How to Store Fresh Pasta: 3 Ways to Store Fresh Pasta

Fresh pasta is dough freshly made from flour, eggs, and water. Pasta makers toss the ingredients in a food processor or stand mixer, then knead until the dough is elastic. The fresh egg pasta is then rolled out using a rolling pin and cut into various shapes using a pasta machine.

Unlike the dried pasta commonly available in grocery stores, fresh cut pasta has not been dehydrated. To cook pasta, salt water and bring it to a rolling boil. The cooking time for fresh pasta is much faster than dried pasta—just a few minutes instead of up to ten minutes.

Fresh pasta is traditionally consumed the day it’s made, but with proper storage, you can keep fresh pasta for weeks, even months. Commercial dry pasta will last for up to two years in the pantry, while fresh pasta has a much shorter shelf life, anywhere from one day in the refrigerator to eight months in the freezer.

There are multiple ways to store fresh pasta so you can enjoy it at a later date. Follow the directions below for storing and freezing uncooked, fresh pasta:

1. 1. Store in the refrigerator: You can store fresh homemade pasta in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a day.
2. 2. Freeze fresh pasta dough: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in an airtight container or freezer bag. The pasta dough will keep for up to a month. Thaw the dough overnight in your refrigerator before using it.
3. 3. Freeze fresh pasta noodles: Toss the noodles in a little flour to keep them from sticking, then lay the pasta noodles in a single layer on a baking tray. Alternatively, you can form the pasta noodles into a circular nest. Let the noodles air dry for one hour, then put the semi-dry pasta in a freezer-safe plastic bag or airtight container. The frozen pasta noodles will last for eight months. You can put the frozen noodles straight into boiling water to cook them.

To store fresh pasta noodles at room temperature for longer than a few hours, you will need to dry them. You can dry fresh pasta noodles or pasta sheets, such as fettuccine or lasagna sheets, by following these steps:

1. 1. Toss the pasta with flour. First, to dry fresh pasta, toss the pasta strands with a little flour to keep them from sticking, such as semolina flour or all-purpose flour.
2. 2. Lay the strands of pasta. Lay the strands of fresh pasta in a single layer on a baking sheet or a pasta drying rack.
3. 3. Place the pasta away from sunlight. Keep the pasta uncovered in an unheated oven or on the counter away from direct sunlight.
4. 4. Test the consistency. The pasta will take around twelve to twenty-four hours to dry completely. You can tell when the pasta snaps instead of twisting when you bend it.

You can keep dehydrated fresh pasta in the pantry for up to six months.

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