We have made a slew of shapes and flavors with our Arcobaleno pasta machine and continue to look at what is possible. On the other hand sometimes restraint is the utmost in creativity. To make our linguine we blend 2000 grams of semolina with 620 grams of water and 10 grams of salt. While hydration levels vary we have consistently found 31% hydration to be near perfect for a straight semolina noodle. The dough takes a bit longer to hydrate and the die needs to warm up a bit more in the extruding process. The end result is worth the extra bit of time, and we are not talking hours, closer to 45 minutes for a 2600 gram batch of noodles. As the last of the noodles are extruded we always put a pot of water on to taste our results. We used to put the water on earlier so that we could taste the initial noodle before they were all extruded. Now our patience allows us to eat a fresh bowl of hot noodles with butter and cheese, the ultimate in comfort food, as we clean and break down the machine. The cook's reward. And then of course we have these beautiful noodles to act as the perfect foil to almost any sauce or accompaniment we can think of. Simple can be creative.
