Homemade pasta can make any dish rustic and satisfying. Serve on the side or top with your favorite meat or cream sauce. Or, for a fresh market spin, toss with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and blanched seasonal vegetables. Making pasta can also be a really fun group activity, with others helping to shape the pasta. Homemade pasta dough also cooks very quickly, which can be a benefit when you’re in a crunch for time…
This eggless pasta dough, made with our silky smooth, unbleached Organic Pasta Flour, is technically vegan since no eggs are used. It’s quite easy to make and we prefer to mix the dough by hand. If you do not want to mix by hand, we suggest using a food processor so you don’t run the risk of burning out the motor in your stand mixer. This recipe is sized for 4 servings. If you want to scale it up, plan on roughly 100g of finished dough per person.
Formula
Number of Units: 4 servings / Unit Weight: 100 grams / Total Weight: 400 grams
| PASTA DOUGH | Baker’s % | Weight | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic “Extra Fancy Durum” Pasta Flour | 100 | 270 g | 1 ¾ c |
| Warm Water | 48 | 130 g | ½ c |
| Total | 148 | 400 g | 2 ¼ c |
| TECHNICAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mix | Add water to bottom of a bowl | ||
| Add pasta flour | |||
| Mix till the dough is smooth | |||
| Rest | Cover with plastic and rest at room temperature for 1 hour or in the fridge for up to 4 hours | ||
| Boil | Boil in salted water for a few minutes | ||
Process
If mixing by hand, place flour into a bowl and add 90-95% of the warm water into the bowl. Mix as best you can until most of the flour has been hydrated. Add the remaining water into the bowl. This water will help pick up any dry flour that is left. The dough may be slightly crumbly.
If using a food processor, place the flour into the bowl and slowly add the water into the flour while pulsing. Continue to pulse the mixture until the dough starts to come together and form a ball that gets stuck to the side of the bowl.
Turn the flour onto a dry counter and knead the dough until there isn’t any visible dry flour left. You can also use the mass of dough to pick up the little crumbs of dough. The dough should look smooth. It may take up to 10 min of kneading.
When done, form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic and flatten the ball. Alternatively, you can place the dough into a large zip seal bag. Let the dough rest at room temp for 1 hr or place into the fridge for up to 4 hrs.
Shaping
There are many different ways to use this dough… If you have a pasta roller, you can make use of that here and sheet the pasta out, or hand roll the dough into different shaped pastas. Regardless of which method you choose, make sure you are always keeping the unused or unshaped portion of dough covered in plastic to prevent it from drying out. Place your shaped pasta onto a sheet or towel dusted with semolina and let it dry for about 20-30 min before cooking.
Cooking
In a large pot, boil water with a generous amount of salt. When ready to cook, place the pasta into the boiling water. Give it a few stirs to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. When the pasta begins to float, take one out and taste it to make sure it has the desired texture. If you’re after a classic “al dente” texture, you’ll probably end up removing the pasta several seconds after they have floated which can be anywhere from 1 to 4 min after initially submerging.
FROM THE MILL
