray, baking sheet, or hang on a pasta drying rack.
Dry the noodles: Let the noodles dry for at least a couple of hours. For longer storage, dry completely and store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
Cook the noodles: Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente — tender but firm to the bite. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water if not serving immediately to stop cooking.

Notes

Kneading time is crucial to develop the dough’s elasticity and smoothness; do not rush it.
Dusting with flour throughout rolling prevents sticking and uneven noodles.
Resting the dough in the refrigerator allows gluten to relax and makes rolling easier.
You can freeze the dough portioned before rolling, wrapped tightly, for up to one month.
Fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried pasta; watch closely to avoid overcooking.
Use a pasta drying rack if possible to hang noodles without sticking.