Extruded Pasta Dough
The perfect home extruded pasta dough is simple to make and only takes 2 ingredients, water and flour! For me, I prefer using a semolina dough when I am extruding pasta. This will give you a flavor closer to dried pasta. You can use an egg dough for extruded pasta but it will have a different texture. There are very few recipes out there for a semolina dough for home extruders, such as the Kitchenaid. I find many are too wet or contain eggs.
The most important aspect of getting this dough right is the hydration percentage. This will vary based on your flour and machine. I use a Kitchenaid pasta extruder with Antimo Caputo Semola flour. (Neither are sponsors, it is just my preference). I find a 40% hydration works best with these two. Note that if the dough is too dry it could damage the pasta die or machine. If the dough is too wet, the shapes will be deformed and too soft. When extruding you know the dough is perfect when you can cut it off with a plastic bench scraper.
This recipe is for the perfect base of any extruded dough. You can add other ingredients to the liquid portion, such as pumpkin, tomato, chili powder, etc.
For shaped pasta, like fusilli, you may need to reduce the hydration to 35%.
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- 200 grams Semola flour (semola di gran duro rimacinata)
- 80 grams Water (warm)
- Make the dough
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment add the flour. Turn the machine on low and slowly drizzle in the water. Continue mixing on low for 5 minutes to allow the water to fully absorb.
- Check consistency
The dough should resemble wet sand. When folded into a ball it should hold its shape but loosen back into a sand consistency when crumbled. If the dough is too dry add a splash of water, if too wet add a touch more flour.
- Extrude the dough
This step will depend on your machine. For a Kitchenaid, they recommend forming the dough into balls and feeding through the hopper. The first few inches will be deformed. This can be fed back into the hopper. As the machine heats up it will start to extrude a smoother dough.
Cut the dough into desired length and let dry for at least 15 minutes.
Fresh pasta will cook in around 2 minutes if fresh. If fully dried it will take a bit longer and depend how dry the pasta is.
For pasta inspiration check out our recipes here!