yeasted pasta

Talking to a Chef awhile back, I was told that there is a very traditional pasta from one region of Italy that is yeasted.  This was a Chef that told me that my hand kneaded pasta was better then his because I am a baker.  I knead bread so often that I was not surprised.  Last week, bread was made at least four times and I am not counting this pasta!

I did a bit of research and found out that this pasta was actually made on baking day.  That way you did not have two doughs going.  I read the recipe for this pasta a year ago and decided that I did not wish to go through the process of getting the book from the library and using it as a go by.  I

know how to make bread.  I know how to make pasta.  I know how pasta dough should feel.  My Beloved asked for sourdough pasta so why not!

The taste of this is similar to a non-yeasted pasta. There is more flavor.  It rolled easier.  Which is a plus.  And if I am making a simple bread, I would put a bit of dough aside to make into pasta.  It just need tweaking.

yeasted pasta dough

Note:  I started this from scratch.  If you have a French dough, Italian dough, or a baguette dough, just knead in flour until you have a VERY stiff dough and go from the resting point of these directions.

sourdough starter

100 grams water

100 grams white whole wheat flour

2 eggs

a pinch of salt

1 1/2 to 2 cups flour

Eight to fourteen hours before, refresh your starter with 100 grams of water and 100 grams of flour.  Cover and let it get bubbly.  I have been finding that cling wrap works very well for this step but I want to make some of the coated linen to try.  

When the starter is bubbly, remove a bit for next time.  A bit is a couple tablespoons.

Mix in two eggs.

Mix in the flour.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead.  You want a very stiff dough.  Wrap and let sit.  I would have liked it to sit for more then the couple hours it did but I kept forgetting what I was doing on Saturday.  That was because I was mostly sleeping.

Unwrap the dough.  It will be a bit puffy.  Divide in half and roll out into a thin sheet.

Cut and place on a floured baking sheet.  Dust with more flour as more pasta is sliced.

Put the pasta into salted boiling water.  Cook for about three minutes.  A few more if you did not roll the dough very thin.

Serve with any sauce you wish.  One of the reasons I wanted eggs in the pasta was I knew I was going to serve it with a vegetarian sauce.  It was a day of sleep and looking for calories.  In another words, a weekend of healing and not traveling.  Guess what I wanted it be doing!

I will be making more of this.  It makes my life easy because I just have to knead extra flour into a bread dough and I have pasta for dinner.  Talk about frugality!

chocolate pasta

My life has been wild trying to get ready for Christmas.  This not unusual for me but when my instigating friend sends me pictures of chocolate pasta, life gets even more crazy.  It is not like I am reading pasta cookbooks anyhow.  Getting a few ideas but mostly looking up "new" cool tools.  Okay, so I like the hand tools best.  Call me crazy.  I have a list!

I found a recipe for chocolate pasta on line.  Basically, it was switch out some of the flour for a good unsweetened cocoa.  Not rocket science.  Or rock science either for that matter.

It was not bad.  There is no sweetness to the pasta.  There is a bit more depth and a bit of a bitter bite so you have to chose the sauce wisely.  I made a gorgonzola cream sauce garnished with toasted walnuts.  The strong flavours worked.  

Would I make the pasta again?  Maybe.  It was not that much better then my other handmade pasta.  I may need to find a better sauce.  But I am writing down what I did for next time.

chocolate pasta

2 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup flour

3 eggs

water

I am lazy and do not wish to clean up too hard, so I do pasta dough in a bowl to start.  

Put the flour and cocoa in a bowl.  Mix together and make a well.  Crack in three eggs to the well.  Start beating them in from the center and start incorporating the flour mixture until you can stir in as much as you can.  It will probably be crumbly.

Turn out a clean surface and start kneading.  I needed to add a few tablespoons of water to make a stiff dough.  I need it until it is silky with as little added water as possible.  Wrap it and place it in the refrigerator over night.

Before dinner, take the dough out of the refrigerator.  On a clean surface that has a light coating of flour, start rolling it out.  Roll the dough out as thin as you can.  It is work.

Once the dough has been rolled out, roll it up so it can be sliced into noodles.  

As the noodles are cut, put on a baking sheet with flour.  Dust them well so they do not stick to each other.  Let them dry while you continue cutting and make your sauce.

When ready cook, bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Add the pasta.  Bring back to a boil and boil for a few minutes.

Drain and serve with the sauce of your choice.

I like making pasta so this was fun.  I have a few more pasta doughs I wish to try.  I should not be allowed to shop for new and interesting ingredients alone.  Too much temptation!

the pasta from yesterday

The pasta from yesterday is stupidly simple but a bit of work and patience.  It really stands up well to the richness of the venison ragu.

Pasta

2 cups flour

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (with the possibility of more) water

Put the flour and water in a bowl and mix.  Knead until smooth, about ten minutes.  Let rest at least 30 minutes (this is vital!).

Roll out and shape into the past you wish.  I wanted noodles so that is what I did.  Bring a pot of water to boil, with a teaspoon or two of salt add.  Drop in the pasta and cook until al dente.

Yumminess with the sauce!  This is my go to pasta recipe for meat sauces now.