For that never ending discard one has when tending to a sourdough starter, we bring you yet another way to utilize it: pasta. Slightly tangy, with lots of great texture, sourdough noodles can be used anywhere you would regularly use pasta.
The pasta recipe calls for 100% hydration sourdough starter discard. This means that the starter has been fed with equal amounts (by weight) of water and flour. It should be the consistency of pancake batter. Check out our Basic Sourdough Bread and Starter post for more detailed instructions on sourdough starters. There is also a recipe for Sourdough Discard Cornbread. It gives some tips on how to stash a starter in the fridge for an extended period of time when you can’t or don’t want to deal with it.
For a stiff dough like pasta, I have come to prefer the stainless steel bowl and roller/scraper. When the flour is first added, it might seem too dry, but patience, it will come together.
One note on flour. I use 100% finely ground semolina. It’s what I prefer, I like the taste and the texture. Antimo Caputo is my favorite brand so far. Semolina flour is higher in gluten/protein than all-purpose flour and give the pasta the stretch and strength it needs to stay together. Some people prefer to mix in a little all-purpose or 00 flour. I always say, go with what works for you! If you’d like to give semolina flour a try, just make sure that it is finely ground and suitable for pasta making, and not the coarser grind variety often used to dust baking and pizza pans/stones.
After the pasta dough is mixed together, it needs to rest to let all that gluten relax before rolling out. If you are considering a pasta attachment for your Ankarsrum, the lasagna attachment is the first one I would start out with, as it is the most versatile. It can be used for lasagna obviously, but also for filled pasta like ravioli and tortellini. And the fresh sheets of pasta can also be cut into thinner noodles using a knife. Also, when using the fettuccine or spaghetti noodle attachment, the dough needs to be thinly rolled out before feeding it through those attachments.
Once the dough has rested, divide into 8 portions and work with 1 at a time, keeping the others covered. Lightly sprinkle with extra semolina flour, slightly flatten, and run through the pasta roller on the widest setting. Fold in half and then run through same setting again. This will be done with each width setting until you’ve reached the desired thinness.
If using in a lasagna, fresh pasta doesn’t need to be cooked before. Or you could make the pasta sheets into ravioli or tortellini.
Alternately, the pasta sheets can be fed through the fettucine or spaghetti attachments, as mentioned above, and used in any pasta recipe that you enjoy. If the pasta discs from the meat mincer package are what you are using, I have included instructions in the recipe on how to use those.
Since this has sourdough starter in it, and therefore wild yeast, if the fresh pasta sits in the fridge for a few days, it will start to puff up a little, and probably need to be occasionally dusted with more flour. There is nothing wrong with it, just keep in mind that it will produce a puffy pasta when cooked.
Please let us know if you have any questions or comments about this post, or about sourdough starter in general. Happy cooking!
Sourdough Discard Pasta
Prep Time: 40 minutes (max amount of time to roll all dough out and into pasta)
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Inactive Time: 30 minutes
200 g. (1 cup) 100% hydration sourdough starter discard
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
30 g. (2 Tbsp.) water, room temperature
462 g. (2 1/2 cups) finely ground semolina flour OR 455 g. (2 1/2 cups) whole wheat durum flour
2 g. (1/2 tsp.) kosher salt
extra flour for dusting
In the stainless steel bowl with the roller/scraper, add the sourdough discard, eggs, egg yolks and water. Mix together on medium speed (3 o’clock) until incorporated.
Add in the flour and then the salt. Lock the arm in place 1 inch away from the edge of the bowl. Mix on medium-low speed (2 o’clock) until the flour is fully mixed in, pulling the roller and/or scraper towards the middle if needed, to help mix in ingredients. If dough is beginning to stick to roller. Stop, scrape roller down, and proceed. Once all flour is mixed in, set timer for 2 minutes and let knead at the same speed.
Once kneaded, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
For the lasagna roller attachment: Divide dough into 8 portions. Make sure you keep the rest of the dough covered until you are ready to use it or it will begin to dry out. Flatten one portion of dough between your hands. Set the lasagna roller to the widest setting and feed the dough through. Fold the dough in half and feed through the next setting. Continue this process for 3 settings, and then feed sheet through each additional setting once, taking down to desired thinness.
Fresh lasagna noodles do not need to be cooked before using. For ravioli or tortellini, fill, shape, and then cook.
For the fettuccine and spaghetti roller attachments: If you have the lasagna roller, I would recommend feeding the dough through it as stated above until you get to the #5 setting. This will give you a nice flat sheet to feed through the attachments. If you don’t have the lasagna roller, flatten out a portion of the dough with your hands or a rolling pin before feeding it through the attachments.
To cook: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Gently drop the noodles in boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes until al dente. Strain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid if making a sauce for the pasta. Add to sauce along with noodles and cook about 5 minutes. The starch in the pasta water will help bring it all together.
For the meat grinder pasta discs: Turn the machine on the lowest speed. Portion dough into 6 pieces and squeeze into a cylinder shape. Feed through the meat grinder tube using the plunger. Keep the remaining dough covered until you are ready to feed it through the machine.
As the noodles begin to come out, begin dusting with extra flour. Gently cut off the noodles when they reach about a foot long and generously dust with more flour. Continue feeding all the dough through this way, making sure to keep the machine on the lowest speed. If you turn the speed up, your noodles will come out shaggy and may break apart.
To cook: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Gently drop the noodles in boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes until al dente. Strain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid if making a sauce for the pasta. Add to sauce along with noodles and cook about 5 minutes. The starch in the pasta water will help bring it all together.
Yield: 830 g. (1 lb. 13 oz.) fresh pasta
