Fresh pasta is one of the highest-reward home cooking projects. A €0.60 batch of flour and eggs becomes pasta as good as you can buy. The skill takes weeks to develop fully but the first batch is already worth the time.
Where to start
Use 00 flour and whole eggs. The classic Italian ratio is 100g flour to 1 large egg, by weight. Knead 10 minutes, rest 30, roll. The dough should feel like an earlobe — soft but resistant.
What matters most
A wooden board and a long rolling pin do everything a hand-cranked machine does. Slower, more rewarding. The pasta machine is worth buying once you make pasta weekly.
What to skip
Cook fresh pasta for 90 seconds. The "al dente" timing changes radically from dry pasta. Test by tasting at 60 seconds and stop when the texture is right.