Homemade Sourdough Pasta Recipe - An Italian in my Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What flour do Italians use for homemade pasta? ›

If you're making fresh pasta, you'd reach for semola flour, usually in combination with a grano tenero flour to make it easier to work with. True to its name, it makes a very stiff dough! For most baking projects, you'll turn to a grano tenero flour.

Another big difference, notes The Pantry Mama, is that sourdough pasta can be cooked in as little as two minutes, while other types of pasta can take around 11 minutes. The bacteria that gives sourdough its digestive benefits also creates a tart flavor and chewy texture in sourdough pasta, according to Masterclass.

The sourdough provides for good digestion and your stomach is going to feel good, resulting in a 'Happy Tummy.

Grano tenero flours are generally used in Italy to make both bread and pastries.

Semolina flour is good for pasta because it's a hard variety of wheat and has a high protein content. Both of these properties give more structure to pasta which provides that elusive 'al dente' quality to fresh pastas.

There are four classic Roman pasta dishes: carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana, and alla Gricia. Each uses slightly different techniques and ingredients and has its own place in the canon of Italian food. Here is a brief breakdown of these iconic Italian pasta dishes. 1.

Sourdough bread is healthier than Italian bread. Like the other bread types touched on thus far, Italian bread is made using commercial yeast. Since Italian bread does not traditionally use wild yeast that ferments slowly, Italian bread does not have the enhanced nutritional content that sourdough bread has.

Sourdough bread is made through a slow fermentation process, which may cause this type of bread to raise blood sugar more slowly than other breads. As a result, sourdough bread could be a great choice for those with diabetes. Whole grain sourdough bread is the best sourdough bread for diabetics.

It sounds unconventional to use milk in a meaty red sauce, but upon further investigation, it makes total sense why Italians swear by it. According to our Food Director Amira, not only does milk add a rich flavour to the bolognese, but it also “helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes and red wine”.

You're likely already familiar with the classic Italian fresh egg pasta recipe which goes something like this: for every person, mix 100 grams of flour with 1 whole egg. This is, in fact, what most Italians follow.

What do Italians put in their pasta water? ›

The addition of salt is imperative! The water used for cooking pasta should be as salty as the sea.

Health benefits of sourdough. The type of flour used — all-purpose, whole wheat, rye — can affect the nutritional content of sourdough bread, says Wee. But generally speaking, sourdough bread is a healthy option and can be eaten regularly as part of a nutritious, balanced diet.

Sourdough bread may be easier to digest than white bread for some people. According to some studies, sourdough bread acts as a prebiotic, which means that the fiber in the bread helps feed the “good” bacteria in your intestines. These bacteria are important for maintaining a stable, healthy digestive system.

Sourdough bread contains lactic acid, which can help reduce inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation can lead to a variety of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Adding sourdough bread to your diet can help reduce inflammation and promote overall health.

The semolina flour adds a bit more structure to the dough, which is helpful for shapes like garganelli or farfalle where you want the pasta to “stand up.” You could replace the semolina flour with equal parts 00 flour for a more tender and soft dough, which could be good for something like tagliatelle.

No matter how the flour gets processed, the Italian kind is already softer, slightly sweeter, and lower in protein (i.e. gluten), while American wheat is already harder, slightly more bitter, and high in protein (i.e. gluten).

Usually, Italian pasta is made from 100 percent durum wheat, which is usually called semolina flour. Therefore, Italian pasta is higher in protein. Semolina flour also stands up to the rigors of the cooking process much better than other types of flour.

Italians and English do not categorise flour in the same way. Italian flour is graded by colour (technically called extraction rate – that is the extent to which the bran and the germ are extracted from the flour). It is marked 00 to 04 where 00 is really really white and 04 is rather closer to whole meal.