How To Make Whole Wheat Pasta Without A Machine

This recipe for egg-free whole wheat pasta produces a delightfully flavoured slightly chewy dough. It’s very easy to make so there’s no need for a pasta machine or fancy cutters. You can do it all with basic kitchen equipment and your hands.

The first time I made pasta, I was surprised at just how easy it was. It’s ever so satisfying to make your own and it’s versatile too. I make rustic eggless pasta with whole grain flour. This means it’s suitable for vegans and it’s healthy too.

If you make pasta a lot, it might be worth investing in a pasta machine. But it’s another piece of kit to find room for in the kitchen and for most purposes you really don’t need one.

Why Whole Wheat Pasta?

Whole wheat pasta is really tasty, especially when it’s homemade. It’s a lot healthier than ordinary white pasta too. As it’s made with whole grain flour it’s packed with nutrients such as complex carbohydrates, protein, fibre, vitamins B1, B3 and B6, manganese, phosphorus and antioxidants (ref: Check Your Food).

White pasta, by contrast, is made from refined carbohydrates and most of the nutrients are stripped out during the manufacturing process. It has all of the calories, but not much else.

Why Make Your Own Whole Wheat Pasta?

There are any number of reasons for having a go at making your own whole wheat pasta. Not the least of which is that you have control over what goes into your food. Here are a few other reasons as to why it’s so good.

• Delicious
• Healthy
• Simple
• Fun, especially for kids. It’s a bit like making edible playdough.
• Easy
• Satisfying

How To Make Whole Wheat Pasta

Making whole wheat pasta dough from scratch is really very easy. The bit that takes the time is shaping the dough. It requires only four ingredients and two of those are water and salt. As well as the primary ingredient, wholemeal flour, I use olive oil in my recipe.

I do this as I find it helps to make the whole grain dough easier to work with. It’s prone to cracking and crumbling without it.

The dough is entirely vegan as it’s eggless. Turns out many homemade pastas in Italy are made without eggs.

The finished pasta may look a little rustic, but it’s so very satisfying to make your own. And it tastes really good too. It has a chewy texture and a slightly nutty flavour.

With the amount of pasta I’ve given in the recipe I make two meals for the two of us. This time around I made ravioli, as seen above, with one half and cavatelli, as seen below, with the other half.

The ravioli are almost a meal in themselves. Here’s my recipe for vegan ravioli, if you’re interested. Cavatelli are quite different. They’re easy to make and are good for scooping up and holding sauces.

Apart from rolling the dough out and making your own noodles, lasagne, cannaloni or ravioi, the easiest pasta shape to make is cavatelli. See the section further down the post for instructions on how to do this.

Whilst it takes a bit of time to shape pasta, the good news is that fresh homemade pasta only takes a few minutes to actually cook.

Whole Wheat Pasta: Step-by-Step

Traditionally, Italian pasta is made on a board. This sounds lovely in theory, but it’s a bit messy in practice, so I prefer to make it in a bowl. But by all means, try it on a board if you like. It’s probably more fun and definitely more authentic.

Step 1. Prepare Flour

Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl. Use a sieve with a wide gauge mesh to do this so it lets most of the bran through but keeps out the largest bits. Discard the bran. I use it to deter slugs around precious plants in the garden.

You don’t have to do this, but it makes the dough less heavy and easier to work with.

Add the salt and whisk it into the flour. Use the whisk to make a large well in the centre.

Step 2. Add Liquids

Pour the oil into the well followed by the water.

Top Tip

It’s important the water is warm as it makes the dough easier to work with. I mix boiled water from the kettle with cold water from the tap until the mixture is warm, but not hot.

Step 3. Mix Dough

Using a flat bladed knife, start stirring the flour and oil together working from the inside out. You could use your fingers instead if you like.

Draw in more flour from the sides as you stir.

Keep going until all of the liquid has been absorbed.

Step 4. Knead Dough

Gather the mixture together with your hands to form a ball.

Knead the dough for about five minutes or until it’s smooth, elastic and no longer sticky. You can do this in the bowl or on a board. Try not to use any additional flour as you do this, unless the dough is too sticky to knead.

Top Tip

If the dough seems too dry add a little more water. Flour varies as to how dehydrated it is, so it’s hard to give an exact amount of water needed.

Step 5. Rest Dough

Place the dough back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave the dough to rest in a warm place for half an hour. This allows the gluten to relax, which makes it easier to roll or shape your pasta dough.

Your dough is now ready to form pasta.

Top Tip

Divide the dough into quarters and work with one quarter at a time. Keep the quarters you’re not working with covered so they don’t dry out.

How To Shape Cavatelli Pasta

Cavatelli is native to Molise and Puglia in Italy. It’s now one of the most popular types of homemade pasta all around southern Italy. It’s thicker than commercial pasta and is particularly chewy in texture.

The name cavatelli means “little hollows”. This makes it ideal for capturing your chosen pasta sauce.

If you have kids, this is a great time to get them involved with the pasta making. Shaping cavatelli is a bit like playing with edible playdough.

Roll the pasta dough into a long rope with your hands, about one and a half centimetres in diameter. You shouldn’t need to flour your board to do this. If your dough is still a bit sticky, use a little flour, but be careful or you’ll end up with heavy or stodgy pasta.

With a knife, cut the rope into one centimetre pieces.

Use the tips of your index and middle fingers to press into each piece and stretch the dough so that it lengthens and forms a curl in the middle. Don’t worry if each piece looks slightly different.

The beauty of making cavatelli is that it’s meant to be quick and easy to shape and it doesn’t matter in the least bit if no two pieces are identical. This is rustic pasta.

How To Cook Homemade Cavatelli

Fresh pasta normally only takes a minute or so to cook. However, cavatelli is quite thick and this combined with the wholemeal flour, means it will take a bit longer. Allow four to five minutes.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, then drop in your cavatelli and continue to boil. Just like gnocchi, they’re done when they rise to the top. However, taste test to ensure they’re cooked to your liking. Al dente is good, but you don’t want them raw.

Homemade whole wheat pasta is chewier than commercial varieties, so you’ll need to take that into account when testing. Drain and toss into your chosen pasta sauce.

Top Tip

Simple sauces are particularly good with homemade whole wheat pasta. This is because the sauce doesn’t mask the flavour and texture of the pasta.

Pesto is a firm favourite as is a spicy tomato sauce. If you’re keen to make your own “ready made” tomato sauce, I have a recipe which is great for a glut of fresh tomatoes. I also have a super simple 3-ingredient carrot pasta sauce and a six ingredient green pasta sauce which both work well. For something with mushrooms you could try the sauce in this mushroom pesto pasta. Or for something creamier you could try Shawna’s vegan alfredo sauce.

Can You Freeze Fresh Pasta?

To freeze fresh pasta, create your pasta shapes first. Then place the shapes in a single layer on an open tray and pop into the freezer. Once frozen, transfer them into freezer proof bags or containers and freeze for up to three months.

It’s best to boil the pasta from frozen as the shapes are likely to stick together if you allow them to thaw.

More “From Scratch” Recipes You Might Like

• Crème fraîche
• How to make your own real chocolate bar
• How to make your own prunes
• Kombucha
• Make your own hemp milk
• Vegan mayonnaise

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you have a go at making your own whole wheat pasta from scratch, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?

If you’d like more pasta recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.

Choclette x

Whole Wheat Pasta From Scratch

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5 from 9 votes

How To Make Whole Wheat Pasta

This egg-free whole wheat pasta produces a delightfully flavoured slightly chewy dough. It's very easy to make so there's no need for a pasta machine or fancy cutters. You can do it all with basic kitchen equipment and your hands.

Cook ModeToggle to keep screen awake

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time0 minutes mins

Resting Time30 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: how to, pasta

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 283kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

• 260 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat)
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 120 ml warm water
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl and discard any particularly large pieces of bran left in the sieve. It's best to use a wide gauge sieve to do this so you don't lose too much of the bran.
  260 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat), ½ tsp sea salt
• Add the salt and whisk it into the flour. Make a well in the centre and pour in the water and olive oil.
  120 ml warm water, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Using a flat bladed knife, mix from the centre outwards until all of the liquid is incorporated.
• Gather the mixture together with your hands to form a dough.
• Knead the dough for a few minutes until it's smooth, elastic and no longer sticky.
• Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave the dough to rest in a warm place for half an hour.
• Your pasta dough is now ready for rolling or shaping and to use in whatever way you wish.

Notes

It’s important to rest the dough before shaping. This allows the gluten to relax which in turn means your pasta shapes are less likely to shrink.

Fresh pasta only needs a few minutes or so to boil. But taste test before draining to ensure they’re done to your liking. Homemade whole wheat pasta is chewier than commercial varieties, so you’ll need to take that into account when testing.

To Freeze Fresh Pasta

Once you’ve created your pasta shapes, place them on a tray in a single layer and pop into your freezer. Once frozen, transfer the shapes to freezer-proof bags and seal. They will keep well for three months.

Cook from frozen. If you allow them to thaw, the shapes will stick together.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 283kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 294mg | Potassium: 236mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 6IU | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 2mg

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

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I’m sharing this recipe for how to make whole wheat pasta with #CookBlogShare which is hosted by Feast Glorious Feast this week.