Homemade Noodles. Easy. Fast.

I have been using this ratio of egg to flour for years when I make pasta. It’s simple: 3/4 cup of flour to one egg. The issue people run into is finding the balance of dry/wet, to get the pasta to the right consistency to roll and cut. Let’s talk about it.

Finding Balance

I will post the simple recipe below, but I have to say, it’s really about finding the balance between wet and dry. Start by making a single batch so as not to waste a lot of flour or eggs. You can use any flour you choose, although know that each flour will represent its own issues of dryness, gumminess and elasticity. I have used regular all-purpose flour as well as numerous gluten-free flours; however, this recipe is focused on Einkorn flour. I have a Mockmill so I do grind my own Einkorn flour, but this is not necessary. And ultimately, use any flour you choose! I am using Einkorn flour because my family has gluten sensitivities and this is the ONLY gluten-laden flour that they can eat.

Watch my video below to see how I begin with eggs, and then I add some flour – but NOT all the flour. I, then, gradually add flour and a bit of water (actually two tablespoons total for my recipe in the video – this video doubles the recipe shared here in this blog post) to get the pasta to the right consistency. That consistency is where it sticks together, slightly sticks to your hand, but does not STAY on your hand. When this happens, you know that it will most likely hold together. If you pick it up and it falls apart, even though it isn’t sticking to you, you will need to add more flour. Also – bottom line is this, some flours work better than others.

Give & Take

The deal is this – it’s a give and take and you have to be patient with yourself as you figure this out. All-purpose flour is very easy to work with. If you are looking for a gluten-free flour, hands-down I recommend Antimo Caputo Gluten-Free flour. Einkorn flour, which you’ll see in this video, is an interesting flour to work with as it requires less moisture, is less elastic, but holds together amazingly well. Einkorn flour also is touted for being easier to digest as well as being an ancient grain that has not been hybridized and messed with 🙂 I like simplicity. Give me a flour that hasn’t been tinkered with and I’m curious. Einkorn has served us well and I am very grateful.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup of flour
• water as needed

Directions

Step One

Place your egg in a mixing bowl and beat it until it is completely mixed. Next, begin to add your flour gradually and stir with a fork as you add it. When it gets to the consistency of a biscuit dough, begin to use your hands, sprinkling flour on your hands as needed, to begin to move the dough into a ball. As you play with the dough, add water, and flour, both very gradually, until it is a ball of dough that holds together, has a moist feel to it on your hands, but does not stick to your hands.

Step Two

When the dough is in a nice ball and not sticking to your hands, cover a portion of your counter with flour and place the ball on the counter. Begin to flatten out the dough into a rectangle. Once it is a nice shape, allowing you to eventually cut it into nicely shaped strips for pasta, begin to roll it out into a thinner rectangle with a rolling pin. As you do this, flip it, sprinkle it with flour, and roll it out again.

Step Three

As you roll and flip, you will have to decide how thick you want your noodles. You may also discover that the dough will tell you when “enough is enough” and you must go with what you get because otherwise, the dough begins to fall apart. It is very much a give and take of wet/dry as you sprinkle flour, flip and roll again. Too wet and the dough won’t work, too dry and you have a cracked and cranky noodle 🙂

Step Four

Once you have it rolled to your desired thick/thin noodle, you can simply cut it into noodles using a knife. Sometimes I am in a hurry and I will stack the dough (as seen in my video) to rush the cutting process. If your dough is perfect, this can work because the noodles will separate easily after the slicing. If your dough feels a bit wet, do not stack as you’ll end up with stacked noodles that are now one big gooey noodle! The key is always getting the noodle to a consistency that is not too dry, not too wet.

Step Five

Hang your noodles to dry, or simply boil them immediately for dinner. Do not stress about having the perfect noodle rack; I have used a clothing rack! If you don’t have any sort of rack, simply just lay them flat to dry. If you are making a lasagna and left your noodles as wide lasagna noodles, there is no need to boil these noodles if you are using them immediately. See this noodle recipe for more information on lasagna noodles. If you are hanging the noodles to dry and have no plans to use them soon, be sure to freeze them in a freezer bag until you are ready to use them. Enjoy!