Honestly? I thought making pasta would be like, flour + eggs = magic. Boy, was I naive. Standing in my kitchen circa 2025, covered in enough flour to qualify as a walking cannoli, after my fifty-seventh test batch? Yeah, I’ve seen things. 🫠 Culinary school instructors gave me whiplash—one swore by olive oil, another yelled about salt, and a third practically demanded blood sacrifices (okay, extra yolks). Recipe chaos is REAL, people. So I did what any sane, obsessed food nerd would: I turned my kitchen into a pasta lab, cried over sticky dough, and got biceps like Popeye from all that kneading. 💪

:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__images__2014__12__20141222-pasta-making-robyn-lee-2-90657280073f4b239031673c6fcc3544.jpg)

The Egg-stravaganza: Yolks Are the MVP

Turns out, water-only pasta is a soggy tragedy—like eating wet cardboard. Egg whites? Slightly less sad, but still a \u201cno\u201d from me. But yolks? 🌟 Golden magic. All that fat (33%!) and protein gives pasta that rich flavor and silky texture. BUT—and here’s the plot twist—too many yolks make dough drier than a desert, and the gluten gets slippery. My eureka moment? 1 whole egg + 2 extra yolks per 5oz flour. It’s the Goldilocks zone: stretchy enough for ravioli, tender for fettuccine, and tastes like sunshine. Want it richer? Add a yolk. Prefer softer noodles? Toss in olive oil (RIP Italian nonnas).

Flour Power: AP for the Win (Mostly)

I tested semolina, fancy \u201c00\u201d flour, all-purpose... and guess what? AP flour sitting in your pantry RIGHT NOW? Perfectly fine. Sure, \u201c00\u201d feels luxuriously fine, and semolina gives sauce something to cling to like a koala, but AP is democratic pasta flour. No need to overcomplicate life.

Kneading: My Arm-Wrestling Match with Gluten

Hand-kneading isn’t zen—it’s a 10-minute WWE smackdown. You push, you fold, you rotate, you sweat. 😤 Under-knead? Your pasta crumbles. Over-knead? Impossible. Gluten needs that workout to build that \u201celastic snappiness.\u201d Pro tip: If your dough looks like the Sahara (see below), lightly spritz water—don’t drown it!

:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__images__2014__12__20141222-pasta-making-vicky-wasik-1-899abf7f786041fd980f7b37b1d67ab0.jpg)

Resting: The Great Pasta Nap Debate

I tested doughs rested from 0 to 6 hours. The \u201cno rest\u201d batch? Jagged chaos coming out of the roller, like gluten having a tantrum. But surprise—after rolling, it smoothed out! Texture-wise, rested dough (>1 hour) is marginally silkier, but unrested? Still delicious. My verdict: Rest 30 mins if you\u2019re patient; skip it if hangry. No judgment here.

Rolling & Laminating: Pasta\u2019s Origami Phase

Here\u2019s where things get dramatic. You roll dough through progressively thinner settings, then—plot twist!—fold it like a letter (laminating) to fix holes or uneven texture. Do a 2-fold or 3-fold (I\u2019m extra, so 3-fold). BUT FOR THE LOVE OF CARBS—reset your roller to the widest setting first! Forgetting this gave me dough ribbons that looked like modern art (bad modern art).

:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__images__2014__12__20141222-pasta-making-collage-laminating1-fab79f5b72be47e19ecde0048894dc52.jpg)

Cutting & Cooking: The Grand Finale (Finally!)

Dust sheets with flour, feed through cutter, catch noodles like a bouquet 💐, and curl into nests. If they stick? Sigh, ball it up, add more flour, try again. Boil in heavily salted water for 90 seconds MAX. Fresh pasta cooks FAST—undercooked tastes pasty, overcooked is mush.

:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__images__2014__12__20141222-pasta-making-vicky-wasik-49-261e992dd75841989c470feee4e96b4a.jpg)

So, was it worth transforming my kitchen into a flour bomb site? Absolutely. Fresh pasta’s tender bite and eggy richness? Unbeatable. But here\u2019s my burning question for YOU:

What sauce would make you risk a pasta arm workout—creamy Alfredo, spicy arrabbiata, or something totally wild? 🍝🔥