Try this recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 40.5944633850516 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.530740417342586 g
- Fiber 1.47877086129179 g
- Protein 5.40950625689159 g
- Saturated Fat 0.0843004167739775 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (129g)
- Sodium 697.497417551633 mg
- Sugar 39.1156925237598 g
- Trans Fat 0.17501166688965 g
- Calories 194 calories
Step-by-step
- In a mixing bowl, stir together your two types of flour and the salt.
- Slowly drizzle in the warm water stirring with a fork until your dough begins to clump together.
- Dump your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for about 4 to 5 minutes or until your dough is smooth and elastic.
- Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and let rest at least 30 minutes or up to an hour.
- Divide your dough into two pieces.
- Keep the second piece of dough wrapped in the palstic while you work on the other.
- Shape your dough into a flat disk, and on a lightly floured surface roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch.
- I find the easiest way to roll the dough is to roll the pin up and down, then turn the dough 1/4 turn and roll agin.
- Keep repeating this process, lightly dusting the dough with flour if it begins to stick, until you reach the desired thickness.
- Use a pastry or pizza cutter to cut your dough into 1 to 1 1/2 inch strips.
- Pick up one strip and gently stretch slightly with your fingers.
- Place the strip between the palms of your hands, and gently rub back and forth to twist the dough into a tube like shape.
- Once you have shaped the top of the strip, tear it off and continue rolling the rest of the strip.
- I use the width of my closed fingers (about 4 inches) when measuring the length of the completed rolled dough.
- Continue to roll and tear the remaining strips of dough, then drop the finished strozzapreti onto a lightly floured baking sheet.
- Complete the same process with the other half of the dough.
- Lightly dust the completed strozzapreti and refrigerate until needed.
- If not using the strozzapreti, you can also freeze them.
- Place them on a waxed paper lined baking sheet in the freezer.
- Once frozen, place the strozzapreti in an airtight bag until needed.
- Do not thaw the frozen strozzapreti before cooking, simply add an additional minute or two for cooking.
- Prepared strozzapreti should be cooked in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water.
- The pasta is cooked when it rises to the top of the pot.
- (My strozzapreti took about 4 minutes to cook “al dente”.)
- Use a chunky sauce for this pasta shape.
Extruding or hand-rolling pasta without eggs requires balancing the hydration precisely because all-purpose flour and semolina absorb water at very different rates. Warm water initiates gluten development rapidly, which is why kneading the dough for four to five minutes until it yields a smooth, elastic surface is non-negotiable for holding the twisted shape during boiling. Combining all-purpose flour with finely ground semolina creates a sturdy exterior that grabs chunky sauces far better than slick, smooth commercial extruded pastas.
Freezing and Second-Day Management
Shaping this dough into loose cylindrical twists by rubbing strips between the palms requires keeping unused portions wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent a dry skin from forming. When scaling the recipe up or down, maintain the ratio of roughly one part semolina to 1.75 parts all-purpose flour by weight or volume to ensure the structural integrity remains intact. Storing extra shaped pieces requires placing them on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet in the freezer until solid, then transferring them into an airtight bag where they keep for up to three months without losing quality. Boiling frozen portions directly from the freezer requires adding just an extra one to two minutes to the standard four-minute cooking window, saving precious minutes when repurposing batch-cooked pasta for subsequent meals.
- Dough feels too crumbly? Incorporate water one teaspoon at a time using a fork.
- Strips sticking to the counter? Dust surfaces lightly with flour between rotations.
- Pasta breaking apart during the palm-rolling step? Rest the dough longer to relax the gluten network.
