Before Christmas I had been making sourdough bread and we were really enjoying it and then I put my starter in the fridge to keep it alive during all the Christmas preparations. When I got it out I forgot to feed it and it went off, really off, I was wondering what the BAD smell was and you guessed it, it was my starter. So off to the chooks (chickens) it went, I was attached to it, but not that much.
About 2 weeks ago I started another one and it has been bubbling away merrily. As I was going about my business around the blogosphere I came across a sour dough pasta post and I thought I just had to give it a go.
I started my starter by using equal amounts of flour and water daily for a week before using it. After a week you should see clear signs of fermentation.
I’ve made some bread with it using whole wheat flour (ground it myself) but it wasn’t quite right, so I will try again adding a bit more white flour.
I haven’t really made pasta before so I was thrilled that I could use my starter.
Anyway I found a pasta recipe, tweaked it to suit and it was great. I did need to make the noodles thicker than normal but they tasted great and were nice with the bacon and vegetable sauce I made to go with them.
Here’s the recipe, give it a go if you have time and don’t worry that they may not look store bought – that isn’t the point.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 3 cups flour
- 4 eggs
- pinch salt
Place your flour in your mixing bowl and add starter, eggs and salt, and mix until it comes together to form a ball.
Allow the dough to sit (covered) for a few hours or overnight (I left mine overnight).
When you are ready to make your pasta just put the dough onto a floured surface and knead a little until smooth. Roll out as thin as you can and slice into whatever size noodle you like.
Your noodles are ready to cook now or you can dry them out on the counter.
Keep an eye on these noodles as you are boiling them as they will boil over if you aren’t careful (learnt that one from experience).
This amount of noodles served our family of 3 adults and 2 children quite nicely.
Then after the noodles turned out so well I thought I’d give pizza a go to take for our beach day last week.
This was yummy even though we ate it cold and it was great reheated the next day for lunch.
Ingredients
- 3 cups of starter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (and a little for brushing)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cups flour (maybe a little more if needed for the right consistency)
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until it comes together to form a ball. If the mixture is too dry add more starter and if too wet add more flour.
All the dough to rest for 30 minutes or more and when you are ready to make your pizzas roll the mixture out on a floured surface until the desired shape and thickness.
I got four pizzas out of this amount, two to eat straight away and two to freeze for another day.
I did rectangle ones and they fitted nicely on my baking trays.
Now you are only going to partly bake this base for about 6 minutes. Once done remove them from the oven and brush them with olive oil. Then top with your favourite toppings and bake until browned and cheese is melted.
They were delicious and I now have two in the freezer when I want a quick easy meal. I am going to try and bake some more this week and get a few more in the freezer.
To get my starter up again I feed it with a cup of flour and a cup of water daily.
If you haven’t tried sour dough before I hope this gives you the encouragement you need to just give it a go.
Now I’m off to make sourdough pancakes for breakfast.
Happy cooking!!!
Wow – recipes close to my heart! I have been making the same recipes (we probably got them from the same website) and have really enjoyed my sourdough starter! Let me know how the pancakes turn out – I haven’t made those yet!
Oh Vickie you just gotta try the pancakes, they were delicious. My husband is not a pancake eater and I have slowly been giving them to him over the past month or so. Well he thought these sourdough ones were the best. Point to remember when you add the bicarb soda the mixture doubles in size, so don’t double the recipe to start with :-). Here is the link up to where I got the recipe from. whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/SourdoughPancakes.htm
Hope they go well. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings
OOOh I love sourdough! I’ve brewed gallons of sourdough, so much I’ve had to use a canner to keep it going it expanded so much. Then I froze it by the gallons. I even named it Herman, and Herman had lots of babies, grandbabies, and is in the 9th or 10th generation. He’s made lots of bread, rolls, sweets, pancakes, cookies, biscuits, pizza dough. I sold lots of sourdough bread at farmer’s market. 🙂
Mine has been 50% rye/50%white flour with the water ratio equal to the entire amount of flour put in–like 1/2 cup rye, 1/2 cup white and 1 cup water.
It attracts fruit flies in the summer, and smells like booze when the kitchen is hot.
Yes I’ve noticed mine smells like beer, quite pleasant :-). What recipe do you use for your bread, the one I use starts with a sponge and sits overnight and then you mix in the rest of the flour and then allow it to rise. Our food regulations are very strict here and I couldn’t sell bread at markets unless I registered my kitchen, which is an option but I would love to hear more about how you did yours when you have time. Thanks and blessings
Here in Kansas, at least for now, we can sell baked goods made at home at farmer’s markets or directly to whomever is going to eat it. If we sell to say a store or someone who will otherwise sell it, then we have to go through the licensing process. If we go over a few miles into Missouri, they have to have a licensed kitchen for everything. It all varies state by state on rules and regulations.
I used to have a blog on wordpress, https://sunnypatchcottage.wordpress.com/a-handmade-way-of-life-series/, that has some of my sourdough adventures. I’ve tweaked the recipe since then to make it more mild since our tribe isn’t into the really sour part.
https://sunnypatchcottage.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/sourdough-in-the-making/
I hardly ever go to the blog there anymore, but I left it up in case it may be needed. 🙂
If you are diabetic, the sourdough really seems to help with keeping the glucose from spiking after eating a sandwich or bread in general. I’ve heard this from our neighbor who enjoys my sourdough, seen it on ourselves, and read about it afterward. So there is benefit to it! 🙂
Oh–I tend to use commercial yeast with mine, just to get it to rise faster. Doing the faster rise gives it the more mild flavor but still distinctively sourdough, vs the long rise with the real sour taste.
Oh Ok, thanks for the that and all your help. Blessings
Yes I have heard some stuff about the benefits of sourdough, I like the fact that the yeast is a natural occurring thing. I will have a look at your bread and I appreciate you sharing it with me. Our rules differ from shire to shire within the states and they can be quite tough and I believe unreasonable. Thanks for your comment and your advice, it is much appreciated. Blessings
Thank you for this delicious recipes !
Can’t wait to try them!
Thanks so much, hope they go well, keep me informed. Blessings
I have made many breads, but never tried sourdough yet. After reading all this I might have to give it a try thanks for sharing!
I hope you get the chance to try it, I am really enjoying my sourdough. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Blessings
Thank you for contributing to Motivation Monday!
I haven’t seen a sour dough started since I was a kid!! Love what you have done with it!! Hey I would love it if you stopped by and shared your stuff on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday – Link Party…it’s going on now!! I would love to have you!! http://www.cookinandcraftin.com/my-2-favorite-things-on-thursday-link-party-6/
Thanks Elaine for stopping by and the invite, I will pop over and link up, thank you. Blessings
Thanks for sharing on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday!! Hope you come back tomorrow and share some more great stuff!! Pinned!
Thanks Elaine for hosting and I’ll be back. Blessings
I tried reviving a dried sour dough starter that was given to me by a friend. I made it 4 times and nothing ever happened. It never bubbled once and so it went to the garbage. I have recently started another and it is growing well. My question is this: It has a small amount of a yellowish clear liquid layer atop the actual sour dough. I think it is ready to use; but, do I stir in that liquid or suck it off with a baster??
Hi Brenda, thanks for your comment and question. When I first started mine it had a liquid on the top too and I stirred it in and it still worked, actually I whisked it in. Hope this helps. Blessings
Thank you for your help with my question regarding the clear yellowish liquid on my sour dough starter. I am a novice at sour dough, as you can tell.
That’s fine Brenda, I’m no expert either but it is trial and error. I made sourdough pancakes the other day and they were fabulous, my husband said the best he had tasted. I feed my starter quite a lot of flour per day, about 1 cup flour and 1 cup water, I just whisk it in and that’s it. I’m thinking of getting another one going so I can have one for bread and one for other recipes. Hope it all goes well, get back to me if you have a problem. Blessings
Hello beautiful! This looks so amazing. I can’t wait to try it. Pinned and tweeted. Thank you for being a part of our party and we hope to see you on Monday at 7 pm. We can’t wait to party with you! Happy Valentines’ Day! Lou Lou Girls
We love sourdough…. bread, pancakes, etc… good stuff. I like you am a bad yeast caregiver sometimes LOL Thanks for sharing on the (mis)Adventures Mondays Blog Hop. I can’t wait to see what you share next next time!
Thanks Mindie for joining in my bad yeast experience. Blessings to you
What yummy recipes! Thanks for stopping by and sharing this on Five Friday Finds! I’m looking forward to what you share this week. 🙂
Thanks for hosting and for your comment CJ. I’ll be back. Blessings
Oh, I love making sourdough anything! I have made the pasta once, and wasn’t thrilled with it, but perhaps need to try it again. I made sourdough bread last night, and I have found an easier way to do it! I put all the ingredients in my bread machine, and press the dough button. The bread machine does all the work kneading it! I just check it every once in a while to see if more flour needs to be added. Once the dough has been kneaded, you can place into pans and allow to rise. I do mine in the evening, and allow the bread to rise overnight. in the morning I turn the oven on and cook, and we can have fresh bread for the day without much effort on my part. Oh I love my sourdough!
Hey there, I really am quite attached to my sourdough and I really enjoy the pasta. It isn’t a thin pasta, I make mine rather chunky and my family quite like it like this. Sounds a great way doing your bread in the machine, I normally let mine sit overnight and then rise in the morning, but lately I have been mixing the sponge and letting that sit during the day and then making the loaf at night to let rise until morning and then baking it first thing. I had bread baked before 7am the other day. It smells great. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings