HOW TO MAKE SPAGHETTI FROM SCRATCH | BEST SOURDOUGH PASTA DOUGH RECIPE

I have been making my own sourdough spaghetti from scratch for over a year now whenever I want, however much I want, and you can too!

It’s honestly the easiest, the best sourdough pasta dough recipe so, here it is:-

INGREDIENTS

215g   *semolina or semola pasta flour

1/2t      pink salt

2          eggs (100g)

60g      sourdough starter

2T        EVOO

*Semolina (coarse) = semola (fine)

METHOD

Measure out of semola pasta flour in a bowl

Add pink salt

Pour in eggs

Add in sourdough starter 

Plus extra virgin olive oil 

Stir it up (KitchenAid) for 3 minutes at speed 2.

Cover and leave it to ferment for at least two hours or you can also leave it in the fridge overnight to develop flavour.

When cutting the dough, quarter it first, then run it through the machine a couple of times to flatten and smoothen the pasta dough.

I usually start with one, then I dial it up to about four or five to get the thinness I want for spaghetti.

And here’s a great tip.

Before you start cutting up the spaghetti, get an empty food container with a tablespoon full of semolina flour for dusting the noodles. Then, what I usually do is cut the noodles directly into the box, then I cover and give it a good shake so the noodles will be coated with flour and they won’t stick. This way, you won’t end up using too much flour which can affect the final taste and texture of the pasta.

Right after this, if you’re cooking the pasta, only when the water comes to a rolling boil, throw in the pasta. Give it a good stir to make sure they’re not sticking to each other. Turn down to medium heat and let it cook for about two and a half minutes. Strain it, and let it run under tap water to cool so it stops cooking.

And here’s another great tip.

Remember to save the boiled pasta water for cooking your pasta dish, more about that in a separate post. 

But say if you wanna save the pasta for future use, then what you wanna do is let them freeze on a tray first before popping them into a ziplock bag to freeze further.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Do check out my other sourdough recipes, when you can.

Meanwhile, you have a beautiful day!

HOW TO MAKE APPLE CIDER VINEGAR AT HOME FOR FACE | AVC FACE TONER

Finally, skincare you can drink, coming up!

Apple cider vinegar taken first thing in the morning on an empty stomach helps reset your system. Not only does it help to remove toxins and other bacteria from the body, but it also helps

regulate blood sugar levels

reduce hunger

lower high blood pressure and

cleanse your liver

What’s there not to love about apple cider vinegar, right?

But it gets better!  Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is good for your skin too!

And this week, I’m going to show you how to make apple cider vinegar at home for face. I much prefer making it from scratch so I know exactly what goes in there. In fact, you’re going to learn how to make your own ACV face toner. 

Well obviously, you’re gonna need some apples. Red ones are good but if all you have are green apples, you can use them too. Always use what you have, easy peasy!

Now, if you can get your hands on organic apples that’s great but if you can’t, no worries. In any case, soak your apples in a dilute solution of potassium permanganate for about five to ten minutes to disinfect from any bacteria before giving them a good scrub.  

Then, slice off both ends of the apples before running them through this this nifty tool which peels, cuts and cores the apples all at the same time.

This tool is particularly useful for when I wanna make apple pies and I need to slice the apples thinly and uniformly to make the filling. If you wanna see how I make fermented apple pies in a future post then comment below with an apple or a pie icon.    

Apple seeds are toxic by the way, so do avoid eating or juicing them at all costs!

After you’ve peeled, cut and cored the apples, set the sliced apples aside for making an apple pie. Then, throw the apple cores and peels into this five litre jar. Add the sugar solution (50g sugar), put back the mother, add just a little more distilled water, weight it and cover it with cheese cloth.

Check on it from time to time until the apple cider vinegar is ready to be harvested in four to six week’s time.

Remember to strain it, bottle it and fridge it. Repeat the steps above when you wanna make another batch and so on.

Now, if you wanna drink this first thing in the morning to reset and cleanse your system, all you need, is one teaspoon in a glass of distilled water,  that’s it! 

And moving right along, here’s how to turn this into your favourite ACV face toner. Apple cider vinegar is a great natural astringent that’ll help shrink pores, reduce skin inflammation, cleanse and tone the face, revealing clearer, brighter skin.  

Here’s how to dilute it. I usually use one part apple cider vinegar is to two parts of distilled water. You can put this into any spray bottle and fridge it so it’s nice and cool when you wanna use it.

An alternative to using plain distilled water is to use Jasmine Green Tea also steeped in distilled water for about two to three minutes. After it’s cooled, mix it in the above ratio.

e.g. 10ml ACV : 20ml distilled water/green tea

And of course if you’d like to jazz it up a little, you can always add a few drops of your favourite essential oils like lavender or tea tree or frankincense and you'll get a customised toner that has all your favourite skin-loving ingredients!       

And that’s how to make apple cider vinegar at home for face and how to turn it into your favourite ACV face toner. I hope you learnt something useful today. Till next week, stay beautiful and healthy naturally!