The @no_mise_en_plastic Instagram account is an unbelievable useful resource of sensible suggestions to assist cooks create waste-free kitchens, and infrequently showcases cooks from all over the world. The sourdough pasta made by one among them, Albert Franch Sunyer from the restaurant Nolla in Helsinki, actually caught my eye.
The truth is, Albert thinks leftover bread is among the most versatile elements within the kitchen, and says his pasta recipe got here from the necessity to deplete stale leftovers after service: “We’ve been taking part in with leftover bread recipes because the starting of Nolla, making every little thing – cheese crackers, ice-cream, crumbles, you title it. And we thought that, if bread is made out of flour, we are able to in all probability make flour once more.”
Sourdough pasta made with stale bread
“Usually, to make use of the least vitality, we let the bread dry on cabinets within the kitchen,” Albert tells me, as a result of at Nolla they like to not use the oven after they don’t should. “I name this invisible waste,” he says, describing pointless vitality utilization that we regularly don’t see. Nolla has a number of vegan prospects, in order that they make this pasta with water, so it’s a bit like conventional semolina pasta. I’ve used eggs, nevertheless, to create a extra elastic pasta that holds as much as my wholemeal bread, however have included water as a substitute. In case you made this pasta with white bread, I’m positive it could create a finer powder that’s simpler to work with. That mentioned, my wholemeal bread pasta was nutty and really flavourful, and effectively price the additional work concerned in passing it by means of the pasta machine a couple of further instances.
Nolla serves a four-course menu during which the second dish is normally sourdough pasta. Albert says they’ve served it in lots of of various variations, most just lately with a smoked mushroom cream (which is itself made out of mushrooms left over from making mushroom inventory) layered with sourdough pasta sheets and served with fried lion’s mane mushroom, pickled shiitakes and shiitake oil. What an umami bomb!
In case you don’t have a pasta machine, don’t fret – there are nonetheless numerous shapes you may make merely along with your palms and a rolling pin, corresponding to orecchiette (“little ears”) or pici (“hand-rolled spaghetti). Right here’s the recipe for pici from my cookbook: “Roll out the dough right into a rectangle concerning the thickness of a £1 coin (3mm). Brush with slightly olive oil. One by one, minimize into 5mm strips, then roll underneath your palms into lengthy worm shapes. Mud with flour or semolina and cook dinner in loads of salted boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, or till it floats.”
Makes 2 servings
100g stale bread – ensure that it’s utterly dried out in a heat a part of the kitchen, or utilizing the residual warmth of the oven after you’ve cooked one other dish and turned it off
100g pasta flour
2 massive eggs, or 100g water
Minimize or break the bread into items, then mix to a tremendous flour (I used a jug blender). Add the pasta flour, pulse mix once more to mix, then add the eggs (or water) and pulse till the combination comes collectively right into a ball – add extra flour or water as vital, to assist it alongside. The dough must be moist however not sticky. End up on to a piece floor, knead for 5 minutes, till clean and elastic, then put in a bath and chill for a minimum of half-hour. The dough might take longer than normal to change into clean and elastic, particularly should you’ve used wholewheat bread.
Roll the dough into sheets, ideally utilizing a pasta machine, then minimize into your required form (or use to make lasagne).
To cook dinner the pasta, boil a big pot of salted water to a rolling boil, drop within the pasta and cook dinner for 2 minutes, or till the pasta floats. Drain, costume along with your sauce of selection and serve.
