Easy Homemade Sourdough Pasta Using Starter or Discard

Hi friends! Today I am excited to share a recipe that I have fallen in love with. Over the past couple of years, with all the sourdough baking I have been doing, I decided to start making sourdough pasta. This has been a big game changer for me! I have a gluten sensitivity and sourdough is usually easier tolerated by myself. So, I thought that it would be worth a try, and boy oh boy it is….and it is amazing! Let me show you how I make it!

Fermented pasta is something that you can easily make with your sourdough starter. I have used both an active sourdough starter as well as a discard. The result of using the sourdough discard is a flavorful homemade pasta with all the benefits of sourdough.

There are two ways to address your sourdough pasta depending on what you want. If you want to be able to quickly whip up some pasta, you can easily mix the flour, eggs, and sourdough starter together and let it sit for 30 minutes and then make your pasta.

If you want more of the benefits of sourdough, you can let it sit in the fridge overnight, which will allow for a slow ferment. This helps to break down some of the gluten proteins. This is my preferred way, since it is easier for me to eat, but I often make it and let is sit for 30 minutes and then whip up my pasta.

HOW TO MAKE SOURDOUGH PASTA

The ingredients for sourdough pasta are simple. All purpose flour sourdough starter, and eggs.

Now lets follow these instructions to make amazing sourdough pasta.

First, you need to gather your three ingredients. You can mix this by hand or in a stand mixer. But be prepared to do some hand kneading yourself so you do not burn out the motor on your mixer.

Mixer Method VS Hand Method:

Mixer Method: Add your eggs and starter to your mixing bowl. Let them mix slowly with a dough hook, and slowly add in your flour. As you continue to add the flour the dough will become very thick and dense. Once you have all the flour incorporated, it should not feel sticky.

Hand method: Put your flour on your counter and make a well in the center. Add the eggs and the sourdough starter or discard. Using a fork, begin mixing the eggs and starter together and slowly start to incorporate the flour into the mixture by pulling it from the outside flour barrier. Continue to do this until all the flour is incorporated.

At this point(for both methods), I pull the dough out and continue to knead by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic. Then wrap it in plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes. IF YOU WANT TO HAVE ALONG FERMENT ON YOUR PASTA, LET IT SIT IN THE FRIDGE OVERNIGHT BEFORE YOU ROLL IT OUT AND USE IT.

You can then use a rolling pin or a pasta machine to roll out your pasta dough to make noodles. I have KitchenAid pasta attachments that make it easy to make pastas like rigatoni, macaroni, spaghetti and more.

If I want to make Linguine, fettuccine, or wider noodles like lasagne or pappardelle, I will use my hand crank pasta machine to roll out the dough to the desired thickness. I will then flour the dough sheets, fold them up and cut it into strips using a sharp knife.

I use my pasta night away, or if I want to store it for later, I hang it on my pasta rack and let the pasta dry. I let it sit out for up to 24 hours to dry completely. I then store it in an airtight container in my pantry. You need to make sure the pasta is dry completely. This dried pasta is more fragile than store bought, so be sure to store it in a container and not in a bag.

This sourdough pasta dough is one of my most favorite ways to use up sourdough discard. I absolutely love the flavor and texture of this and it beats out any gluten free pasta.

To Cook Your Fresh or Dry Sourdough Pasta:

For Fresh or frozen sourdough pasta: In a large pot, bring your water to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, salt the water liberally. Add your pasta to the water and give it a stir. Make sure you stir it. Cook it for about 3-5 minutes and try it. Depending on the thickness it will cook faster. Fresh pasta does not take very long to cook!

If you are cooking dry pasta, follow the same steps. But, it will take a bit longer to cook the dried pasta. Surprisingly, though this dried pasta does not take as long to cook at store bought dried pasta. It will take about 6 minutes to cook Linguine.

Sourdough Pasta Recipe

Looking for some great ways to use your fresh sourdough pasta? I have some great sauce options below!