Sourdough discard pasta, three ways

We’re excited to welcome again award-winning bread baker and cookbook creator Bryan Ford to share his experience on making pasta from scratch. Beneath, he affords a go-to sourdough pasta recipe and three other ways to organize it. 

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In the event you’ve by no means made your personal pasta from scratch, you are lacking out on a really enjoyable and scrumptious time. Fortunate for me, it is turn out to be an much more tasty time since I began utilizing King Arthur Semolina Flour in my go-to pasta recipe.

In the event you’re not acquainted, semolina flour is a rough grind of high-protein durum wheat. Typically used to make bread, pizza, and pasta, it lends a beautiful pale yellow colour and candy, nutty taste. In pasta, significantly, the flour’s coarse texture and excessive protein content material allow you to make completely different shapes with the dough and for these shapes to carry their kind when cooked.

Moreover, semolina flour helps keep a hearty consistency in your noodle that enables it to take in the sauces you is likely to be utilizing when making ready your pasta dish. 

Though I usually make pasta dough solely with semolina, I made a decision to take this recipe a step additional and blend in among the new ’00’ Pizza Flour that King Arthur affords. Utilizing the effective ’00’ flour in small portions for pasta offers the dough a balanced and easy really feel, whereas nonetheless permitting the semolina to be the star of the present.

On this recipe I’m going to point out you how you can make three forms of pasta together with your sourdough discard: sun-dried tomato linguine, pappardelle, and spinach tortelli. In the event you don’t personal a pasta maker, don’t fear — this recipe doesn’t require one. With a rolling pin and a few elbow grease, home made pasta is nicely inside your attain. 

Why add discard starter to your pasta?

Chances are you’ll be questioning, nevertheless, why you’d even add sourdough discard to pasta dough? Some of the apparent causes is that ANY sort of dough will style higher whenever you add some form of pre-fermented flour to it. That’s proper, including sourdough to batters and doughs will add an enhanced, advanced taste — if you happen to don’t consider me, strive it!

There might be different advantages to including pre-fermented flour as nicely. I’ve discovered the digestibility of wheat is way simpler when the gluten has been fermented for lengthy durations of time; for me, this pasta recipe creates a easy dough that doesn’t make me really feel too full. For the reason that starter provides extra moisture to the dough, I additionally discover it to be barely extra extensible than typical pasta doughs. 

One dough, three pastas 

I’m an enormous fan of with the ability to use one dough to derive completely different flavors. I do it on a regular basis after I bake bread, but it surely’s actually enjoyable to have the ability to infuse new flavors into pasta, strive completely different shapes, and create a rainbow of colours. 

The strategy for altering up the pasta colour is fairly easy: you simply want blender or meals processor, and you can begin experimenting with so many alternative issues! To make inexperienced tortelli, I merely add 1/3 of the dough to my meals processor with some spinach leaves and a splash of olive oil. For the sun-dried tomato dough, I add some sun-dried tomatoes in addition to a little bit of the oil from the jar, which gives a beautiful burnt-orange hue. 

Able to dive into home made pasta? Get away your sourdough starter and rolling pin, and let’s get began. 

What you will want

Notice: This recipe was developed utilizing metric measurements, however in order for you an approximation utilizing American quantity measurements, see the tip on the backside of the recipe web page. 

For the dough: 

For filling the tortelli: 

spinach, cooked (or thawed from frozen)
semisoft cheese of any type (similar to mozzarella or provolone), cubed or shredded

Put together the pasta dough

You may select to make this dough both by hand or in a meals processor. The dough is sort of stiff, so for a neater time mixing I might counsel the meals processor route. 

To make the dough by hand: In a big bowl whisk collectively the flours. Scoop them right into a mound on a clear work floor. Make a nicely within the heart of the mound deep sufficient to see the work floor under.

Add the sourdough discard and eggs to the nicely and use a fork to whisk them collectively, slowly incorporating a little bit of the flour across the edges. Proceed incorporating extra of the flour till the dough begins to kind clumps.

Add 25g of the olive oil and the salt, and blend and knead the dough together with your palms, including water 10g at a time till all the pieces holds collectively; the dough will likely be stiff and can tear simply.

Divide the dough into three items. Set two of the items apart and canopy them calmly with a material or plastic wrap.

To make the dough in a meals processor: Pulse collectively the flours, then add the discard and eggs and course of to make a crumbly, dry combination. Add the olive oil and salt and course of once more to include.

With the processor working, drizzle within the water till the dough begins to kind clumps. Cease the processor, switch the dough to a piece floor, and divide it into three items. Set two of the items apart and canopy them calmly with a material or plastic wrap.

Make completely different flavors 

This primary dough can be utilized to organize three completely different pasta flavors: plain, spinach, and sun-dried tomato. Here is how you can make all three: 

To make plain dough: Knead one piece of dough by hand, including 10g to 30g extra water till the dough doesn’t crumble or break as you’re kneading it. Proceed to knead for five to 10 minutes, till the dough is easy and elastic. Wrap the dough in plastic or place it in an hermetic container and set it apart to relaxation for 1 hour at room temperature. It’s also possible to refrigerate it for as much as 1 day.

To make spinach dough: Add one piece of dough to the meals processor together with the spinach, 10g of olive oil, and 10g to 20g of water. Course of till the dough turns inexperienced. Switch the dough to your work floor and knead till it’s easy and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes. Wrap and retailer the dough as directed above.

To make sun-dried tomato dough: Add the ultimate piece of dough to the meals processor together with the sun-dried tomato halves, 10g of oil from the tomato jar, and 10g to 20g of water. Course of till the dough turns orange-red. Switch it to your work floor and knead till it’s easy and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes. Wrap and retailer the dough as directed above.

Roll the dough 

Working with half a chunk of every dough at a time (hold the dough you’re not working with lined), roll the dough as thinly as attainable utilizing a heavy rolling pin or pasta machine. For formed pasta like tortelli, the dough needs to be about 1/32″ (lower than 1mm), and for lengthy pasta, like pappardelle, fettuccine, or linguine, 1/8″ or much less (2mm to 3mm) is sweet.

Form the pasta 

Relying on which kind of pasta you’d wish to make, you possibly can form this dough in numerous methods: 

To form tortelli: Reduce the dough into rounds utilizing a 2 1/2″ to three” cookie cutter, or the highest of a jar (or jar lid). Collect the scraps right into a ball, cowl, and put aside to re-roll as soon as the dough has rested for 20 to half-hour.

Place a teaspoonful of spinach and a small dice or teaspoonful of semisoft cheese (mozzarella or provolone are good selections) in the midst of every pasta spherical. 

Fold reverse sides of the dough circle up and pinch them collectively to create a semicircle. Lay the semicircles on their sides and crimp with a fork to seal completely. Lastly, pinch their ends collectively to create crescent shapes.

Place the formed tortelli on a plate or baking sheet and set them apart till you’re able to boil them.

To form pappardelle, fettuccine, or linguine: Flippantly coat the highest of the dough sheets with slightly semolina flour, then loosely roll them up. Reduce the rolled-up dough into strips — about 3/4″ vast for pappardelle, 1/2″ vast for fettuccine, and simply over 1/8″ vast for linguine. Unroll the strips and allow them to dry on a rack, dowel, or on a clear work floor for 20 to half-hour.

Curl the strands into free mounds (“nests”) and set them apart till you’re able to boil them.

Boil the pasta

Deliver a big pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook dinner for two to 4 minutes; it ought to nonetheless have a slight chew. Drain the pasta instantly, reserving among the cooking liquid for no matter sauce you select to make, if desired.

In the event you’re planning to cook dinner the pasta later, cowl and refrigerate it for as much as two days. Freeze, well-wrapped, for longer storage.  

And there you could have it: yet one more method to make use of your sourdough discard, plus a enjoyable, colourful, and attractive mission for dinnertime! 

For extra home made pasta recipes, see these recipes for Recent Pasta, Golden Durum Pasta, and Sprouted Wheat Pasta. And for extra recipes like this from Bryan, go to his weblog Artisan Bryan.