Name: Sourdough Discard Pasta
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 3 Cups Semolina Flour; 4 Egg Yolks; 1⅓ Cups Sourdough Discard; 1 tsp Salt; Water (As Needed)

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If you love fresh pasta, then you are going to go NUTS for sourdough pasta!

If you’re like me, I am always looking for ways to utilize my sourdough discard because I hate when I have to throw it away!

The thing that I love so much about this pasta is the incredible flavor it gives! The sourdough discard adds a tanginess that you just cant replicate any other way and makes it the star of the dish.

Making pasta needs to be done by hand because you want to feel the dough. Depending on your altitude, how humid it is that day either outside or inside, the protein content of the flour you’re using, the ambient temperature, or the hydration of your starter, the amount of moisture you need will change. Now, it shouldn’t change drastically, but the consistency you’re looking for is like that of play-doh but a little bit drier. So if you mix all the ingredients and it seems too dry and crumbly, add a teaspoon of water at a time until it comes together like it should. If the pasta is too wet, add a small handful of flour at a time until you get that consistency.

You don’t necessarily need any specialized equipment to make fresh pasta, but a pasta roller does help tremendously. I use my KitchenAid Stand Mixer with the Pasta Roller and Cutter Attachment most of the time (my KitchenAid came with the pasta cutter as a bundle), but to get the fun shapes like the rigatoni, spaghetti, or fusili, you need a special piece of equipment called a Pasta Extruder. At minimum I would recommend having a pasta roller that way you will save your arms A LOT of rolling dough. You can get manual hand crank rollers like This One that work great.

Once you have your pasta made, rolled and cut you have a few options for storing it. You can use it right away, you can store it in an air tight container in the fridge, or you can dry it. Drying can be a good way of keeping your pasta for several months whereas if you keep it in the refrigerator, you should use it with a week or so. To dry your pasta you can either use a Pasta Drying Rack or you can lay out your pasta evenly on a cooling rack and leave in a well ventilated area. If you’re in an extremely humid area like myself, you will want to make sure there is plenty of air flow, I will place a fan in the room or put it on my kitchen table near the heater vent. You don’t want the air blowing directly on it, though, just make sure the room isn’t stagnant.

Now you’re ready to cook! Fresh pasta cooks much quicker than dried. To cook your fresh pasta only takes about 3-5 minutes. Make sure you salt your water, you want it to be salty like the sea but NOT the dead sea! Salting your pasta water, or any water that you’re cooking in, ensures that the food you are cooking keeps all of its flavor rather than getting watered down. The salt acts as a gentle seasoning while also keeping the flavors that are in the food you are cooking from dissipating into that water. Remember osmosis from back in high school? Same concept!

Use your pasta just as you would any other pasta, with red sauce, Alfredo, pesto, olive oil and garlic, whatever you like! And enjoy the big flavor payoff you will get from your hard work and sourdough discard.

Try this Sourdough Pasta with these other delicious recipes!

Sourdough Pasta Shapes Rigatoni, Spaghetti, Fettuccini, Cavatappi, pappardelle

Sourdough Discard Pasta

Fresh pasta made with semolina and Sourdough Discard

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 5

Resting time 30

Total Time 40

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Equipment

Pasta Roller and Cutter

Ingredients

3 Cups Semolina Flour
4 Egg Yolks
1⅓ Cups Sourdough Discard
1 tsp Salt
Water As Needed

Instructions

On a cutting board or other food safe surface, pile your semolina flour and salt.
Make a well in the center of your pile, put your yolks and sourdough starter in the center of the well.
From the middle, begin mixing everything together with a fork. Slowly incorporate the flour from the outside into the middle.
When the flour is almost fully incorporated, begin kneading by hand. You really need to feel the dough, if it is feeling dry, you will need to incorporate a bit of water, if it is soft, you will need to add more flour. You want the consistency to be similar to play doh, but a bit drier.
Knead by hand for about 5-10 minutes to work the gluten. Pretty much just go as long as your arms will allow.
Wrap the dough and allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes. You can leave it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
After your dough has rested, separate it into 4-6 equal pieces to begin rolling.
With a rolling pin, roll the pasta into long sheets dusting with flour as necessary to keep from sticking to your work space. If you have a pasta roller this is much easier.
If you do not have a pasta roller, continue rolling out your sheets until they are long and thin, trying to keep them as even as possible, you can cut into wide noodles with a bench scraper or pizza cutter.
If you have a pasta roller, roll your sheets to a number 6 then cut into any desired shape you prefer.
To cook your pasta, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil your noodles for 3-5 minutes until al dente. Fresh pasta cooks very quickly compared to dried pasta
You can store your fresh pasta for up to a week covered in the refrigerator, or you can dry the pasta by leaving it on a wired rack or hung on a pasta drying rack in a well ventilated area of the house with good air flow. This can take up to 2 days to get fully dry. You can store dried pasta for like, 6 months, but I guarantee you'll use it before then!