The One Rule To Remember To Keep Your Pasta Dough From Drying Out

Making pasta dough from scratch can be a simple yet satisfying way to make your mark on your recipes. But, while the ingredients to pasta dough are minimal, there is a level of finesse required if you want your dough to come out right. The most important thing to keep an eye on is the dough's moisture and texture. So, we spoke to cookbook author, recipe developer, and TikTok creator Danny Freeman to learn how to keep your pasta dough fresh.

The most important thing to remember is to protect your dough once it's formed. As Freeman says, "Pasta dough dries out quickly, and if you leave the dough uncovered it will become tough and difficult to roll out." While you may think of traditional store-bought pasta being dry and crunchy, that should never be the case for freshly made dough. To prevent dryness, Freeman says to "cut a ball of dough into quarters and work with one piece at a time. I wrap the other pieces in plastic wrap or I cover them with a bowl so they don't dry out." Even if you're making a single serving of pasta from scratch, it's best to work in sections so every piece of pasta has the same amount of moisture. By extension, you should also re-cover your pasta dough once you've cut it into shapes so that it doesn't dry out as it rests before going into the pot. Even the easiest pasta shapes made from scratch deserve to be handled with care.

Getting the right amount of moisture in your pasta dough is never an exact science, even if you've followed a recipe to a tee. As Danny Freeman reminds home cooks, "the type of flour you use, the moisture on your hands, or even the humidity in your kitchen can affect the feel of the dough." Once you've mixed your ingredients, typically flour and eggs, be conscious of how the dough comes together. Freeman says if it "does not come together into a ball and feels very crumbly, you may need to add an additional spoonful of water." Or, if the ball does come together but is very hard to roll out, you can add additional moisture. Freeman says, "An easy way to do this is to wet your hands and then continue kneading."

Of course, you may have the opposite problem, and Freeman notes that "if the dough is very sticky you can sprinkle on a pinch of flour." This could mean sticking to your hands, or your work surface as you knead the dough. According to Freeman, "Beginners often tend to end up with dough that is too wet, and then all of their pasta clumps together when they cook it. I recommend erring on the dry side and adding an extra sprinkle of flour if you are concerned." So be sure to keep double zero flour — the best kind of flour for making pasta — handy when working with your own dough to get that perfect texture before cooking.