Home Made Spaghetti

We like all-purpose flour to make homemade noodles, but for spaghetti, we like the texture of semolina flour. I have been making a half all-purpose flour version. It seems to be easier to handle than the all-semolina flour recipes I have tried, but still gives nice chewy cooked spaghetti. This must be made with some sort of spaghetti cutters; the dough itself can be made by hand or in the mixer, as I have done.  I have been able to find semolina flour fairly inexpensively at the nearest Amish grocery. 
Homemade Half - Semolina Pasta
1 1/2 Cups Semolina Flour -- 8 ounces
1 1/2 Cups Flour, All-purpose -- 7 ounces
5 Large Eggs -- room temperature (about 1 1/8 cup) or 9 fl oz
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Set-up: mixer, rollers and cutters, board, flour shaker, plastic wrap, drying racks, trays.
1. Place flours and salt in the mixer. Attach the flat paddle and set to stir and mix briefly. Add eggs and oil and mix until dough forms large clumps. Using your hands, form into a ball. It should form without being sticking to your hands. Add 1 tsp. water or 1 tbsp flour if needed to get the right consistency until the dough comes together.
2. Remove beater and attach dough hook. Set to speed 2 and knead 2 minutes until dough forms a firm ball. Remove, cut into 7 - 3 1/2 ounce portions and wrap in plastic wrap. Let rest 20 minutes to 1 hour. Refrigerate if over 20 minutes. If it seems too sticky to roll, let rest longer.
3. Attach pasta roller and set at 1. Set to speed 4 and roll dough. Run through 5-6 times, folding as you go. This initial rolling and folding is part of the kneading process. LIGHTLY FLOUR DOUGH AS NEEDED.
4. Turn the setting to 2 and run through once, without folding. Repeat on setting 3 and 4. Cut in half with a pizza wheel if it becomes too long. You can increase the thinness each time to 4, the optimal thickness for spaghetti. Dough should look and feel like chamois.
After rolling, hang to dry or place on clean towels to dry. Cut into 12" pieces, Let rest 15 to 20 minutes before cutting. Set the speed to 4 and run through the desired cutter. If first cutting doesn’t separate easily, let the dough dry longer. Hang the cut spaghetti and let dry about 15 minutes more.
5. Form into loose nests on the baking sheet and freeze until firm, put in a plastic bag and store up to 6 weeks or cook immediately.
6. Boil pasta 4 minutes, stirring the first 30 seconds. Add 30 seconds if frozen. Check if done; cook another minute or two if necessary. Drain and serve.
Cost: 2010 March - 86¢ per 1 1/2 pound recipe or 7¢ per serving.
Yield: "1 1/2 Pounds"  -  3 ounces is about equal to 2 ounces dry spaghetti.
Per Serving: 140 Calories; 2g Fat (13.9% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 76mg Cholesterol; 102mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Fat.

Check the How-to section for additonal information on homemade pasta-making

1 comment:

  1. I need Boss-man to make me a clever rack as your photo shows.

    The girls and I have been expirementing with ravioli and tortellini.

    ReplyDelete

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