Ancient Grains for Modern Meals - Maria Speck [94]
Homemade Spelt Fettuccine
Pasta-making takes a bit of time, but much of it is inactive, as the dough has to relax and dry before you cook it. You can work ahead if you like (see “to get a head start”). Active time is about 1 hour—not bad for a culinary revelation. One note regarding the flour: the more finely milled it is, the silkier the dough and the less water it will need. I provide instructions for a hand-cranked pasta rolling machine and for making it by hand. This recipe also allows you to hand-cut thinner linguine, but for them you need bring a bit of patience (which I most often lack).
This recipe makes more fettuccine than you will need for the recipes in this book, but I thought you might enjoy the extra. One of my favorite ways of eating homemade spelt pasta is with butter and salt. Buon appetito! MAKES 16 OUNCES OF FRESH PASTA, TO SERVE 4 TO 6
2½ cups whole spelt flour (10 ounces), plus extra for rolling and for the work surface
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 to 7 tablespoons water
SEE MEASURING WHOLE GRAIN FLOUR
1 BY HAND: Make a mound of flour on your work surface. Sprinkle the salt across and create a well in the center. Using a fork, thoroughly combine both eggs, the olive oil, and 3 tablespoons of the water in a 2-cup liquid cup measure. Add the mixture to the well. Using your fingers or a fork and a circular motion, start to incorporate flour from the edges and the bottom of the crater into the egg mixture. Don’t move too vigorously so as not to break the rim of the crater. Continue incorporating flour from the sides until a chunky dough starts to form, and then use your hands to incorporate the remaining flour. Drizzle with a bit more water until you can form a soft ball of dough. Use a bench scraper to help you along if the dough sticks to the surface.
BY MACHINE: Place the whole spelt flour and the salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 30 seconds. Using a fork, thoroughly combine both eggs, the olive oil, and 3 tablespoons of the water in a 2-cup liquid cup measure. With the processor running, add the egg mixture through the feed tube and process just until a ball of dough forms, about 10 seconds. If no ball forms, drizzle in a bit more water by the teaspoonful until it does.
2 Knead the dough on a lightly floured work surface for 8 to 10 minutes (3 to 5 minutes for machine-made). If the dough is a tad too dry, moisten your hands; if it is sticky, dust your hands and the dough with flour. As you knead, the texture of the dough will change. While spelt flour is relatively malleable early on, the dough should become elastic, shiny, smooth, and ever-so-slightly tacky. This is when you should stop the kneading.
3 Place a glass or earthenware bowl over the dough, or wrap it in plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature for at least ½ hour and up to 1 hour. After that, be sure to check its beautiful transformation: the dough will be soft and malleable—no wonder this step is called relaxing the dough.
4 Lightly flour 2 baking sheets, and dust your work surface with flour. Unwrap or uncover the dough and cut into 4 pieces. Remove 1 piece at a time and keep the others covered or wrapped.
BY HAND: Flatten each piece into a small rectangle, about 6 by 2½ inches. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, start rolling the dough from the center outward and sideways, rotating often. Also, flip it over and continue rolling. You are aiming for an 11- or 12-inch square, about 1 millimeter thick. Mine are never the same size—it really doesn’t matter. Be sure to keep