Pasta Dough from Scratch with Chef Joe Sasto

Chef Joe Sasto

Making homemade pasta dough might seem like a daunting task, but Chef Joe Sasto explains how to make it using just two ingredients: flour and water.

7mins

Ingredients

  • 2 parts 00 Flour*
  • 1 part Warm Water
  • To help determine quantity, Chef Sasto will use ½ cup (100 grams) of 00 flour per person he’s serving.
    *00 Flour is the most refined type of flour and is made from durum wheat. It’s becoming more popular in the US, so you should be able to find it at your local large grocery store.

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, add your flour. Pour in all but 1 Tablespoon of your warm water into the flour.
  • With a grabbing motion, use your hand to combine the flour and water, gently squeezing the mixture, and rotating the bowl as you mix it.
  • After about 30 seconds of squeezing and rotating, the flour shouldn’t be sticking to your hand anymore and you should have a rough and shaggy dough starting to form. If you have extra flour at the bottom of the bowl, you can begin to incorporate that 1 Tablespoon of water, starting with a little bit at a time. Make sure not to over hydrate the dough, as you don’t want it to be sticky.
  • Once the dough has come together and you don’t have an extreme excess of flour at the bottom of the bowl, transfer your dough to a large work surface.
  • Using the heel of your hand, start to work the dough from the center, pressing out. Bring the extended piece of dough and fold it over into the center. Give the dough a quarter turn and continue this process, making sure to continue working it in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction for consistency.
  • As you continue to knead, if excess flour starts to build underneath, you can scrape your board and discard it. If the dough is feeling tough and getting too difficult to work, you can add some water to your hands and continue to knead to slowly hydrate the dough.
  • Feel free to pause during this process– we all get tired and this is a real arm workout. Just make sure to cover your dough with a bowl so it doesn’t dry out. Then get back into it.
  • You’ll know your dough is done when the dough becomes smooth and supple and if you poke it a bit, it’ll bounce back a little. Rest it at room temperature by wrapping it in plastic wrap, or if you’re going to use it immediately, cover it with a bowl.
  • When you’re ready to roll it out, you can make a variety of shapes and then can use it in lieu of dry pasta.

About the Chef

Joe  Sasto smiling right at you

Chef Joe Sasto

From a very young age cooking by his mother’s side, Joe Sasto knew that he wanted to be a Chef. After college, he dove head first into the restaurant industry, training under some of the Bay Area’s most respected chefs at two and three Michelin-starred restaurants, and has since opened restaurants as Executive Chef in San Francisco and Los Angeles. From travel inspiration and experience, Chef Joe’s passion for pasta has evolved into many projects. When the pandemic hit, Chef Joe started teaching virtual livestream pasta lessons weekly, garnering a strong social media following. Recently, he launched his highly coveted focaccia popup, Luna Focacceria, and is currently set to release a puffed pasta snack line, entitled TANTOS. Chef Joe had a big win on Food Network’s, Chopped, and has competed on Bravo’s Top Chef and Top Chef All-Stars. He was recently featured in Food Network’s inaugural “Hot List” 2022 and is working on his first cookbook.