You'll Never Buy Dried Pasta Again After Learning This Hack

The best surface to use is a large, smooth wooden cutting board. Sarah explained that most Italians don't actually use these for chopping, but it's the best surface on which to make pasta dough.

Scoop two heaping handfuls of all-purpose flour onto the board.

Semolina is a coarser flour and adds texture to the pasta, as well as a slightly more yellow color. To the all-purpose flour, add two scant handfuls of semolina.

When so much flour is incorporated into the eggs that you can no longer whisk with the fork, ditch the fork and use your hands — they're your best tool. Flour your hands so they don't stick to the dough, form the dough into a ball, and knead it on the board using your hands. Add pinches of flour, as needed, so that the dough never sticks to your hands or the board.

. . . So thin that you could read a newspaper beneath it. Of course, this is where the convenience of a pasta maker comes in, but a rolling pin is completely sufficient. Don't be afraid to put a lot of force behind it, and continue rolling the dough until it spreads out to resemble a pizza crust. This will take about 10 full minutes, and don't worry if your dough doesn't roll out into a perfect circle.

You can even wrap the dough around the rolling pin and gently pull on it to aid in the stretching process.

You're almost there! When your dough is thin enough, fold the whole thing four to five times, depending on how much dough you have. Once it's folded and there are layers stacked on top of each other (like a letter), cut pasta into strips using a sharp knife.

This is the fun part: you can customize the pasta however you like. To make fettuccine, as shown, cut your strips about 1/2 inch apart. To make spaghetti, cut the dough even thinner. To make pappardelle, a thicker pasta, leave about an inch in between.

When your pasta is cut, it needs to be dried for at least a couple of hours at room temperature before it's ready to be cooked. After that, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a lot of salt — about two tablespoons — and cook until al dente. Fresh pasta cooks way faster than dried, so you only need to let it boil for about two to three minutes.