Grandma's Homemade Spaghetti

Friday, September 14, 2012
If you've never made homemade pasta dough before, this is a great place to start because you’ll learn everything you need to know about making the best Italian pasta you’ve ever tasted by hand or machine.

Making pasta right in your own kitchen using a pasta machine makes the whole process super easy and saves so much time however, it's easier than you think even cutting by hand!

This post is going to teach you step-by-step on making the perfect dough for making spaghetti or other noodle shapes plus has plus tantalizing sauce recipes to match your homemade cut noodles.

I first learned pasta making from grandma and my mom at age 11, all by hand that certainly was a wonderful cherished memory and a labor of love.

In the 1960s we would make the dough, roll it, dry it, and cut it and now most pasta machines can do it all in half the time

I was so lucky to grow up with such talented cooks to learn from and until later in my years I never used a pasta machine until now.

I have such a passion for cooking great food and learning all about Regional Italian foods and recipes.

As a wife, mother of two wonderful sons, and grandmother to three precious grandchildren I love continuing to teach the traditions I was taught.

Growing up we all resided in Utica, New York, (also referred to as “Little Italy”) where many Italian immigrants settled and we learned I learned so many all parts of Italy, many recipes you will find in this post.


homemade spaghetti pasta step by step with a meatball and tomato sauce in this photo





collage of homemade spaghetti pasta with family photos


Easy Step by Step Making Homemade Spaghetti with a machine or by hand

  1. Prep: Measure or weigh the flour with a pinch of salt and place it on your workplace pasta board 
  2. Make a well: Make a wide well in the center of the flour and add the eggs Mix: With a small fork, start to beat the eggs, being careful to draw in as little flour as possible. Once it’s blended evenly, start adding flour from around the inside of the well, still using the fork, until it begins to look shaggy. 
  3.  Shape the dough into a ball. Remove the dough from the board and set it aside. Clean the pasta board down using a pasta scraping tool to remove any dried dough. 
  4. Knead: On a lightly floured pasta board, knead the dough for 7 to 10 minutes until it’s a smooth ball.  The texture should be soft dough velvety to the touch, and elastic. 
  5.  Rest: Cover the pasta dough with plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes or store wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 1 day




Ingredients You Will Need for Homemade Spaghetti




spaghetti rack drying for homemade pasta


Tips For Making Homemade Spaghetti Pasta

  1. the recipe is good for sheeter, extruding machine or cut by hand
  2. If you live in a dry climate keep a spritz bottle of water nearby to hydrate the dough if it feels crumbly
  3. If the dough feels too sticky add 1 teaspoon of flour at a time
  4. 00 flour can be substituted for all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
  5. Cook the pasta immediately or wrap and save for 1 day refrigerated
  6. The “Sheeter Pasta Maker” makes sheets of pasta that can be used to produce ravioli, lasagna, and cannelloni
  7. Since there are adjustments for thinness and thickness (on the sheeter machine)the sheets can also be cut into classic pasta shapes such as tagliatelle, fettuccine, and pappardelle not just spaghetti
  8. The “Extruder Pasta Machines” extrudes pasta by forcing the dough through various dies that will extrude shaped pasta like spaghetti, rotini, fusilli, penne, bucatini, macaroni, and rigatoni. Those were just a few examples.
extra large pasta bowl filled with homemade spaghetti macaroni


Pin Learning How to Make Spaghetti for Later



pin for later how to make homemade pasta noodles


Homemade Spaghetti vs Boxed Brands


The best part about homemade pasta is nothing compares to the delicate texture of homemade over store-bought boxed brands and you can see and taste the difference!

The consistency of fresh pasta is richer than dry pasta, and certainly using fresh ingredients makes a huge difference in flavor.

Fresh pasta also absorbs the sauce better than any store-bought.

Cooking times are quicker for fresh pasta and most, not more than 4 minutes while store-bought can be up to 25 minutes.

So when comparing the hard boxed pasta to fresh, hands down making homemade from scratch pasta will be the winner in every category every time except convenience.

Learning to make pasta by hand or from a machine makes the best tasting pasta on the planet.


Grandma's Homemade Spaghetti

Grandma's Homemade Spaghetti
Yield: 8
Author: Claudia Lamascolo
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 40 Min
Easy to make by hand or pasta machine homemade spaghetti macaroni and we have links to various sauces to use.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups 00 flour (or all-purpose flour), spooned & leveled
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

  1. Place the flour on a board, and make a well in the center.
  2. Crack the eggs and add them to the well of the flour in the center with salt and oil.
  3. Knead for 8 minutes to 10 minutes until it makes a smooth ball.
  4. Slice the dough into six to eight pieces (easier to cut) and wrap it with saran wrap (clear plastic).
  5. Allow resting for at least 40 minutes on the countertop.
  6. Using the crank-style pasta machine, place one piece of the cut dough 4 times through the rollers (check your booklet for your machine).
  7. Place each sheet on a large cookie sheet sprinkled with flour and proceed with the other 3 doing the same instructions.
  8. Using the settings attachment for cutting is next for the spaghetti. again each machine is different and proceeds with its instructions.
  9. If cutting by hand:
  10. After rolling out the sheets they need to dry first for 15 minutes:
  11. Starting at the end closest to you, fold a 2 to 3-inch strip of pasta up away from you.
  12. Continue to fold the strip into a flattened roll.
  13. With a sharp knife, cut across the flattened roll to form the width of the desired type of pasta noodle.
  14. Cut into noodles IE: tagliatelle at 1/4 inch or wider for other styles.
  15. To cook boil 8 quarts of water to 2 pounds of pasta adding salt to the water around 2 teaspoons. Boil pasta until it floats to the top.
  16. Do not rinse just drain and add your favorite sauce on top with grated Pecorino Romano cheese or Parmesan Reggiano if you prefer that kind.
  17. Sauce to use:
  18. Bolognese
  19. Sunday Sauce
  20. Marinara (meatless sauce)
  21. Scampi or Alfredo sauce
  22. Vodka

Notes

Easy Step by Step Making Homemade Spaghetti with a machine or by hand

  1. Prep: Measure or weigh the flour with a pinch of salt and place it on your workplace pasta board 
  2. Make a well: Make a wide well in the center of the flour and add the eggs Mix: With a small fork, start to beat the eggs, being careful to draw in as little flour as possible. Once it’s blended evenly, start adding flour from around the inside of the well, still using the fork, until it begins to look shaggy. 
  3. Shape the dough into a ball. Remove the dough from the board and set it aside. Clean the pasta board down using a pasta scraping tool to remove any dried dough. 
  4. Knead: On a lightly floured pasta board, knead the dough for 7 to 10 minutes until it’s a smooth ball. 
  5.  The texture should be soft dough velvety to the touch, and elastic. 
  6.  Rest: Cover the pasta dough with plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes or store wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 1 day


Tips for Making Homemade Spaghetti Pasta

  1. the recipe is good for sheeter, extruding machine or cutting by hand
  2. If you live in a dry climate keep a spritz bottle of water nearby to hydrate the dough if it feels crumbly
  3. If the dough feels too sticky add 1 teaspoon of flour at a time
  4. 00 flour can be substituted for all-purpose flour or whole-wheat flour
  5. Cook the pasta immediately or wrap it and save it for 1 day refrigerated
  6. The “Sheeter Pasta Maker” makes sheets of pasta that can be used to produce ravioli, lasagna, and cannelloni
  7. Since there are adjustments for thinness and thickness (on the sheeter machine)the sheets can also be cut into classic pasta shapes such as tagliatelle, fettuccine, and pappardelle, not just spaghetti
  8. The “Extruder Pasta Machines” extrudes pasta by forcing the dough through various dies that will extrude shaped pasta like spaghetti, rotini, fusilli, penne, bucatini, macaroni, and rigatoni. Those were just a few examples.



Nutrition Facts

Calories

296.6

Fat (grams)

5.93

Sat. Fat (grams)

1.51

Carbs (grams)

47.96

Fiber (grams)

1.69

Net carbs

46.28

Sugar (grams)

0.31

Protein (grams)

11.18

Sodium (milligrams)

345.23

Cholesterol (grams)

139.5
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Italian


Pin Learning How to Make Spaghetti for Later





collage of homemade spaghetti pasta with family photos


8 comments

  1. Funny how mum grandma used to make angel's hair for me too! It was her favourite type of pasta. Shame that she used to overcook it!
    Love this with meatballs. A tasty one!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ok, I've been reading your blog to long. Last night I made Angel Hair pasta with a meatless sauce, took some of the sauce and poured it over some meatballs. Great minds must think alike.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks so good! This is definitely one of my favorite comfort foods!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oooh this looks delicious!! This is just pure comfort food. There is nothing like spaghetti and meatballs to feed the soul!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Spaghetti and meatballs...my favorite comfort food of all time!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mmmmm...this is comfort food at its best! And a family recipe makes it even better! Enjoy your weekend, Claudia!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Since the sauce and meatballs each sound delicious, I can imagine how good this meal was.

    ReplyDelete
  8. So glad you reshared this! My daughter prefers a meatless sauce so I'll have to make yours ASAP!

    ReplyDelete

Remember to use the search option for a recipe you're looking for and thanks for all your kind words and support. We love our readers all the best Claudia