Sourdough Pasta-Spinach Ravioli
made with home-milled Oatman Farms Sonora & Durum wheat berry blend.

Making Homemade Whole Grain Pasta

Making pasta is a labor of love, and eating homemade pasta is worth every minute of that labor. Traditionally, pasta is made using finely sifted flour, which removes much of the bran. Here, we're using the full kernel of wheat berry by using home-milled flour made with Oatman Farms White Sonora and Blue Beard Durum wheat berry blend. We're swapping out some of the silkiness of traditional low/no fiber pasta for the flavor, nutrition, and fiber of the whole grain. This particular blend is perfect for making pasta from home-milled wheat berries.. Sonora is a delicious soft white wheat, lacking the protein needed to hold the pasta together. Durum is a high protein wheat and it  gives our pasta dough the structure to not fall apart even after a 24 hour fermentation.

Fermenting the pasta dough also helps to soften the bran. Fermenting enhances the flavor, improves nutritional bioavailability, and aids in digestion. It's a win-win.

If you want to exclude some of the bran from a NutriMill Classic home mill, then mill 400g and scoop your 360g from the top portion of your flour container. This will exclude some of the bran. You can also buy a sifter on Amazon, but you will need to adjust the liquid/water content. 

Use this recipe to make any shape of flat noodles, no special equipment needed. I have a pasta rolling pin that I love, but I also use a bench scraper to cut thick rustic noodles to hold a lovely ragu. I've also made ravioli without a form by just pressing in between the mounds and using a knife to make simple cuts.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups (360 g) freshly milled Oatman Farms Sonora and Durum wheat berry blend 

• 110 g sourdough starter discard or active starter

• 172 g eggs

• 20 g extra virgin olive oil

• 1 teaspoon (5 g) sea salt

• 1-2 tablespoons (20 g) water

Spinach Ricotta Filling Ingredients
You’ll need to double this batch to fill the entire 4 sections.Puree all ingredients in a food processor. The consistency should be thick.. 

•  4 cups Lightly cooked spinach

• 118 grams ricotta Note: You can make superior ricotta at home from lemon juice and full fat milk. I prefer to make it when I have extra milk on hand that is ending it’s shelf life and smelling strong. Sour milk ricotta takes ravioli filling to the next level.  If you buy the store bought ricotta, drain overnight in a milking bag.

• 1 tbs + 1 tspLemon juice

• Pinch of Nutmeg

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 38 g Parmigiano Reggiano blend

Alternative Comté & Kabocha Squash Filling:

• Puree of ½ roasted kabocha Japanese squash

• 1 whole cooked, softened and lightly carmelized onion (slice thinly and cook in 2 tbsp butter and salt generously until soft and light brown)

• 45 g Comte cheese

• 40 g  Parmigiano Reggiano

• 1 tbs Lemon juice

• Salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

TO MAKE FRESH SOURDOUGH PASTA DOUGH

1. Place the freshly milled (finest setting) Oatman Farms White Sonora and Blue Beard Durum blend in a medium-sized mixing bowl. In a separate small bowl, combine the sourdough starter, eggs, olive oil, and salt, then pour this mixture over the flour.

2. Use a fork to blend the ingredients until they form large clumps. Gradually add 10 g of water and up to 20g, using your hands to incorporate it until the dough begins to come together. If the dough is sticky just keep adding flour to your hands and to your kneading surface. Tip: I would always rather have my dough slightly sticky to begin with than too dry. 

3. Turn the dough onto a clean work surface and knead by hand for approximately 5 to 10 minutes until it reaches a smooth and elastic texture. Shape the dough into a disc and tightly wrap it with plastic wrap.

4. Let it rest on the counter for 1 hour.(Alternatively, for a longer fermentation process, allow it to rest for up to 24 hours in the fridge. 

ROLLING AND FORMING RAVIOLI

1. Divide the disc into 4 equal portions while keeping them wrapped in plastic to prevent drying out.

2. Take one portion of dough and roll it out to 1-2 inches longer than your ravioli frame and double the width plus 1 inch.

3. Fold the pasta sheet in half, cut with a knife, and lay one sheet on the ravioli frame.

4. Add your chosen filling to each depression in the ravioli frame.

5. Cover with the second sheet of pasta dough and press to seal by rolling your rolling pin over the ravioli frame. Trim the edges and then flip over and carefully pry loose. Save the scraps from all four sections and roll out again at the end.

6. Roll out remaining dough portions.

7. Experiment with different thicknesses, but be careful – your fermented dough has less gluten than when it was mixed. You don't want broken ravioli when boiling, but you also don't want overly chewy pasta.

TO COOK FRESH SOURDOUGH RAVIOLI

• Cook fresh ravioli in boiling salted water for approximately 4 to 5 minutes, adjusting the cooking time based on the thickness of the pasta. They will drop to the bottom and float up. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes after they float up. 

STORAGE

• Cook immediately or freeze.

FREEZING (Recommended)

• To freeze fresh ravioli, dust them generously with flour and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze for approximately 1 hour. Once frozen, transfer to an airtight container or bag with proper labeling. When ready to use, add them directly to boiling water and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Test one first to confirm the cooking time.