Everything You Need
The classic golden ratio: 100g Tipo '00' flour, 1 large egg (or 6 rich yolks), and a pinch of salt per serving.
Flour Fountain & Whisking Yolks
Weigh 100g of Tipo '00' flour onto the wooden board. Create a wide, deep well with high, sturdy walls. Add 1 pinch fine sea salt. Pour in 1 large egg (or 6 yolks) and gently whisk with a fork, gradually drawing in small amounts of flour from the inner crater walls.
Whole Egg vs Rich Yolks
1 whole egg gives classic elasticity and lightness; 6 rich egg yolks create an ultra-luxurious, deep golden pasta that melts in your mouth.
Gathering & Chopping with Spatula
Once the liquid thickens into a batter, use a stainless steel spatula to collapse the flour walls inward. Rapidly chop and fold the mixture, gathering all dry bits from the board until a crumbly, coherent shaggy mass forms.
Clean Hands & Clean Board
Use the spatula blade to scoop underneath sticky dough. This keeps your fingers clean and prevents premature flour clumping before kneading.
Hand-Kneading & Ball Shaping (Pirlatura)
Knead vigorously on raw wood with the heel of your palms for 8–10 minutes. Push away, fold in half, rotate 90 degrees. Form a tight, smooth ball tucking seams underneath (pirlatura), wrap tightly in cling film, and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
Never Skip the Rest
Resting for at least 30 minutes wrapped tightly in cling film prevents drying, relaxes the gluten network, and hydrates the starches, making the dough supple and easy to roll out paper-thin without springing back.
Flattening Disk & Mattarello Rolling
Flatten the rested ball into an even round disk with the heel of your hand. Roll out with a long wooden mattarello from the center outward, rotating the sheet frequently until you reach an even thickness of about 1 mm.
Semolina Dusting & Rolling Sfoglia
Generously dust the entire sfoglia with coarse semolina rimacinata and smooth it across the surface with your palms. Loosely roll the sheet from both sides toward the center without compressing the folds.
Zero Sticking Guarantee
Semolina creates microscopic rolling bearings between dough layers. Never skip or skimp on dusting, or cut ribbons will stick together.
Precision Cutting Ribbons (6.5-7 mm)
With a sharp chef's knife or coltella, slice across the roll into ribbons 6.5 to 7 mm wide. Use decisive vertical downward cuts without dragging or sawing the delicate pasta.
Fettuccine vs Tagliatelle Width
Roman fettuccine are cut at 6.5–7 mm (narrower than Bolognese tagliatelle at 8 mm). Strict uniformity ensures every strand cooks evenly al dente in 2 minutes.
Cascading Ribbons & Pasta Nests
Slide the spine of your knife under the sliced spirals and lift high into the air. Gently shake to let the ribbons cascade and unfurl effortlessly, then loosely coil them around your fingers into airy pasta nests.
Fresh Pasta Cooking
Rest nests on semolina until your water is at a rolling boil. Fresh fettuccine cook in just 2 minutes! Pair with rich emulsion sauces.
