9 secrets to perfect homemade pasta

Cath Muscat

Channel your inner Italian Nonna with these hands-on tips for making pasta at home from our contributing food editor Kerrie Worner – find her pasta recipe in the May issue of Home Beautiful, along with a ravioli filling and plenty of pasta sauce inspiration.

Always use ‘OO’ plain flour to make pasta – it's a fine ground flour suitable for bread, pizza and pasta.
Fresh room-temperature free-range large eggs are a must.
Prevent pasta from sticking together with a coarse ground all-purpose flour – dust the work surface, pasta maker and tray with rice flour or durum wheat semolina instead of the 'OO' flour in the recipe.

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"There are just so many things to say about pasta making, I want to shout it out!"
Kerrie Worner Recipe Editor

If you're not confident mixing on a bench, use a bowl. Make a well in the centre of flour before adding the eggs and olive oil.
It is important to knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. This will take at least 5 minutes, don’t take short cuts.
Avoid over-flouring the bench when kneading, add just enough so it doesn’t stick to the bench. If your dough is feeling too dry, add a few drops of olive oil.

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Don’t over-flour dough as you fold and pass back through the pasta machine.
Divide your pasta dough into quarters when processing through the machine – be sure to cover those you're not working with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.
When cooking, drop into boiling water. Keep a watchful eye to ensure your pasta is al dente

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Kerrie Worner

With over 20 years in magazines, Kerrie’s work has adorned HB’s pages as contributing food editor, along with BHG, Elle Cuisine, Australian Women’s Weekly and Family Circle. “It is so important to encourage people to learn simple food skills so they can learn how easy it is to fall in love with their creative side,” she says.