Tutorials

Guidance, tips & techniques

We often think of pasta as a heavy meal and for some difficult to digest, however, this sourdough tagliatelle pasta is light and wholesome and easy to digest. Homemade pasta usually feels lighter anyway but making fermented sourdough whole wheat pasta does absolutely take your pasta to another level

You could just refresh your starter once and then use it to make this – but we often make our pasta as we are building our starter up ready to make a boule!

Method:

We used our chocolate starter for this recipe. If you do not already have a Chocolate Starter you can make one using a refreshed white starter, or a wholegrain one  – see How to Refresh a Chocolate Starter

Or just use your normal starter

Day 1:
9pm – refresh starter (1st build)

Day 2:
8am – refresh starter (2nd build)

8pm – mix the flours and salt together in a bowl, then tip into a pile on your work surface. Create a hole in the centre and add the eggs and the sourdough starter. Gradually mix the liquid into the dry ingredients until well combined – this will be a dry dough. It will feel tight and will take a bit of effort to bring together. If you struggle to get to to come together dip your hands in water and knead the mixture with the extra liquid. Equally if your dough seems a little wet add gradually add about 20-40g of extra flour. You are aiming for a smooth textured dough.

When there is no dry flour left begin to knead. This will take some effort because it is a dry dough but it is important to develop the gluten structure before fermentation. You are looking to create a pliable, malleable dough. If you feel you need to you can add a little extra water but literally just a few drops at a time – it is important not add too much.

8.30pm – place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel or a shower cap and leave to ferment on the side in your kitchen overnight.

Day 3:
11am/12pm – when you are ready to cook the pasta, oil your work surface with just a few drops of olive oil. I prefer to use oil rather than flour to avoid raw flour at this stage.

Divide the dough into six pieces. Roll out each piece using your pasta machine until you have a long thin sheet. Fold each piece of dough in half lengthways and put it through the pasta machine again. To strengthen the gluten repeat this process three times for each piece.

Cut each pasta sheet into four strips, then roll each one through the machine, until the machine reaches a middle setting (the dough will fall apart if you go too thin). Using the attachment for your pasta machine cut the pasta into tagliatelle. Dust the pasta with a little chestnut or rice flour and when you are ready to place it into a large saucepan of boiling water. Cook for about 3 and a 1/2 minutes for al dente. Don’t leave it for too long as it does cook very quickly.

Drain, then return the pasta to the warm pan and toss with a generous amount of butter. Serve with parmesan, salt and pepper.

The post Sourdough Tagliatelle Pasta with Anchovy Butter appeared first on The Sourdough Club.