There’s nothing like a bowl of fresh pasta covered in your favorite tomato sauce, but it’s not always easy to make from scratch. You can follow guides, recipes, and practice until your hands hurt, but it can still go wrong. A dry dough is one of the most common issues that pops up when making homemade pasta, but luckily, it’s usually a pretty easy problem to fix.
Chef Jasper J. Mirabile Jr., owner of Jasper’s Restaurant in Kansas City, told Tasting Table that the best course of action to take is to add a teaspoon of water. You want to do this slowly, dropping “just a little at a time” into the dough until it comes together. Or, simply splash some water on your hands before kneading. A spray bottle also works great. “I like to get my hands a little wet,” Chef Mirabile said. “Then if the pasta is too wet, I just dust it with a little bit of flour or semolina.”
Use eggs to moisten egg pasta
Pasta dough is meant to feel a little shaggy when you first mix it, but it should smooth out into a ball with some kneading. So, hold off on adding any extra liquid at first and if it’s still not coming together, then add the water. Or, if you’re making egg pasta, Mirabile suggests using a little bit of beaten egg to moisten the dough instead. Egg pasta doughs can be particularly finicky to measure out, seeing as eggs don’t weigh the same. The average weight of an egg without the shell is about 50 grams, but this can vary greatly.
If your eggs are smaller than the ones used in the original recipe, it can easily mess up the hydration levels in the dough. “This happens a lot with egg pasta, because everyone has different sized eggs at home and no one actually measures the eggs by their weight,” Mirabile said. A good ratio is about one egg per 100 grams of flour, but you can always beat another egg in a small bowl to have on hand in case your dough needs more. And if you end up overreaching and need a quick fix for overly wet dough, just sprinkle on a little flour and continue working. You’ll be making restaurant-worthy pasta at home in no time!
