Skip to Content
Features

Making Pasta from Scratch: Five Tips from a Food Network Star

Chef and Food Network star Antonia Lofaso shares five tips for pasta making at home.

eggs in flour to make pasta

Making pasta starts with a simple process of adding eggs to flour. Photo: “Making a better homemade pasta” by joyosity is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

I love making pasta dishes at home. Creating sauces from fresh farmer’s market-bought tomatoes, garlic and any other ingredients is always exciting. And even though it’s an activity I view as fun, there’s one part of the process that I’ve avoided much to my own chagrin: making pasta from scratch. I’m totally intimidated. 

Thankfully, Antonia Lofaso, the executive chef of California’s Scopa Italian Roots — known for its pasta dishes — has some advice for pasta-making novices like myself.

Lofaso, who also hosts Beachside Brawl, which airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. on Food Network, shared five tips with Appetito on how to make pasta at home. Her most important advice? Practice, practice, practice. Repetition, she says, is the key factor to becoming a good pasta-maker.

“You start to get a flow and it becomes easier and easier,” Lofaso says.

Chef Antonia Lofaso from Food Network.
Host Antonia Lofaso, as seen on Beachside Brawl, Season 2.

Here are Lofaso’s five best tips for making pasta at home.

1. Consider your pasta-making workspace

Lofaso advises creating a “large enough” workspace in your at-home kitchen. “Put things away to create room to dust flour and roll dough,” she says. That way, “you don’t feel trapped, even if you have a small working space.”

2. Keep your kitchen cool

Temperature is another important factor to consider when making pasta at home, according to Lofaso. “Make sure the kitchen temperature is cool so that you and your dough don’t sweat,” she says.

3. Consider the quality of the ingredients you are using 

The best ingredients make the best pasta. “Make sure you are using quality flour, eggs, olive oil, and salt,” Lofaso says, noting her favorite pasta flour to use is Caputo 00. 

4. Review your recipe and equipment

Compatibility matters. Lofaso advises checking your recipe with the equipment you have to work with and making sure it is “consistent and compatible.”

5. Make sure you allow time for your dough to rest

“Pasta making shouldn’t be rushed,” Lofaso says, noting that giving your dough time to rest is a necessity in the pasta making process.

“Dough is best rested for at least 2 hours, and up to 24,” she says. “Wrap in a flat disk, so it’s easier to cut when cold.”

Already a user?Log in

Thanks for reading!

Register to continue

See all subscription options

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Appetito

Appetito Travels: A 3-Day Trip to Milan, Italy 

Explore big, bustling, beautiful Milan to discover a whole new side of the historic Italian city.

October 8, 2024

Homemade Amaro

In an excerpt from their new book, Preserved Drinks, the authors offer a recipe for homemade amaro that requires some work and waiting time, but which has a huge payoff—and bragging rights.

Sunday Shop: Great Jones, Sabavi Home, Fre Wines

Morgan Hines seeks out the best in not only food and drink but style, housewares, and more. Welcome to Appetito’s Sunday Shop!

October 6, 2024

What Products to Bring Home From Your Next Trip to Italy

Our contributor shares some secrets to bargain shopping for an array of products in an off the-beaten-path way in Italy.

See all posts