Sourdough Pasta with Herbed Brown Butter Sauce

Sourdough Pasta:

1. In a large bowl stir together flours and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; add sourdough discard, egg, yolk, and oil. Using a fork, gently beat the discard and eggs, mixing in a tiny bit of flour with each stroke. As the dough begins to thicken and most of the flour has been added, turn dough out onto a surface. Use your hands to mix in the remaining flour, kneading until firm and elastic (8 to 10 minutes total). Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 2 hours or up to 48 hours.

2. Divide dough in half. On a surface lightly floured with some semolina, roll each portion into a 14-inch square (about 1/16 inch thick). The dough is thin enough to see your hands underneath when lifted. Lightly dust both sides of dough square with additional flour. Starting from the side closest to you, loosely roll into a spiral. Cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch-wide strips. Unroll strips and separate freshly cut pasta on a cooling rack to keep them from sticking together while drying. Let stand 1 hour.

3. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Drain pasta and return to pan. Cover and keep warm while preparing sauce.

4. For sauce, in a small saucepan melt butter over medium until melted; cook 1 minute. Add garlic; reduce heat to low and cook 5 to 8 minutes or until butter is lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes. Stir in herb and pepper.

5. Add butter sauce and reserved pasta water to pasta. Cook over medium 2 to 3 minutes until heated through and most of the water evaporates, stirring gently to coat pasta. Sprinkle each serving with freshly ground pepper and grated cheese.

Tips

Prepare pasta dough through Step 1; wrap in plastic wrap. Place in an airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw completely in refrigerator; continue with Step 2.

Tips

If using a pasta machine, divide dough into 3 portions. Pass each portion through machine according to the manufacturer's directions until 1/16 inch thick, dusting dough with flour as needed. Let stand; cut as desired.