We have brought our Meyer lemon charcoal to our pasta extruder. Yesterday we created a charred lemon noodle dough, which we then extruded into three different shapes: bucatini, rigatoni and amori. The addition of the baking soda in the dough creates a chewier noodle that also stands up to both the cooking and saucing while retaining their precise shapes. In the days before we added baking soda to our noodles we had trouble with the bucatini collapsing on itself. That is no longer the case.
Charred Lemon Noodles
2000 grams semolina flour
35 grams sifted lemon charcoal
13 grams baking soda
600 grams (30%) water
1 gram lemon oil
Put the flour, charcoal and baking soda into the pasta machine and mix to distribute in the hopper. Mix the water and lemon oil together. With the machine running, drizzle the water into the machine. Mix the dough for 6-7 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough after four minutes. It should begin to resemble course streusel. Squeeze the dough together in your hand. Break the dough apart. If it breaks cleanly the dough has enough water. If it crumbles, add additional water in 20-gram increments. Once the dough is the right consistency let it knead in the machine for a few minutes. If you are in a hurry you could begin extruding immediately but it's better to let it rest for in the machine for 10 minutes for ideal hydration.
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