One of my favourite things to make is homemade pasta. I think I love it because it feels creative & you can eat it! Over the years I have made a lot of fun different kinds. I've experimented with making different colours using fruit, vegetables and herbs and have made different shapes with all kinds of fun techniques with pasta equipment and by hand.
Homemade pasta is a super fun activity to do alone or with your kids! Here's my 18 month old helping me make fresh oregano pasta.
She loves to spin the crank to flatten out the pasta & I love including her in kitchen as much as possible. It's usually pretty messy, but always a lot of fun!
This past weekend we made egg noodle pasta with fresh oregano and nettles!
This was my first time ever cooking with nettles! We used this recipe from Hunter, Gather, Cook. All the recipe calls for is nettles and flour.
Adding colour to your pasta
In the past I have also used blueberries, spinach, and beets to colour my pasta! Below you can see all the fun shapes and colours, then I used them in a fresh pasta salad with cucumber and cheese as well as cooked it and added spaghetti sauce, meatballs, and cheese!
You can also make pasta and dry it to enjoy at a later date. I find it easier to store and dry these smaller pasta noddles than I do longer spaghetti noodles.
One of my favourite colour pasta resources is @saltyseattle on
instagram. Here's a photo of how they get fun colours from veg!
There are a ton of online resources for how to make pasta by hand without equipment (click here to see some YouTube videos). You can roll it with a rolling pin and cut it into long noodles, bow ties, or make ravioli with yummy ricotta and spinach stuffing!
I also enjoy using this gnocchi board that is pretty inexpensive to make many different kinds of pasta.
Pasta Equipment
While you can use a simple rolling pin & knife to make pasta, here is a list of the equipment I have at home:
Here's my pasta recipe:
3 cups of flour
3 eggs*
1 tbs of olive oil
Optional:
Finely chopped herbs
Salt and pepper
*It's really easy to make vegan pasta without eggs! For the nettle pasta (you could use spinach also) you can blend it with a bit of water and replace the eggs with that to make a tasty coloured pasta.
Directions:
Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle
Add the eggs and olive oil in the well and any chopped herbs you like
Slowly start to scramble the eggs with a fork, slowly incorporating flour from outside the well as you go
Once it becomes hard to stir with a fork, flour your hand and start kneading the dough with your hands.
Knead for 5-8 minutes (alternatively pop it in a kitchen aid with the dough hook). If your dough is still sticky, add more flour and keep kneading until you get a soft consistency that doesn't stick to your fingers.
Once the dough is smooth and incorporated wrap it in plastic wrap or air tight container and pop it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (I often leave mine over night).
Take the dough out of the fridge and cut it into 1/4 cup chunks. Take one chunk and leave the others covered with a wet tea towel.
Roll out your dough chunk using a rolling pin or pasta machine.
If you don't have a pasta machine or board, you can use a knife or pizza cutter to cut it into long noodles, bow ties, or ravioli. Check out youtube for lot's of tips on making pasta without any equipment!
Store your pasta in the fridge for up to 2 days, freeze it, or lay it out to dry (my favourite method).
Enjoy with your favourite sauce or as a cold pasta salad with salad dressing and veg!
Let us know if you make any tasty pasta, we'd love to see it!
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