Homemade spaghetti, or pasta, as the Italians call it, is often healthier than dried or processed pasta because it is made with fresh ingredients like eggs.
It also tastes sweeter and fresher than processed pasta for the same reason: the use of fresh products.
Here's what you'll need to make classic homemade spaghetti:
- Flour: There are many kinds of flour you can use to make homemade spaghetti.
- All-purpose flour is the most common flour.
- "00" flour: It has the silkiest texture.
- Semolina flour makes the spaghetti sturdier and helps the sauce stick better. (It is also great for sprinkling while rolling)
2. Four large eggs
3. A little olive oil to help the dough come together.
4. Sea salt: One teaspoon for the dough and the water.
Here are the instructions for making homemade spaghetti:
- Make a well. Pile the flour on a large cutting board, creating a hollow centre like a volcano.
2. Fill the volcano: crack the eggs, sprinkle salt, and drizzle olive oil into the well.
3. Mix it up: Use a fork to whisk the eggs, then gradually incorporate the flour until it forms a thick mixture. Don't worry if some eggs spill; just use your hands or a spatula to bring them back in.
4. Knead time
Use your hands to combine the dough and knead on the floured board for about 10 minutes until smooth and stretchy. Add more flour if sticky or water if dry, but aim for a slightly dry dough.
5. Rest and relax: Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
6. Roll it out
After 30 minutes, take a piece of dough and shape it into a flat oval. Dust your work surface with flour and roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it's thin (about the thickness of two coins). Add more flour if it sticks.
7. Cut it up
Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough into long strips about five inches wide and dust the strips with a little flour.
8. Shape the noodles. This is where it gets tricky, but here’s what you should do:
Starting from the short end, loosely roll each strip into a cylinder. Then, cut the cylinders across the width to create your desired size.
9. Dry it out
Place the cut spaghetti on a drying rack or form them into little nests on a surface with flour. Let them dry for 30 minutes.
Repeat with the remaining dough and voila, you have made spaghetti at home.