Fresh Dyed Pasta

It’s a writer’s privilege to recast embarrassments as anecdotes, or experiences. So yes, I spent a recent Sunday elbow-deep in squid guts and only turned up a measly milliliter of ink for my pasta-dying project. But have you ever felt a cephalopod’s flesh, damp and resilient against the pads of your fingers? I have now—I skipped out on Biology II in high school and opted for World Literature, go figure—and once I was sure that the squid hadn’t just been cryogenically frozen and was, in fact, deceased, I warmed up to this briny exploration. Minor insanities (see: rolling out pasta from scratch when it’s readily available at stores and you can save your forearms a lot of grief) are at the root of my cooking obsession. Is the goal to be an authority? To present recipes of my efforts that did work and stay mum about the rest? Maybe, and you can find the working recipe below as I turned homemade dough into beautiful strands of magenta and green.  

But you need fuel to keep up these headlong pursuits. And failure, the humbling conflict of not getting what I expected (or promised my social media channels)—it’s invigorating. We’ll see where next month finds me.

Suggested pairing: Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages, available at Calandro's Supermarket

Fresh, Dyed Pasta

(adapted from Serious Eats)

For the purée, choose:

• 1 large beet, trimmed
• 5 sprigs thyme
• olive oil

or 

• 5 oz. fresh spinach, blanched

Special equipment: pasta maker or stand mixer attachment

Method:

For the pasta: On a dry surface, form the flour into a mound and hollow out a well in the center. Add egg yolks, egg, purée, and salt. Beat eggs and purée well with a fork, then use one hand to fully combine flour and liquids into a shaggy ball of dough. Wrap in plastic and let rest on countertop for thirty minutes. Roll out pasta according to manufacturer directions (equipment varies).

For the beet purée: Preheat oven to 375ºF. Wrap beet and herbs in foil. Drizzle with olive oil, then seal the package and roast for 1 hour. Let cool, then quarter the beet and purée in food processor.

For the spinach purée: Once the spinach is blanched, shock it with cold water or ice. Dry in a salad spinner, then purée.