Making pasta is an art form. It takes plenty of practice and it’s hard to say if you actually mastered it at any point. There’s always room for improvement, especially when it comes to the dough.
Kneading the dough takes time and patience. It’s repetitious and can take a toll on your wrists. The payoff is worth the effort, though!
The most time and patience will spent while you wait hours for the gluten to relax while the dough sits in the fridge. It’s not a step you can skip.
How to Knead Pasta Dough
Materials
- 1 ball Pasta Dough
- 200 ml Semolina, Durum, or Tipo "00" Flour
- 1 ea Mixing bowl with damp tea towel Or sealable bag or wrap
Instructions
- Flour the work surface and place dough in the middle
- Press the heel of your hands into the dough and push forward
- Fold the stretched out part back on top of the dough
- Turn 45 degrees and repeat
- Repeat these steps (five minutes if dough was made in a stand mixer, 10 if made by hand)
- Push your finger into the dough and, if it slowly "bounces back" to its original form, it is ready
- Cover dough in your method of choice and let rest in the fridge for no fewer than five hours
Dough should relax in the fridge for at least five hours. In an absolute pinch, you can roll out the dough after 30 minutes in the fridge. Do this only if pasta is a last-minute decision for dinner. Just know that the dough will be harder to stretch and form. It’ll contract more easily and be stickier.