Pasta Dough: Plain and Flavoured

I talked on Sunday about my recent pasta making day. I'm aiming to incorporate a monthly pasta making and drying session into my routine so that I have homemade pasta at the ready as needed. Homemade pasta is so much tastier and of course it doesn't come in a packet so one less plastic bag to dispose of.

The other benefit of making your own, which I've talked about many times before, is the ability to adjust flavours and ingredients to your liking. In this instance I was able to play around with different flavours to add a bit of variety and colour.

Herb & tomato fettuccine.

This month I made up a plain, spinach and herby tomato dough. The herby tomato one was an experiment and it came up a treat. I thought I'd share the recipes in case anyone else was interested in making their own pasta or playing around with different flavours.

Pasta Dough

Plain
2 Cups plain flour
3 eggs

Spinach
2 cups plain flour
1 cup cooked & pureed spinach

Spinach pasta dough.

Tomato & herb
2 cups plain flour
1 egg
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons Italian herbs
Sprinkle of garlic powder

Tomato & herb dough.

For each recipe place your flour in a bowl and make a well (or do the same straight on your bench). Add the wet ingredients into the well and mix. If you are mixing on the bench you want to slowly incorporate the flour from the edge of the 'well' so that you don't make a gap in your flour. Once all mixed and you have a non-sticky dough give it a little knead. Then cover and rest until you are ready to roll (although I have seen Jamie Oliver just roll straight away so whatever fits in your schedule).

Pasta dough is pretty forgiving. If you need a little more moisture when you are mixing just add a splash of water. If your dough gets a little sticky once it has rested then you can add some flour as you roll it.

If you aren't planning on using your pasta dough straight away you can dry it on a cake rack for short shapes or hanging on your clothes airer or back of a chair for long shapes. How long it takes to dry will be dependent on your climate.

Spinach Farfalle.

I used a pasta machine to roll my dough but you definitely don't need to. You can roll by hand and then cut as desired. There are also some pasta shapes that don't require rolling like orecchiette.

I found this video which shows how to make all different types of pasta shapes, many without rolling. He makes it look ridiculously easy, and I'm sure it wont be, but I'm looking forward to playing around a little over the coming months.

Any pasta dough flavour ideas you've tried or seen before?

Dried and ready for the month ahead.