The fourth course from the dinner we just did at Aldea was "Clams Casino." We cryo-shucked the clams, added Benton's bacon, bourbon and charred garlic scapes to the ragout and we used the Arcobaleno AEX18 to make our shells. The pasta was made with the addition of wakame "flour." We froze the seaweed in liquid nitrogen and then ground it in our late model, and slowly dieing 2 hp Vitamix. We then added a portion of the seaweed to our base pasta recipe and the result were these seaweed green noodles reminiscent of the sea in color and flavor. They were a tremendous backbone to the dish. And so here is the recipe.
Wakame Noodles
2000 grams semolina flour
50 grams finely ground wakame
13 grams baking soda
620 grams water
Put the semolina, ground wakame and baking soda into the pasta machine and mix to distribute in the hopper. 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.
Years Past
