I have been wanting to make habanero pasta for years. I finally put the idea into action. As I was gathering the ingredients, I noticed an array of new hot sauces that Aki had picked up for our pantry. One of the sauces was habanero and mustard based. I immediately knew I needed to integrate some mustard into our habanero noodles. I blended the peppers with mustard and water and strained the mixture. The liquid was super spicy, floral and brightly acidic. The pasta came together in the machine beautifully. For our first run, I made thick spaghetti, more close to a bigoli. The only shortcoming in the noodle was the color. It makes me wonder what other flavor we may integrate to increase the bright orange color and add a supporting flavor. The first ingredient that comes to mind is carrots. Time to tinker.
Habanero Noodles
– 200 grams fresh habaneros, stem removed
– 400 grams water
– 100 grams yellow mustard
– 2000 grams semolina flour
– 6.5 grams baking soda
– 6.5 grams salt
Put the habaneros, water, and mustard in a blender. Puree them together until the mixture appears smooth. Strain the habanero mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Weigh out 600 grams, reserve any extra in case noodles need additional hydration. Put the semolina, baking soda, and salt into the pasta machine and mix to distribute in the hopper. With the machine running, drizzle in the habanero water. Mix the dough for 6-7 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough after 4 minutes. It should begin to resemble coarse 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. Then, if you are in a hurry, you can begin extruding immediately. It’s better to let it rest in the machine for 10 minutes to achieve ideal hydration and then extrude your noodles.
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