Here's some ideas how to make your pasta look more festive and taste more complex.
Green Pasta dough
- A bunch of spinach, about 1/2 to 2/3 lb
- 3 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk (optional)
- 1.5 – 2 cups Semolina Durum Flour
- 1.5 – 2 cups of All-Purpose or Bread flour
- A pinch of salt
- 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil plus 1 tsp to smear the dough
Rinse the spinach well and cut off the tough lower part of the stems. Blanch the leaves in hot water for about 2-3 minutes and transfer immediately to ice cold water. Drain and with your hands squeeze as much water as you can from the spinach (the same way as you would squeeze water out of clothes after hand washing). Put spinach, eggs and oil in food processor/blender and puree thoroughly.
In a wide bowl, mix both flours and salt. Make a well in the center and put the pureed spinach. With your hand or a fork, combine the flour and the spinach mixture together, working in a swirling motion from the center towards the sides of the bowl. Add more flour or water, if needed. Knead about 7-10 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth and springs back when pressed with a finger. Shape into a ball, smear with olive oil all over and wrap in plastic. Let the dough rest for no less than 30 minutes.
Other colors:
Orange – simmer a carrot or two, peel and puree.
Pink – boil or roast beets, peel, puree and add to the eggs. You can use beet juice instead of pureed beets. Bake some beets, grate them, put into cheesecloth and squeeze the juice out. Don’t forget that juice will provide extra liquid in your dough, so you have to cut down on the eggs or add more flour.
Reddish – add paprika (you can add some cayenne for spicier taste or smoked paprika).
Speckled pasta dough
For this one, finely chop your favorite herb(s) - basil, sage, tarragon, mint, parsley or any combination of these - and mix it with the flour. Just keep in mind that besides color fresh herbs will give a strong flavor to pasta. Don’t put too much of them and match herbs in pasta dough with a filling and the sauce you’re going to serve this pasta with.
Mushroom pasta dough
Several tablespoons of finely ground mushrooms will give your pasta dough dark brown color and fabulous taste. Once the pasta is cooked, the color turns to light brown.
I take 2 handfuls of dried porcini mushrooms and grind them into a fine powder in a coffee grinder (I have one designated for spices only). Then I mix it with the flours, semolina and all-purpose, and proceed as in the basic pasta dough recipe.
The best porcini I could find are either the ones from European/Russian stores (small packages) or Cash&Carry (big plastic jar, lasts for a long time).
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