Naturally COLORED PASTA! Yes, with ingredients from the garden, but not only…from the seaside as well.

“Simple is not Easy”, this sentence flies on my mind every day since the first time I heard it. Making fresh homemade Pasta is definitely simple, but there are many variables to remind and respect. Each has its say about making pasta from scratch; when I was studying at the Italian Chef Academy, in Florence, some teachers recommended adding salt, others used a mix made of white flour and semolina, and others added milk if it was too dry and oil to keep it elastic.

Making Fresh Colored Pasta from scratch

Well, I learned to make Pasta when I was a child, looking at my grandmother whit great amazement, enraptured by her experience; that’s to tell you that I didn’t get confused when I discovered, at school, that making the perfect Pasta is not a science, it isn’t something to study but…as everything simple…you have to find your way by doing and doing again.

This is exactly what I try to teach to my guests and descents during our Private Cookery Courses in Tuscany, the cooking class is maybe the first occasion to learn by doing, then you need to practice at home.

Maybe it’ll be necessary to add oil, milk, salt, and semolina, maybe not because you obtained a perfect dough just with basic ingredients: Whole Eggs and 00 Flour. Anyway, all you need it’s kneading until obtaining a smooth and elastic ball of dough. You can use an electric tool, but making it by hand will help you a lot to develop gluten, that’s a crucial variable in making a smooth pasta; then you can roll it with a rolling pin, anyway I often use a  rolling machine and it’s definitely easier and even better if you’re not a skilled pasta maker.  Here’s my recipe for making fresh pasta from scratch. I know it’s difficult to find 00 flour out of Italy, anyway I tested the all-purpose one and it’s ok, you can definitely use it; but please, don’t use flour with yeast inside or anything else.

Pasta Coloring Basics

In the last few years more and more people ask me how to make “colored” pasta, you know that “colored” is not “flavored”; it deals with a fresh and natural way to make pasta, adding some ingredients to the eggs giving to the dough a particular color.

ORANGE PASTA: Tomato Paste; click here for the recipe

GREEN PASTA: Mashed Spinach

BLACK PASTA: Squid Ink (below recipe)

PINK PASTA: Mashed Beetroot

BROWN PASTA: Cocoa powder; click here for the recipe

Cooking Classes in Tuscany

I then finally decided to introduce the possibility to make “colored” pasta during our Cookery Course in Tuscany, with my company CuocheinVacanza. Yes, because is not at all difficult, there’s just one more step to follow, nothing else; everyone can make it and each “color” has its suitable sauces.

Our most requested cooking classes are about “Tortelli Maremmani” (huge ravioli) or “Tortellini” (small ravioli), well, I’m glad to inform you that you can obtain an amazing stuffed colored pasta as well; just remind to fill it with the right ingredients.

Let’s start with the recipe for Black Pasta, that’s fantastic with sea fruits, mussels, and all the ingredients recalling the taste of the “sea”.

Here are some recipes to find some Risotto Sauces suitable for black Tagliatelle as well!

Prawns Risotto

Squid Risotto

Risotto Baby cuttlefish and pumpkin

Salva

L'articolo #Tuscany, “colored” Pasta Cookery Course: black Tagliatelle! proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.