8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (2024)

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These fresh pasta recipes are well worth the extra time.

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The Serious Eats Team

The Serious Eats Team

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Published March 24, 2020

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There's no denying the pleasure of dropping a handful of dried pasta into boiling water and producing dinner in mere minutes. But equally satisfying—and really, not much more difficult—is making pasta from scratch.

Making pasta isn't just a matter of impressing your dinner guests—though it definitely will. As we explain in our guide to making fresh pasta, dried and fresh pasta are entirely different products. Dried pastas tend to be denser and more heavy, which makes them ideal for standing up to rich sauces. Fresh pasta, on the other hand, is often lighter and more tender. For those nights when you have just a tiny bit more time, these are our eight favorite fresh pasta recipes.

  • Classic Fresh Egg Pasta

    8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (2)

    Fresh pasta is quite simple to make, and this recipe is the simplest of them all. You'll start with a well of all-purpose flour, and drop a mixture of egg yolks and whole eggs into the well's center. Once the eggs and flour have been fully combined, you'll go to work kneading the pasta and rolling it through your pasta maker. This is the pasta dough we'll put to use in many of the following variations, so make a double batch.

    Get the recipe for Classic Fresh Egg Pasta

  • Homemade Mushroom Tortellini

    8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (3)

    Making tortellini is a great group activity, but you'll have no trouble pulling this recipe off on your own if it's a one-person dinner kind of night. A mix of mushrooms is cooked down with butter, shallots, garlic, and thyme along with red wine and Worcestershire sauce. The flavorful mixture is used to fill tortellini, which are served simply with grated Parmesan.

    Get the recipe for Homemade Mushroom Tortellini

  • Homemade Ricotta Ravioli

    8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (4)

    Mild, salty-sweet ricotta provides plenty of flavor to these simple ravioli. Gently pressing the ricotta between towels extracts extra water, so the filling remains firm and creamy. The ricotta is mixed with Parmesan, nutmeg, and lemon juice before it's dolloped onto sheets of pasta to be formed into ravioli.

    Get the recipe for Homemade Ricotta Ravioli

  • Homemade Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese Ravioli With Sage Brown Butter Sauce

    8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (5)

    If you're looking for ravioli with slightly more intense flavors, try your hand at these butternut squash and blue cheese ones. The squash provides the filling with plenty of creaminess and sweetness while the salty blue cheese adds a sharp funkiness. The cooked ravioli are finished with a nutty sage and brown butter sauce.

    Get the recipe for Homemade Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese Ravioli With Sage Brown Butter Sauce

    Continue to 5 of 8 below.

  • Uovo in Raviolo (Runny Egg Yolk Ravioli)

    8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (6)

    These oversized ravioli are each filled with a ring of creamy ricotta, which acts as a cushion for a runny egg yolk. The cooked ravioli are finished with a pancetta, butter, and white wine pan sauce.

    Get the recipe for Uovo in Raviolo (Runny Egg Yolk Ravioli)

  • Orange, Green, Pink, and Black Pasta

    8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (7)

    To pull off all of these recipes, you've clearly gotten the hang of making fresh egg pasta. Now it's time to have some fun with naturally coloring your dough. Using squid ink, tomato paste, spinach, and beets, you can achieve a rainbow of fresh pasta.

    Orange, Green, Pink, and Black Pasta

  • Light and Tender Potato Gnocchi With Sage-Butter Sauce

    8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (8)

    If you're tired of classic egg and flour pastas (we're not sure that's even possible), it might be time to make some gnocchi. This recipe will guide you through the process of finding gnocchi-appropriate potatoes and teach you how to properly cook the formed gnocchi. Once they're boiled, the fluffy, pillowy dumplings are finished in a sage-butter sauce.

    Get the recipe for Light and Tender Potato Gnocchi With Sage-Butter Sauce

  • Ricotta and Black Pepper Gnudi With Sage and Brown Butter

    8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (9)

    We're big on testing and tweaking a recipe until it's just right. But these ricotta and black pepper gnudi were pretty much perfect on first test. Balls of ricotta and Parmesan are tossed in semolina flour, so that when they're cooked, the gnudi have a gentle pasta shell. The fluffy balls of cheese are served in a toasty pool of brown butter and sage.

    Get the recipe for Ricotta and Black Pepper Gnudi With Sage and Brown Butter

  • Pastas
8 Recipes That Start With Homemade Pasta (2024)

FAQs

What is the best use of fresh pasta? ›

Fresh pasta is also more malleable than dried, so we can roll it out into thin sheets for lasagna or ravioli and even cut it into ribbons for a delicious fettuccine or tagliatelle. This makes it easy to create a wide variety of dishes with a few simple ingredients.

How many types of homemade pasta are there? ›

How are different kinds of pasta shapes made? In this epic 27-minute Bon Appétit video, Eataly Flatiron's pastaio Luca D'Onofrio demonstrates how to make 29 handmade pasta shapes with four types of dough: Semolina pasta dough, egg pasta dough, spinach pasta dough, and cuttlefish squid ink pasta dough.

What to do with homemade pasta before cooking? ›

Freezing your cut noodles is a helpful way to store fresh pasta. This method will make it easier to thaw the noodles when you're ready to start cooking.

Are there 600 types of pasta? ›

There are over 600 different pasta shapes, each with a useful purpose. Long pasta, short pasta, stuffed pasta, pasta for soups- the uses for pasta are endless! Some pasta shapes and sizes are better suited for holding sauces in the ridges, while others are much better for baked dishes.

What are 10 different types of pasta? ›

What are the most popular pasta shapes?
  • Pappardelle.
  • Orecchiette. ...
  • Macaroni. ...
  • Linguine. ...
  • Farfalle. ...
  • Fusilli. ...
  • Fettuccine. ...
  • Capellini. Capellini, or more commonly known as angel hair pasta, is one of the thinnest types of pasta with a diameter ranging between 0.85 and 0.92 millimeters. ...
Apr 4, 2019

What is the most popular pasta dish? ›

The most famous pasta dishes are:
  • Spaghetti Bolognaise.
  • Lasagne.
  • Fettuccine Alfredo.
  • Pasta Carbonara.
  • Ravioli.
  • Pasta alla Norma.
  • Spaghetti alle Vongole.
  • Macaroni Cheese.
Oct 24, 2023

What are 6 types of pasta? ›

There are many different varieties of pasta. They are usually sorted by size, being long (pasta lunga), short (pasta corta), stuffed (ripiena), cooked in broth (pastina), stretched (strascinati) or in dumpling-like form (gnocchi/gnocchetti).

What is tiny pasta called? ›

Pastina ( lit. 'little pasta') is a variety of pasta consisting of tiny pieces, typically of a round (irregular) shape with a diameter of about 1.6 millimetres (1/16"). It is the smallest type of pasta produced. It is made of wheat flour and may also include egg.

Is homemade pasta worth the time? ›

The only way to be sure of the quality and freshness of the ingredients is when you buy them yourself. From the start to the end, you know what you have put in your dough, in the filling, and that the nutritional value of your food is mostly preserved. Only for this reason, making pasta from scratch is worth a try.

Why is my homemade pasta gummy? ›

Using a pot that's too small

Additionally, this will create a higher starch-to-water ratio, which causes the pasta to stick together. In conclusion: Avoid clumpy, mushy, and sticky pasta by using the right pot! Stick to a pot size between 6 and 8 quarts, and fill it up about ¾ of the way for 1 pound of pasta.

Why is my homemade pasta rubbery? ›

If your pasta is rubbery or mushy, it's likely that it got overcooked. Be sure to cook homemade pasta no longer than 3-5 minutes to avoid this pitfall.

Are there over 300 types of pasta? ›

Probably invented by the Chinese and brought to Europe by Marco Polo, pasta is obtained from the processing of a few simple ingredients: semolina, water and a small amount of salt. If you're wondering how many types of pasta there are, the answer is over 300.

How many types of pasta are there in total? ›

The roughly 350 different types of pasta can be broadly sorted into four categories: Long: Tagliatelle, linguine, angel hair, fettuccine, capellini, etc. Short: Cavatappi, conchiglie, festoni, farfalle, fusilli, gnocchi, etc. Soup: Anelli, ditali, orzo, etc.

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