Green Mountain Flour

Rye is earthy, rich, and a bit smoky like toasted sunflower seeds. The seeds themselves have a soft blue-green hue and a slight tangy smell. The true flavor of it’s distinctive grain qualities shine in sourdough breads where the nuttiness balances the acidity of the dense whole grain German and northern European breads.

Cracked rye berries can be added to most any bread recipe by soaking 1/2 - 1 cup of the cracked berries  in 1/4 -1/2 cup water overnight to plump and soften them, then toss them in with your favorite bread recipe.

They will also make an interesting addition to a meal by preparing them as you would a rice pilaf. Caramelized onion and herbs are well matched in the earthy qualities of rye, and will compliment hearty winter fare like roast lamb and root vegetables.

In our household one of the most common ways we enjoy our Stone Cracked Rye is as a hot breakfast cereal, cooked with toasted walnuts and dried apricots, topped with a touch of honey and butter.

For Stone Cracked Rye Porridge:

1 cup Stone Cracked Rye

3 cups Water

1/4 cup toasted walnuts

1/4 cup copped dried apricots

Combine everything in a pot and bring to a boil, stirring to keep the bottom from scorching. Once the pot has come to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy with a touch of honey and butter.

We love to make pasta of all kinds, using fresh stone ground spelt is a great way to get whole grain into your diet, and delicious! We have a pasta machine but making noodles without it is not hard. With just a rolling pin and a little elbow grease you can have a fun time, and a unique tasty meal. Making food by hand is always a great way to spend time with your friends, your family, and yourself.

To make spelt pasta you’ll need: a rolling pin, a large sharp knife, a sheet pan or pasta rack… that’s about it…

3 eggs

2 Cups Whole Spelt Flour.

1/4 Cup Whole Spelt Flour to add if the dough is tacky.

 

You can start by either mixing everything in a bowl until it is cohesive enough to start kneading with your hands. Or you can measure the flour right onto your work surface and make a well in the middle of the flour, drop the eggs in and mix it into a ball right there.

 

Once the dough has come together start kneading it by pressing down into the dough and pushing away with the heal of your hand. Fold the dough back onto itself, give a 1/4 turn to the folded ball, repeat this motion, dusting as needed. Continue for about 5-6 minutes, until the it becomes smooth and slightly elastic. Pasta should be firm and not be tacky at all. If you find that it is sticking to the table or your hands, rub and scrape the dough off and lightly dust your hands, the table, and the dough ball with flour.

Let the dough rest in a covered bowl, or in plastic wrap for 20-30 minutes before trying to roll it out, this will let the gluten relax, and allow the dough to be more pliable. At this point the dough can be refrigerated or frozen for use latter.

Once the dough has rested it’s time to roll it out. I’ve always preferred a French style rolling pin, long and thin often slightly tapered at the ends and without handles. But what every you have in your kitchen will work. To me using the French pin is kind of like driving a stick shift, just a little more control and feel for what is going on, but in the end both get you where you are going.

Before you start rolling out your pasta lightly dust your work surface, hands, and rolling pin to keep the dough from sticking to anything. As you are working, at the first sign of sticking, dust the sticky spots with flour. Start rolling the dough out by pressing it flat with your hands. Roll the dough out by starting in the middle and rolling away from you, bring the pin back to the middle and roll the dough our toward you. After a couple times give the sheet a 1/4 turn and roll it out in a similar way. Continue rolling until the dough is about 1/8^th an inch in thickness. If the dough resists rolling and starts pulling back let it rest for 5 minutes and start rolling again.

To cut the dough dust it with a bit of flour to ensure that it does not stick to it’s self and curl it loosely into a cylinder. With a large sharp knife cut it into strips to your desired thickness.

Gently unroll the noodles and lay them on a parchment, wax paper, cookie sheet, or pasta rack to dry for about 10 – 15 minutes.

 

The cooking time will be 3-4 minutes, in salted water that has been brought to a rolling boil.

 

Drain your home made spelt noodles and add your favorite sauce.