Homemade Egg Pasta Dough (Basic Recipe)

This article presents a classic basic recipe for pasta dough with eggs. The egg dough is especially at home in northern Italy, where people eat more stuffed pasta.

This pasta dough is soft and easy to work with. It also has a good stretchiness and elasticity, which is why you can roll it into thin pasta sheets used for ravioli, tortellini or tagliatelle.

The recipe has been tried and tested a million times and is guaranteed to work!

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How to make Pasta Dough with Eggs (Step by Step)

To make a good egg dough, you only need three simple ingredients.

You can prepare the dough without special utensils. However, you need a large work surface (preferably wooden), a dough scraper (also works by hand), a fork, and cling film.

The working time is about 15 minutes, and then the dough should rest for about 30 minutes before you continue.

Step 1: Form a flour well and whisk the eggs to form a dense mass.

First, I empty the flour on the work surface and form a hollow about 15 centimeters wide with a 1-centimeter thick bottom.

Then I sprinkle the salt and the eggs into it.

With a fork, I break the yolks and whisk the egg mixture. Then I gradually incorporate the flour from the outer wall and flour bottom without creating an opening.

Step 2: Scrape the flour onto the egg mixture from each side, creating a crumbly dough.

Once a “mushy” mixture has formed, I run the dough scraper under the flour base from each side and fold it over the well.

I then pass the mixture through several times, creating a crumbly dough.

Step 3: Press the crumbs together to form a lump of dough.

Next, I scrape any flour residue from my dough scraper and continue with my hands. To do this, I press the dough crumbs together into a lump.

If the mixture doesn’t want to form a lump, you can add a little water generously (picture 2).

You will work the remaining crumbs into the dough in the next step.

If you need help with this step, you can find tips against crumbly pasta dough here.

Step 4: Knead the dough into a ball for about 8 minutes.

There are several kneading techniques, one of which I find particularly compelling:

Apply forward pressure to the dough with the heel of your hand. Pull the dough back with the other hand, gently rotating it about 45°. Repeat the process until all the dough crumbs are incorporated.

Knead the dough for at least 8 minutes or until the surface feels silky and no longer sticks.

If the dough still sticks to your hands, you will need to sprinkle flour on the work surface and work it in.

Step 5: Wrap the pasta dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Once the pasta dough has the right consistency, you can wrap it in cling film and rest it for 30 minutes.

The resting time is essential because it rearranges the protein chains responsible for the dough’s stretchiness. That allows the dough to be rolled out thinly without returning to its original shape.

Continuation: How to make fresh Pasta Shapes

You have successfully made pasta dough for fresh egg pasta!

Now all you have to do is shape it into delicious pasta and prepare a sauce to go with it.

If you want to know how I used this pasta dough to make the following six types of pasta, read the following post now:

• How to make fresh egg Pasta (6 Shapes)

Variations for pasta dough with eggs

Instead of making a pure pasta dough with soft wheat flour, you can try a 50/50 mix with durum wheat semolina.

The extra semolina gives the dough more bite without completely losing the flexibility and flavor of egg dough.

Of course, there are quite a few other possible combinations. So next time, vary the ratios and find out which mixture you like best!

A second variation gives the egg batter a beautiful bright yellow color.

How much pasta dough do you need per person?

On average, calculate 200 grams of pasta dough per person as a main dish and 100 grams as an appetizer. Depending on your hunger and the size of the side dish, you can vary between 150 and 250 grams (main dish) or between 75 and 125 grams (appetizer) of pasta dough.

In the following article, I go into more detail about the correct quantities:

• Pasta dough quantities: how much pasta dough per person?

How to store egg pasta dough

Although we included eggs, you can easily store this pasta dough for a few days.

For more information, you can read the following articles:

• Storing Pasta Dough: What is the shelf life of pasta dough?
• Freezing and thawing pasta dough with a system
• How to prepare and keep pasta dough in large quantities

If you have any questions or suggestions about this post, feel free to comment!

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Here are three other articles that might interest you:

• How to Make Pasta Dough: the Complete Tutorial
• How to Make Pasta Dough with Semolina
• How to Make Pasta Dough with Spinach

Have fun making homemade pasta!

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