Why pasta is still made by hand in Rome
Rome has never stopped making pasta by hand because factory-made pasta simply can't match the quality of fresh pasta.
It’s not snobbery. It’s a matter of technique. Fresh egg pasta has a different texture — it absorbs the sauce in a way that no dried pasta can replicate. Fresh tonnarello in cacio e pepe captures the pecorino cream in a completely different way to spaghetti.
And then there’s the flavour. Egg pasta has a distinctive taste — rich and slightly sweet — which transforms the dish even when the sauce is simple.
Roman egg pasta: flour, eggs and nothing else
The Roman egg pasta It has two ingredients: flour and eggs. Some versions use only egg yolks, others whole eggs. There is no water, no oil and no salt in the dough.
The proportions vary from family to family — and that’s part of the secret. There’s no single recipe. What matters is the experience of someone who’s made that dough hundreds of times and knows when it’s ready without weighing it.
What remains the same:
- The flour — soft wheat, type 00 for thin pasta sheets, and semolina for more rustic shapes
- Eggs — fresh, from hens that have been well cared for. The colour of the yolk affects the colour of the dough and, to some extent, its flavour as well
- Resting — the dough must be left to rest, covered, for at least thirty minutes before being rolled out. This is the time needed for the gluten to relax
Tonnarelli with cheese and pepper: the pasta shape that Rome has made immortal
Tonnarello is the pasta shape used for cacio e pepe. Not by convention — but for practical reasons.
It’s a square-shaped spaghetti, thicker than the round variety, with a cross-section that traps the pecorino cream without letting it slip away. If you make it fresh, using eggs, the result is even better: the pasta holds its shape when cooked, holds the sauce, and holds everything together.
Cacio e pepe with tonnarelloOld Tavern It is made with “SEPI” Pecorino Romano PDO and freshly ground pepper. The tonnarello is fresh and homemade. It costs €15. It is one of the most popular dishes on the menu.
Roman fettuccine: how to make them and what to serve them with
Roman fettuccine is egg pasta cut into wide strips — about one centimetre wide — thick enough to hold a rich sauce.
These aren’t Bolognese tagliatelle, which are thinner and longer. They’re a hearty Roman variety, designed to hold hearty sauces:
- Grandma’s ragù — the one that’s cooked slowly all night long at the Antica Osteria
- Oxtail in tomato sauce — a rich, melt-in-the-mouth oxtail stew served over pasta
- Butter and sage — in ricotta and spinach ravioli, where fresh pasta takes centre stage
Handmade fettuccine absorbs the meat sauce in a way that bronze-cut pasta simply cannot. Its rough, slightly uneven edges trap the sauce and carry it right to the very end.
How to make handmade pasta: the touch that makes all the difference
It’s impossible to fully explain how to make fresh pasta in words.
But there are three moments when you realise you’re heading in the right direction.
- The first sign is when the dough stops sticking to your hands. This means that the gluten has formed and the dough is ready to rest.
- The second sign is when you roll out the pastry and feel it resisting — it doesn’t give way straight away, nor does it tear. That resistance is elasticity, and that’s exactly what you want.
- The third point is when you cut it. Fresh pasta must be cut cleanly, using a sharp knife or a pasta wheel. If it squashes rather than being cut, it is still too moist.
These are things you learn by doing them. Not by reading about them.
Cookery classes in Rome: learning by getting stuck in
If you want to learn how to make proper fresh pasta – not by watching a video, but by getting your hands in the dough – the Antica Osteria in Rome has just the thing for you.
Mani in Pasta is the Antica Osteria’s Roman cooking workshop: you’ll learn how to make egg pasta, knead the dough, roll out the sheets and cut them. And then you get to eat what you’ve made.
It’s a different experience from a traditional lecture. It’s hands-on cooking, with the people who do it every day.
You can find all the details on the page Mani in Pasta to learn how to make handmade pasta in Rome.
We are located at 258 Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, in Piazza della Chiesa Nuova, in Rome’s historic centre. Open daily from 11:00 to 22:00.
