HOW TO MAKE PINK PASTA

Pasta is my favorite food in the whole world. What I love about it is the immense versatility, the infinite ways in which it combines with other ingredients to create the perfect plate. And don’t even get me started on cute shaped pasta (e.g. farfalle) – I could eat that stuff every meal of the day! Another advantage is that pasta is easy to make, it takes no time, and you can just use stuff you have in the fridge and improvise. I love improvising in the kitchen! BUT nothing compares to homemade pasta and making that can steal half the day away. Once in a while, I venture into making my own pasta, and it’s always rewarding to eat. Sure, my upper arms will probably be sore for another day, but that’s the way to build strength. I just justify buying a pasta machine just yet, but it’s definitely on my wishlist.

For Valentine’s Day and the like, I wanted to make pink pasta. It’s not more complicated than regular homemade pasta, you just need to bake a beet beforehand and blend it in the dough. You can’t really feel the taste of beet in the end product, so don’t let that concern you if you don’t like its rooty taste. I normally like using red sauce on my pasta, but I wanted to show off the color on these, so I topped them with a simple combination of mushrooms and parsley. Here is the whole process:

Pink pasta with mushroom sauce 2015-01-31 12:29:07

The perfect Valentine's Day dinner pasta in lovely pink (vegetarian)
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For the pasta dough

1. 1 medium beet
2. 2 eggs
3. 2 1/2 cups flour
4. pinch of salt

For the mushroom sauce

1. 500g mushrooms
2. parsley
3. olive oil
4. salt and pepper
5. shredded cheese (e.g. parmesan)

For the dough

1. Wrap the washed beet in aluminum foil and place it in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Allow it to cool, peel it and cube it. Puree in the food processor.
2. Place 1/2 cup beet puree, the eggs and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a mixer and mix together using the dough hooks. Gradually add the flour and mix until incorporated. If the dough is still very sticky, add 1-2 tbsp more flour.
3. Bring the dough on a well-floured surface and knead it until smooth. Divide it into 8 pieces and cover each one with plastic foil, letting it rest for 1-2 hours.
4. Take out one piece of dough, knead it slightly, and start flattening it with a rolling pin (or a pasta machine, if you have one). Keep turning it from one side to another and flattening, making sure the surface and the rolling pin are always well floured. The dough should be very, very thin, almost sheer.
5. In a pan of water, add a sprinkle of salt and olive oil, and bring to a boil.
6. Cut your pasta dough in thin strips on the length of the dough, with a knife or specialized tool. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.
7. Boil the pasta for a couple of minutes, then drain it.

For the sauce

1. Peel and slice the mushrooms.
2. Heat a pan with some olive oil, add in the mushrooms, parsley, salt and pepper and saute until the mushrooms are cooked.
3. Garnish with shredded cheese.

Notes

1. This recipe make a lot of pasta, so feel free to save part of the dough in the fridge wrapped in plastic for a couple of days. If you already rolled and cut it, allow it to air dry for a few days and store in a bag for a up to a couple of months.

By Kittenhood Adapted from Martha Stewart Adapted from Martha Stewart Kittenhood http://kittenhood.ro/

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