Like all fresh pasta, homemade pappardelle noodles are incomparably better than the packaged flour and water kind you'll find in most supermarkets. This recipe starts with dough that's rich in egg yolks for deep yellow noodles that are high in protein and other essential nutrients.
Most importantly, the flavor and texture of homemade pappardelle is out of this world delicious.
Pappardelle are large, flat noodles that are similar to fettuccine but much wider. Traditionally, pappardelle measures 2 to 3 centimeters wide (½ to ¾ of an inch), but they can be as wide as 2 inches.
Because of their size, pappardelle noodles are well suited to thick, rich sauces with chunky textures - like meaty bolognese sauce.
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If you've never made homemade pasta, you are in for a treat. Not only is it in a different class of flavor and texture than the typical packaged variety, it's fun to make and likely easier than you think.
The trick with homemade pasta is to start a day or two (or more) before you want to cook it and break the process into small chunks:
- Prepare the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight or up to 5 days. Making the dough takes about 10 - 15 minutes.
- Roll the pasta out and cut it into noodles. It's important to allow the noodles to dry for at least an hour, so do this in advance of when you want to cook them. If you like, you can allow the noodles to dry completely then store them in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
- To cook, drop the noodles into boiling salted water. They'll be al dente and ready to eat in minutes.
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Ingredients for Homemade Pasta Dough
- Eggs: This is an egg yolk heavy pasta dough that uses 1 whole egg and 6 egg yolks. Egg yolks contain most of the flavor in eggs. They are also rich in protein and fatty acids, which gives pasta a rich, silky, toothsome texture that's hard to beat.
- Flour. For pappardelle noodles, I almost always use a combination of unbleached all-purpose flour with a little bit of semolina mixed in. But using only all-purpose flour also works great. "00" flour is also a good choice, Scroll down for more information about the effect that different types of flour has on pasta dough.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: A little bit of olive oil makes pasta dough smoother, softer, and easier to roll out. But, it's important to not use too much - this recipe uses just 2 teaspoons. Too much oil can make the noodles brittle as they dry.
- Whole Milk: This recipe includes a tablespoon of milk, which is a very unusual addition to pasta dough. So why do I include it? Years ago I read Thomas Keller's recipe for pasta dough, which is also egg yolk heavy, and it included a tablespoon of milk. The little bit of milk increases the water content in the dough while bumping up the fat and flavor content of the dough. But if you don't have any milk, you can just use water.
What kind of flour is best for pappardelle noodles?
My first choice for pappardelle noodles is a combination of all-purpose flour and semolina flour. Bread flour is also a good choice for wide noodles like pappardelle.
Here's a breakdown of the most popular flours for pasta making:
"00" flour is often called Italian-style flour. It's milled from the hardest variety of wheat and has a very high protein content. Even though it's made from hard wheat, 00 flour has a super-fine texture. When used to make pasta, that fine texture makes it easy to roll pasta dough into very thin sheets. For this reason, it's considered the best choice for fresh pasta making.
But all-purpose flour works nearly as well. Unless you are making extremely delicate noodles like angle hair pasta, you won't notice much, if any, difference. All-purpose flour is almost always what I use to make homemade pasta because I always have it in my pantry.
For pappardelle noodles, I usually use a combination of all-purpose flour and semolina flour.
Semolina flour is a coarse ground flour often used to make couscous, pizza dough, pasta, and many desserts. It absorbs much more liquid than other kinds of flour, so if you use a lot of semolina in your dough you will most likely need to add more milk to keep the dough from being dry and crumbly.
Often when you see a recipe for pasta dough that calls for semolina flour it will also include some all-purpose flour in order to lessen some of its coarseness. I especially like to use semolina flour to make fat noodles, like pappardelle. It's also perfect for homemade lasagna noodles, especially when making a lasagna that's packed with many layers of ingredients like this skillet vegetable lasagna.
Every now and then, you'll come across a recipe for fresh pasta that calls for bread flour. Because of its very high protein count, bread flour is the strongest kind of flour. Using bread flour to make pasta will create a texture that's slightly coarse and very elastic.
Bread flour is also a great choice for pappardelle noodles especially if you're serving the pasta with a meaty sauce like bolognese sauce.
Step-by-step photos and instructions
Plan ahead: Making homemade pasta dough is an easy process, but the dough does need to rest for several hours before being rolled out and cut into noodles, so it's smart to plan ahead.
I usually make the dough the night before I want to roll out the dough and cut it into noodles, but fresh pasta dough will keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Add the flour to a large bowl or just pile it onto your work surface. Use your hands to create a well in the center of the flour that's large enough to contain the eggs.
Crack the egg and egg yolks into a bowl and whisk briefly to break them up and combine them.
Pour the eggs into the well you created in the center of the flour and add the milk and olive oil.
Using a fork, begin to whisk the eggs into the flour.
It's important to mix the eggs into the flour slowly. As you whisk, gradually incorporate more flour, bit by bit.
When the mixture becomes thick enough that it's difficult to whisk, dump the whole mess out onto a work surface.
Use your hands to knead the dough, incorporating as much flour as possible, until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
It's important to knead the dough for at least 10 minutes. The dough will be stiff and dry - not so dry that it's crumbling, but dry enough to not stick to anything, including your hands.
Wrap the dough tightly and place it in the refrigerator to rest for at least 5 hours and up to a week.
When you're ready to roll out the dough and cut it into pappardelle noodles, remove it from the refrigerator, unwrap it, and set it on a surface that's been dusted with flour.
Cut it into 4 equal pieces. Work with one piece at a time, keeping the remaining dough covered.
Begin feeding one piece of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine set to it's widest setting. On my Marcato Pasta Maker, this means setting the rollers to "0".
After rolling it through the machine, fold it in half and roll it through again.
Continue to fold the pasta in half and feed it back through the machine's rollers another 8 - 10 times with the machine at it's widest setting. Every once in a while, dust the dough with flour to keep it from becoming sticky.
Continue to feed the dough through the machine's rollers, slowly narrowing the width of the rollers from "0" to "5" or "6".
You can go thinner if you like - it really just depends on how thick you want your noodles. For pappardelle noodles, I usually stop at "5".
As you continue to roll the dough through the machine, it will get thinner and longer. Stop to dust it with flour frequently. It's important to incorporate enough additional flour to keep the dough from being sticky.
Lay the sheet of pasta out on a work surface and use a sharp knife or a pizza roller to cut it into noodles.
Traditionally, pappardelle noodles are 2-3 centimeters (3⁄4-1 inches) wide. But they can be much wider. These are your noodles. Cut them to whatever width you like.
As you cut the noodles, lay them out on a baking sheet that's been lined with parchment paper and dusted with flour.
You can also hang the noodles on a pasta drying rack, or even hang the strands on clothes hangers that you suspend from the knobs of your kitchen cabinets. I almost always hang fettuccini and homemade spaghetti noodles to dry, but for pappardelle noodles, I usually prefer to rest them on a baking sheet.
Allow the noodles to dry for at least an hour, or until they are completely dry.
Allowing the noodles to dry slightly makes it easier to cook them to a perfect al dente texture. Cooking pappardelle noodles right after they are cut can result in an overcooked, mushy texture.
If you allow the noodles to dry completely, they can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Pro tip for drying pappardelle noodles
It can be difficult to store dried pappardelle noodles if they are too long. If you'd like to allow them to dry completely and then pack them away for another day, I'd suggest cutting them into noodles that are no more than 6 to 8 inches long. At that length, you can stack them and keep them in a gallon size zip top bag or a rectangle shape storage container.
One way to "cut" them is to hang them to dry on a pasta drying rack. When they are dry, simply break them in half. They will easily snap into two pieces in the middle, where they've been hanging on the drying rack.
How to cook pappardelle noodles
The most important thing to know about cooking any kind of homemade pasta is to add enough salt to the water to make the water taste salty. Depending on how large of a pot you use and how much water you add to that pot, this can be quite a lot of salt.
Remember that pasta dough does not contain any salt so the point of adding salt to the water is to season the pasta as it cooks. If there isn't enough salt to make the water taste salty, there isn't enough salt to season the pasta.
The pasta will not absorb all the salt in the water. In fact, most of the salt will remain in the water after the pasta is done cooking. So even though you might need to add several tablespoons of salt to a large pot of water in order to make it taste salty, you don't have to worry about all that salt ending up in your pasta.
Bring the salt water to a boil then add the pappardelle noodles. Cook the noodles just until they are al dente. Translated, al dente means "to the tooth", which is a great way to describe noodles that are not hard or crunchy but that have a bit of resistance to them.
How long does it take to cook pappardelle noodles? That depends on how wide the noodles are cut and how dry they are. Noodles that have been allowed to dry for only about an hour will cook much faster than noodles that have been dried completely. Fresh noodles will cook in 2-4 minutes. Completely dry pappardelle will take 8-9 minutes to cook.
3 tips for perfectly cooked pappardelle noodles
- Knead the dough for 10 minutes. Many homemade pasta recipes will tell you to knead the dough for just a few minutes but I have found that the best texture comes from kneading the dough for at least 10 minutes. And honestly, a few more minutes of kneading in exchange for pasta with a toothsome, silky smooth, springy texture is 1000% worth it to me.
- Allow the dough to rest for at least 5 hours. I made fresh pasta for years without really understanding the importance of letting the dough rest for long enough. Now I know better. The best texture and flavor is achieved when you allow the dough to rest for 12-24 hours, but 5 hours is really the minimum for the most flavorful spaghetti noodles with the silkiest texture.
- Let the freshly cut pappardelle noodles dry slightly before cooking. Another mistake I made for years was cooking fresh pasta right after cutting the dough. Allowing the noodles to dry for at least an hour ensures that the noodles cook more evenly. When you dump freshly cut noodles straight into boiling water they can come out mushy and even somewhat slimy. Allowing the noodles to dry for a bit is a simple trick for evenly cooked pappardelle noodles that have a perfect al dente texture.
Recipes to make with homemade pappardelle noodles
My favorite sauce to serve with pappardelle noodles is meaty bolognese sauce. Thick pappardelle noodles are the perfect vehicle for the rich, chunky sauce made with slow-simmered ground beef and bacon.
This creamy mushroom pasta is also delicious when made with pappardelle noodles. As you can see in the photos, I often make this with fettuccini noodles, but it's also delicious when served with wide cut pappardelle.
Or, toss pappardelle noodles in this rich roasted red pepper sauce or use them to make Hungarian chicken paprikash.
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment and rate the recipe below.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Pappardelle Noodles
This recipe starts with dough that's rich in egg yolks for deep yellow noodles that are high in protein and other essential nutrients. Most importantly, the flavor and texture of homemade pappardelle is out of this world delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (150 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (82 grams) semolina flour
- 6 large egg yolks + 1 whole egg (140 grams total)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Add both flours to a large bowl or onto a clean work surface. Use a wire whisk to blend them together. Use your fingers to create a well in the center of the flour. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and egg yolks just to combine, then pour them into the center of the flour. Add the olive oil and milk.
- Using a fork, start whisking the eggs, gradually incorporating the flour bit-by-bit. Continue to whisk, pulling more and more flour into the eggs, until a soft, shaggy dough begins to form. This will take a couple of minutes. At this point, it's unlikely that all of the flour has been incorporated, which is ok.
- Dump the whole shaggy mess out onto a clean work surface and use your hands to begin to knead it. To knead, fold the dough over onto itself, press it down with your palm, and folding it over again. As you knead, incorporate more and more of the flour. Continue until you have a smooth elastic ball of dough that is not sticky at all, but not so dry that it's cracking. This should take at least 10 minutes. It's important to not skimp on the kneading time. If you slice the dough with a sharp knife, you should see very few air bubbles.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours and up to 1 week.
- When you're ready to cut it into pappardelle noodles, unwrap the dough and cut it into 4 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time, and keeping the remaining dough covered, flatten the dough out a bit with your hands so that it's thin enough to fit through your pasta machine. Set the pasta machine to the widest setting (usually marked "0"), and feed the dough through the pasta roller. Repeat 10-12 times, folding the dough in half before feeding it back through the rollers. Dust the dough with flour from time to time to keep it from becoming sticky.
- Continue to feed the dough through the machine, gradually changing the settings to thin the pasta. Turn the dial to "2", and run the dough through the machine a couple of times. Then turn the dial to "3", and run the dough through the machine a couple of times. Continue to change the dial settings until the pasta is as thin as you want it to be. (For pappardelle noodles, I usually stop at "5".) Remember to keep dusting the dough with flour - if the dough is too sticky the noodles may stick together
- Lay the long sheet of pasta on your work surface and use a knife or pizza cutter to slice it into pappardelle noodles that are ¾-inch to 2-inches wide. How wide the noodles are is up to you.
- Lay the noodles out on a baking sheet that's been lined with parchment paper and dusted with flour. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Allow the noodles to dry for at least 1 hour before cooking. The noodles can be left alone to dry completely then stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
- To cook pappardelle noodles, fill a large pot with water and add enough salt to make the water taste salty. Bring the water to a rolling boil and add the noodles. Cook until "al dente" - if you bite into a noodle it will not be crunchy but it WILL be firm. Drain the noodles in a colander set inside the sink.
Notes
- If you're new to fresh pasta making, see the step-by-step photos above.
- Fresh pasta dough will keep in the refrigerator, well wrapped, for up to 1 week. Dried pappardelle noodles will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
⅙th of the recipeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 247Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 248mgSodium: 87mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 12g
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