homemade pasta recipes

Homemade Pasta

Spinach Linguine

Homemade pasta is so much fun to make and the flavor is worth the extra effort. I taught a pasta making class last night. Everyone had a great time.  We made several different veggie based pastas, including spinach, carrot and beet. The recipe is pretty simple. Cooked veggies and flour.

We combined the ingredients in a food processor, then let the dough rest before rolling. Once you are ready to roll out your pasta, the shape is up to you. You can hand roll the pasta, and cut into noodles. We used pasta makers to roll the dough, and then a cutting attachment for the angel hair pasta and linguine.  Some dough was also used to make cheese stuffed ravioli, or combined with other pasta dough for more of a rainbow pasta.

We also had some egg based pasta dough.

Directions for mixing the dough is all the same- combine ingredients in a food processor and mix until dough forms into a ball. Allow to rest, covered, for 20 minutes, before rolling.

To cook fresh pasta, noodles are cooked in boiling, salted water for 1-2 minutes. Ravioli are cooked in boiling water for 3-5 minutes.

Mixed veggie pasta, ready to be cut

Spinach angel hair

Carrot and Spinach Ravioli

Parsley Linguine

Carrot Pasta

1 c. flour

1/3 c. cooked carrots

1-2 T. water, if needed

       Beet Pasta

1 c. flour

1/3 c. cooked beets

1-2 T. water, if needed

Spinach Pasta

2 c. flour

1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed, drained, reserving some of the liquid

Mix this dough as for other pastas, but don’t be too quick to add reserved liquid. While processing, you’ll get water out of the spinach. May require more kneading and rolling than other pasta dough. Be patient, it’s worth the work.

Parsley Pasta

1 c. flour

3 t. chopped fresh parsley

1 egg

1 T. oil, (optional)

2-4 T. water, if needed

Basic Pasta Dough

1 c. flour

1 egg

1 T. olive oil

1 T. water, if needed

Four Cheese Ravioli Filling

3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

15 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese

8 oz. cream cheese

5 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Chill until ready to use. This will fill dozens and dozens of ravioli. Extra filling can be frozen and used another time.

More pictures from last night

Rainbow Vegetable Pasta

Veggie Pasta Linguine

I love the taste of homemade pasta and I particularly like the colors and tastes of veggie pastas. Veggie pastas are sometimes a little softer than egg pasta and benefit from being mixed with some egg based pasta, for strength and ease of rolling.  You can also use herbs and spices to flavor and color the dough.

I take  pieces of several different doughs and roll them together. As you roll the dough out the colors blend together and create rainbow pasta. You can use sheets of the dough to make rainbow ravioli or just cut into noodles.

I often use a food processor to make pasta dough, especially the vegetable pastas because I am using vegetables that need to be pureed, pretty much. I have a small one which is perfect for small batches, no more than 1 cup of flour. I like to use my stand mixer for larger batches and for egg pasta dough. Always best to make pasta dough at least 30 minutes ahead and let it rest before rolling.  You can even make it the day before and chill until ready to use.

Basic Homemade Pasta

 3 c. flour, more if using electric pasta machine. See note.

1 1/2 t. salt

4 eggs

Water, if needed

Mix flour and salt and stir in eggs, kneading until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be very stiff. Add a little water if needed to hold dough together. You may wish to mix the dough in a mixer or food processor. Cover dough and let rest 15-20 minutes before rolling. Under kneading your dough will result in coarse, crumbly pasta. This batch makes about 1 pound. Serves 4-6.

Roll dough out on well floured board or in pasta machine (non-electric) until desired thickness in reached. Add flour as needed to prevent sticking. Cut into strips or whatever shapes are desired.  Pasta can be hung to dry or separated and allowed to dry flat on a table. When pasta is not hanging to dry it must be turned occasionally to dry evenly.      Although you may hear otherwise, homemade pasta, even when dried, should be frozen for long term storage. Storing at room temperature can lead to spoilage. Fresh pasta can also be stored in the refrigerator for a day or two.

Note: All electric pasta machines vary slightly and you should use their recipes as much as possible. Still, for most models, adding 1/4 c. flour for each cup in a hand rolled recipe works the best. Also recipes that contain seeds and vegetables may clog an electric pasta maker. Follow your manufacturer’s instructions.

These are smaller batches which can be mixed in a processor or by hand. If you want to mix a vegetable based pasta by hand, puree the vegetables first.

Curry Pasta

1 c. flour

1 t. curry powder

1 egg

1-2 T. water, if needed

Carrot Pasta

 1 c. flour

1/2 t. dried dill

1/3 c. carrot puree

1-2 T. water, if needed

   Beet Pasta

1 c. flour

1/2 t. dill

1/3 c. beet puree

1-2 T. water, if needed

Spinach Pasta

2 c. flour

1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, cooked, drained, reserving some of the liquid

Mix this dough as for other pastas, but don’t be too quick to add reserved liquid. While kneading you’ll get water out of the spinach. May require more kneading and rolling than other pasta doughs. Be patient, it’s worth the work.

Broccoli Pasta

1 c. flour

1/2 c. broccoli puree

Cheese Ravioli Filling

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2/3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

2/3 c. ricotta cheese

1/3 c. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Combine all ingredients well and chill until needed.

Roll a batch of dough into  a rectangle, 18×12 inches and 1/16 inch thick. Arrange well rounded teaspoonfuls of the  cheese filling two inches apart on the pasta sheet. Roll out additional dough into an 18×12 inch rectangle. With a pastry brush moisten bottom sheet of pasta around edges with water. Place second sheet of pasta on top, using fingers to seal the dough around the edges of the filling. With a pastry wheel or sharp knife, cut between the ravioli to separate them. You should have 24 ravioli.

Cooking Fresh Pasta

Fresh pasta cooks a lot faster than dry pasta. Fine pasta, like angle hair, is cooked almost as soon as it gets into boiling water. It cooks for just a minute. Larger noodles, like linguine, will take 3 minutes or so to cook. Fresh ravioli cook until they float- about 4 minutes. Watch carefully, so you don’t overcook your fresh pasta.

Storing Pasta Dough

You can keep fresh pasta dough in the fridge for a couple of days. For longer storage, pasta dough can be frozen. That way, you can thaw out dough whenever you are in the mood for fresh pasta.

Rainbow Ravioli
Veggie Pasta Dough

Subscriber to our Mailing List

Follow us on Social Media

Support This Site

Donate Now

New Release: