I've wanted to try making my own pasta since tasting a sample of the fresh pasta sold at Borough Market. For any of you keen to try, Jamie Oliver says to make your pasta dough with a 1 egg: 100g flour ratio knead into a ball, flatten and you can do whatever shapes you want after that. Sounds not too difficult, but not something you'll do when you're in a rush to just get food into your stomach, so I kept putting it off.
Then I found this recipe for sourdough noodles from Jenny. It's a great way to use up extra starter and encourage yourself to not neglect your baby(: If it sounds weird, actually it's not that weird, it's inspired by the traditional Russian pel'meni, a stuffed dumpling.
I modified the recipe a bit because the dough seemed too dry. Here's my version:
Ingredients
1/3 cup sourdough starter
1 cup wholegrain flour
1 whole egg (having the yolk alone made it too thick to stir)
2 tbsps water/whey (not advisable after all; the mixture felt too dry so I though I needed to add something liquid, but then the dough the next day was a bit too slack?)
Method
1. Mix wet ingredients first, then add the flour a bit at a time.
2. Knead into a ball. Let it rest, covered, overnight.
3. Dump ball on a floured surface, roll out very thin, trim edges into a rectangle, cut into desired shapes.
4. (optional) Leave to dry for half an hour before dropping in boiling water, or dust with some flour and freeze in a sealed bag/container.
Images speak louder than words and I am studying graphic design after all heh, so:
For stuffed pasta
For ribbon pasta/noodles
Now for some photos:
Ravioli
I don't have a fancy pizza cutter so they don't have pretty edges, but oh well, rustic ;)
Check out my Pumpkin Ravioli with Browned Basil Butter!
Tortellini
They're like mini pasta hugs! Oh if you're wondering about the odd pointed crown, I should have made them on circles of dough instead. But it's cute still, heh? Check out my simple Herbed Cheese Tortellini!
I love stuffed pasta, love biting into that little nugget of surprise wrapped up in the dough. There are so many things you can stuff them with! Get crazy!
Noodles have that reassuring "slurp" quality though and I love them just as much.
Fettucini
Remember to flour the surface well, or the dough will stick!
For Linguini, cut thinner strips.
For Parpadelle, cut fatter strips.
For Lasagne, don't cut (sounds good and lazy. will try it the next time i make extra tomato bolognese sauce).
Verdict: Sourdough pasta has a deep, rich, yeasty flavour with a slight tang to it. Really really good. Texture-wise, there's a very comforting hearty mee hoon kueh/ ban mian (oh giving me ideas..)bite to it. But it doesn't have the springiness of al dente pasta.
Update: I don't think it's entirely to do with the sourdough. I think it's me. I was watching youtube videos on making normal egg pasta, and
1. I believe I left out a crucial step: kneading the dough.
"Once you’ve made your dough you need to knead and work it with your hands to develop the gluten in the flour, otherwise your pasta will be flabby and soft when you cook it, instead of springy and al dente. "
2. Also, yes please skip the added water/whey. "When you're making pasta, the dough must be very dry."
3. And to anyone making normal egg pasta, use 00 flour.
This post is an entry for Simple Lives Thursday by GNOWFGLINS.
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