How To Fix Pasta Dough That's Way Too Dry

Making pasta from scratch can be a satisfying experience since all you really need are flour and eggs, a little bit of arm strength, and some patience. Homemade pasta will not only give you fresher flavors and elite status among your friends, but you can also learn something new along the way. And, one pasta hack that's worth learning is how to fix an overly dry dough. So, we spoke to Jacob Mendros, Executive Chef at Prima Italian Steakhouse to get some expert advice.

If your pasta dough is on the drier side and not holding together, Mendros says, "It's likely that wherever the recipe originated was a drier climate versus a more humid climate. You can keep a spray bottle of water with you while making your pasta to gently add moisture if needed." Simply spray your dough and then knead for 30 seconds before re-evaluating. Keep spraying and kneading until your dough comes together. If you don't have a spray bottle, you can knead the dough with wet hands instead.

Pasta dough can just as easily go from too dry to too wet if you're not careful, so make sure you stop adding water at the right moment. Chef Jacob Mendros explains that pasta dough should have "a smooth texture with a gentle bounce back when you push on it." There shouldn't be any unincorporated flour, with the dough looking elastic yet firm, like Play-Doh. Remember, your dough will hydrate even further and gain more elasticity once it's rested.

Another reason for your pasta dough looking too dry might be that it hasn't been kneaded long enough. You should only be reaching for the spray bottle if your dough is struggling to come together after a good three minutes of kneading. It's normal for the dough to be shaggy and dry at the beginning, and adding water prematurely will leave you with wet dough. If this happens and things are sticky when it's time to roll it out, sprinkle it with some flour each time you roll it through the pasta machine. Pasta dough is quite forgiving, so there's no excuse not to have a homemade pasta-making session.